re: a story i wish i didn’t have to tell about men like donald trump
tw: sexual assault, rape, misogyny
she tells me that she didn’t say yes and then she tells me that
she didn’t say no and I am saying I understand and
I do not say this because I am well-versed in empathy but because
I, too, am a woman,
which is to say that
we both are tenants in foreclosed homes
quantified by their material value
which is to say
we could be reduced to rubble
if no one comes around to claim us
she says that when he let his arms fall
across her bare body she was thinking
‘the worst that happens is i get raped’
every woman has thought
‘the worst that happens is i get raped’
and every woman has believed it.
we have all been silenced by our own self-loathing
because you can’t fight an inferiority complex in court
you can’t point to your ripped shirt and
your favorite pair of lace underwear
that you can’t bear to see against your skin anymore and say,
look: it was easier to just say yes.
and say: it was easier
to bite your own tongue
to taste blood between your teeth and
to feel it between your legs
than to try to prove to someone who sees you
as a bedroom with no doors
that you are a mansion
that you are a fairy tale
that you are something worth saving
when you don’t even hold the lease on
your own body.
yousharknotpass
jacobvanloon
tangentwithtanner
