I love the radical feminist community because it is full to the brim with cycle breakers.
Desi women who have been raised to see them, their sisters and their mothers stripped of their personhood in tightknit patriarchal families, and who have decided they will break with the tradition.
Closeted ex-Muslim women from countries like Pakistan, Iran and Somalia who quietly work towards a life of freedom in apostasy, risking shame and estrangement from their entire families for doing so.
Eldest born daughters who recognise that they should have never had to absorb the rage of their dysfunctional family, and who learn to find the balance between taking care of those they love, and taking care of themself.
Women who grew up around loveless marriages, domestic abuse and crime, who commit decades of their adult life to growing into a healthier person, pursuing a life free of fear, addiction and violence — to provide a better life for their children.
Underdog women who were made to feel that they could never amount to anything, because they were working class, a ‘trouble child’, disabled, undesirable to men, or struggled with their mental health, who then put in the work to psychologically disentangle their self-worth from these false messages.
Women who looked at the unfulfilled lives of their mothers and grandmothers, and who decided that the cycle ends with them; that they will commit themselves to knowledge, personal growth, compassion, fulfilment and adventure, to live the lives that their foremothers couldn’t, for those foremothers.
Cheers to all the cycle breakers out there. In case anyone hasn’t told you today, you’re doing great, keep it up. 🥂
