No wonder some women are unconsciously passive aggressive when expressing anger, sadness, or frustration. For years, they have been subjected to so much gaslighting that they can no longer express themselves in a way that feels authentic to them.
They say, “I’m sorry” before giving their opinion. In an email or text message, they place a smiley face next to a serious question or concern, thereby reducing the impact of having to express their true feelings.
You know how it looks: “You’re late :D ”
These are the same women who stay in relationships they don’t belong in, who don’t follow their dreams, who withdraw from the kind of life they want to live.
Why Women Aren’t Crazy (via lagrandefille)
I hate when people claim that women are crazy or complicated or don’t know what they want because fuck you. When a woman is vocal about her opinions, desires, feelings, you call her a bitch or crazy or hysterical. Women have been taught that the only way to communicate while maintaining their physical and emotional safety is to be indirect.
(via pompadoursandpincurls)
i feel like i have to filter my feelings somehow at all times. i made someone cry a few weeks ago at school. i didn’t even insult him. i was expressing a critique about his art. at art school. when the guys do it, they’re informed and ‘probably right.’ when the women do it, we’re crazy overachievers. i find myself having to say, ‘i mean, maybe it’s just me, but…’ or ‘well, this is just my opinion…’ all the time. why am i afraid to say what i really think when no one else seems to be?
(via greenstate)
I made it a personal goal to stop soft-shoeing my statements with qualifiers like “Maybe this is just me,” unless it really is just me, at the beginning of this year. I’m still working on it but I’ve almost entirely cut it out of formal settings like critiques and I’m at about 50/50 with friendly personal interactions. Since the beginning of this year the number of times people have called me butch, masculine, (overly) assertive, or something akin to that have risen exponentially. Language is loaded. Gender is no exception.
(via hidden-midden)
