Think.
What is it like to be a woman?
For one minute just think.
Think about us girls.
Think about all we have been through.

Think.
How far have we come?
From property to individuals,
Items to people,
Slaves to protectors.
Think about how extraordinary our journey has been.

Now

Think.
What is it like to live in fear?
Imagine catcalls,
Inappropriate grasping,
Threats.
Imagine being afraid of men.
Imagine peeking over your shoulder, making sure a man wont jump you,
Violate you.

Think.
Who is the child of a woman?
Imagine how afraid some women have to be to walk alone in the world,
How hard it is for them to live in dread of becoming what we fought so hard not to be.
A victim.
Imagine how hard it is for a woman,
A mother,
To witness the assault and harassment of their little girls.
Now imagine how hard it is for a woman,
A caregiver,
To hear that their son hurt one of their fellow girls.
Their son hurt a girl.

Think.
Men,
How many times did your mother tell you to never hit a girl?
Remember all those days of childhood anger where you just pushed one of us?
What did your mother say?
“Never hit a girl.”
Maybe she smacked your butt as well, you know, to drill her point in.
And maybe that wasn’t fair to you.

But,
To be honest women are weaker than men.
Its not that we don’t work out or exercise,
We do.
But that isn’t enough to stop an assailant.
And even if our muscles did fight off a man,
They couldn’t fight off words.
We try, we lift weights, we run, and we push our bodies to the absolute limit,
Yet are still targets.

We know not all men are

And we’ve come a long way.
But need to go further.