I am so bloody sick of being obedient to men. At my University in Sydney, there are stickers prominently displayed in many of the ladies’ bathrooms (not the men’s, I’ve been able to confirm, only the ladies') saying
“This is an inclusive safe space for all female and non-binary identifying humans; abuse or transphobia of any kind will not be tolerated”. I do not think stating my boundaries as a woman should be construed as “abuse”.
As a survivor of SA and male violence - and more broadly, as a woman who has had to interact with men every day of my life (if you get it, you get it) - I now feel that the one space where I could escape men for 5 minutes a few times a day has been stripped away from me.
There is now literally no way to get away from them, to take the mask off, to stop protecting myself and just breathe out. A bit of dignity, a break from performing for them and feeling their eyes on me. It’s not just students either - the gender identity language has started to creep into everyday usage in lectures.
The clear message is that women’s voices are unwelcome. Why does it feel like I’m the only one who’s angry about this? Why is there this cone of silence among women, where I can tell we’re thinking the same things but nobody dares to say it out loud? If more people stood up and said enough is enough, we’d be able to put an end to this ridiculousness.