(I wrote this awhile ago, but thought I'd repost it here.)
Warning: Proceed with caution, some content maybe triggering to survivors of sexual assault.
Tonight a friend and I went to see the film "After Stonewall" which essentially was about the gay liberation movement, as one may guess, after the stonewall riots. Don't get me wrong, the film was amazing and everything, but something about it really shook me. All the images of men and women fighting so hard, their entire lives, and for what? So they could simply be themselves, and live and love as they choose, without being fired, or harassed, or beaten or even killed. The film also chronicled the women's and lesbian movements that branched out from this movement. All along, all these people were asking for was to be treated like human beings. To not be abused, to not have to hide in fear of their neighbors, to be able to enjoy life.
What am I, and other women fighting for? We're fighting for rights over our own bodies. The right to walk the streets at night, or go to bars, or be drunk, or do anything really, without fear of rape or assault. We're fighting for the right to our own autonomy, for respect. We're fighting cause we're goddamn sick of men raping us. We're fighting cause somewhere along the way, someone else decided we were less than human and could be treated as such. And people call me a radical for believing this? What's so goddamn radical about treating people with love and respect? Huh!? Why am I the crazy one? Isn't it everyone else who is crazy for believing otherwise?
I guess what really shakes me about all of this is, well, this shouldn't even be a fight. We shouldn't have to fight for this. We shouldn't have to struggle our whole lives just to be treated like humans. But guess what? We do. We STILL have to fight a battle that never should have been a battle in the first place.
So I guess I'll keep fighting, cause anymore, its the only thing I really know how to do. It's not like we've really got a choice anyway.
"While there is a lower class, I am in it. While there is a criminal element, I am of it. While there is a soul in prison, I am not free."- Eugene Victor Debs
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