This is a series of stories I've wanted to tell for sometime now. While I prefer to write stories that make people laugh, there are few moments of levity in these. My focus will be the treatment I received by certain men in my life including previous workplaces and one specific relationship that I only remember as convincingly sweet until it became poisonous. As I was told so many times in my younger years--and even in many of my writing classes--I will try not to be emotional and stick to the facts.
In my teens and 20s (and perhaps a li'l now, too), I wanted to be treated normally. My hobbies, my words, my actions, my ambitions--often because I am a woman were these things judged differently. There was a time, no longer, that I thought "if I were just born a boy, things would be better...easier for me." And it's true.
I don't know what the schedule will be or how many I will tell at a time. I do know that I have a lot to tell, and although I hate staring at the past, perhaps this history lesson in bullying, harassment, belittling...perhaps it's worth telling to help put an end to this sort of treatment. I will change details as to not specifically identify individuals or workplaces; however, perhaps one individual who was particularly malicious doesn't deserve to be shielded by anonymity.
The scary thing about posting these stories is thinking how they will make ME look bad. I suppose that is normal. In most of these instances, I'm the unwilling participant. I don't want these stories to be part of my life, but they were.
P.S. There are many, many good men in my life, past and present. And there are bad women, too, of course.
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