What Does Female Erasure Look Like? You are Looking at It

 Do you see it yet? When women and girls can't use words to define ourselves..... When words like "front hole" "birthing ...

 Do you see it yet?

When women and girls can't use words to define ourselves.....

When words like

"front hole"

"birthing person"

"menstruator"

"vagina haver"

are formally used in public documents.

When the following words are socially forbidden:

"opposite sex" or "both sexes" 

female

"born a boy/girl" 

women/woman...unless it includes males

We MUST be able to define and speak to the oppression, bias, discrimination, and cruelty that women and girls all over the world are exclusively subjected to. 

For women and girls around the world who are even more silenced than here in the west, we are the only hope for them.  Can you just imagine? Can you imagine being in that position?  

Meanwhile women here in the west aren't even listening to one another. Dismissing valid fears. Dismissing cultural bias, hate, and discrimination. 

When we are told that we can't address reproductive female rights without 

including males, the right kind of course. Pre-approved by some "clique". Meanwhile, if a woman or girl makes her discomfort known, we call her "hateful".

When we are told that women and girls can't gather in healing spaces just for females.

When we are told that we must applaud like seals when a male is the "first woman" even though this does not help a single female in any way.  This does not give people the opportunity to get used to seeing and hearing women in traditionally male positions. 

Just go back to women who have run for president and the public sexist treatment.  Males in these positions aren't subjected to sexism.  Shirley Chisholm, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris and others helped us to learn lessons about ourselves. Hilary and Kamala's clothing choices. Kamala Harris' joy and laughter. Helped us all to grow.  

Recently a deputy DA in Texas came under fire for hateful and misogynists tweets launched at dark skin women and girls on Twitter. 

Black women took the opportunity to point out that Black men had no problem defending this man but labeled Kamala Harris "anti-Black" and a "cop" for her work as an AG in California. Lessons. 

TikTok chef’s resurfaced tweets about Black women spark backlash (nbcnews.com)

Attorney And Chef Waymond Wesley Is Getting Cooked For His Colorist Comments - Essence

Even Sarah Palin, who I do not share any political beliefs with, helped us to see how a mother is treated when running for political office vs. how a male is treated.  

Remember: "But who will raise the kids?" Something no male running for office had been asked. It was an opportunity to point out the sexism that women must face in the workplace.  How every day we are passed over for opportunities because someone else wondered, "But who will raise her kid(s)?"

We lose the opportunity to learn lessons and put new things in place to make things better for future women. 

We lose the opportunity for girls to see themselves in these roles someday.  

Erasure is erosion. The things that are subtracted from you are taken a little bit at a time. Slowly. Gradually. But persistently.

 Violence and abuse is this way. It can start off with yelling, an angry look, backing you into a corner, and keeping your from leaving. etc...

 These are the things that happen long before the punch, the slap, the body slam, the strangulation, and the gunshot. 

She/we didn't leave at the first sign of an infraction because we convinced ourselves that 

it wasn't that big of a deal....

that they were just having a bad day....

that they were just stressed

that we just had to get used to one another...

that we just had to watch how we say things, when we say things.....

that every relationship has ups and downs....

Look at life for Afghan women before the Taliban.

Photos: Here's how Afghanistan looked like before the Taliban grabbed power (dnaindia.com)

'Times have changed': Pictures of Afghan women before Taliban rule go viral - South Asia News (wionews.com)

In Afghanistan, now even the female mannequin’s faces must be covered.

The Taliban have ordered all shopkeepers to either behead female mannequins or cover their faces.

This is symbol of the Taliban's treatment of women in Afghanistan. Haunting. pic.twitter.com/2mwuL3gaEZ

— Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) January 19, 2023

Wherever we are in the world, if you are a woman or a girl, you must realize that this could be you too.  Fighting for women's and girls' rights is about prioritizing my life, my future, and the future of all women and girls. In this male-dominated world, not one of us female human beings is so "free" that we can't have it all snatched away in an instant. 

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