(furyosa)
To the handmaidens of the 'Be Kind' brigade
She said 'Be kind' to the children protesting displays of their male teacher's fetish

She said 'Be kind' to the female athlete protesting the male athelete winning her race

She said 'Be kind' to the woman protesting a man's presence in her communal showers

She said 'Be kind' to the hospitalized woman protesting a man's presence in her ward

She said 'Be kind' to the raped woman protesting a man's presence in her shelter

She said 'Be kind' to the imprisoned woman protesting a male rapist sharing her cell

She said 'Be kind' but the kindness she's demanding only goes one way

She said 'Be kind' as she lay prostrate before her male masters

We said 'No' as we will not join you in your prostration

We said 'No' as we stand for women's sex based rights

( BlueToyotaTacoma )
It's why I have decided to stop feeling guilty all the time. My dad tried to make me feel like shit because he has a way of making his victims feel like they're the perpetrators. He is a narcissist and these men are the same. I don't owe anything to narcissistic men and neither do any of you. I don't care if he calls me a "little shit," a "manipulator," or anything else. Similarly, I don't care if they call me a "transphobe" or "bigot" or whatever. These men are just as bad as my dad. They are exactly the same kind of toxic person.

I'm sick of being made to feel small by men. When it comes to narcissists I'd rather be an "asshole" than a handmaiden.

(Vasilisa )
I felt so moved reading this. I think it encapsulates, in a very concise form, what it means to be a woman. I’m thinking here of the fact that I too was in the “be kind” brigade. We are conditioned to be so and much as I regret this, it was hard to unlearn - if it’s even possible to unlearn completely.

I see the “we” in the last verses as being a union of the “she”’s in the first verses. It’s finding a collective that gives strength, conviction and “class consciousness” to (some) women (like me. Others may not need it, and brava to them!).

I will save it to reread, (yes) thank you, furyosa.