Mariah Carey doesn’t know it, but I’m adopting this lyric as my new mantra for the crusty-ass cishet patriarchy. I’ve identified as a feminist for as long as I’ve known the word, but until Trump was elected, my feminism felt like an application to the powers that be. I hereby request for you to take me seriously as a human despite my gender. Now it’s a proclamation, homies. Not only do I think womxn should be “granted” equal rights and treatment under the law – I think it’s time for us to be the ones making the laws. Not only do I think womxn should be “given” equal pay – I think it’s time for us to be the ones writing the checks. Not only do I think womxn should be “awarded” more complex roles in Hollywood – I think it’s time for us to be writing, directing, and producing those stories. You get the gist.
 
Big fat pause here to disclaim everything I’m saying for womxn goes for people of color, queer, trans, and nonbinary folks. The following list reflects my own personal experiences, so I will be focusing on feminism, but EVERYONE who has experienced discrimination, for no reason at all other than to ensure the patriarchy can continue to comfortably lounge on the sofa of society with its greasy hands down its sweatpants, deserves so, so, so much more.
 
I was an American Studies Major in college. I’ve always been fascinated by the hypocrisy of this nation – how gallant values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness somehow coexist with the gruesome practices of displacing, enslaving, and abusing entire populations of humans. It seems as though we all agree that our proudest moments as a nation involve innovation, determination, and freedom. Who doesn’t love being the hero of their own story? American Revolutionaries. Space race champions. World War II ass-kickers. Manifest destiny junkies. Fuck yeah, ‘Merica. But just about any piece of literature or Marvel movie will tell you heroes aren’t perfect. They make poor choices on the reg. BUT, they learn from those mistakes and make better choices, thereby retaining their hero status. America always tries to skip that part of the story. The fervor with which our country has swept its own hypocrisy under the rug has always surprised and disappointed me. Still, I felt like the dial was slowly but surely turning toward a more progressive society. But ever since Trump’s lying ass started treating the Constitution like toilet paper, I am more than surprised and disappointed. I’m disgusted. If we’re going to be flushing shit in this country, let me make a quick case for why it should be the patriarchy instead of democracy.  
 
1. Fifty-Two Percent
I was devastated when Trump won the election, and my Mexican wife was like “welp, just another day in America.” The fact that I was crying and throwing shit at the TV while she was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner showed me that I still had expectations that the government owed me something as a tax-paying citizen. Audrie scoffed at me – you’re just now realizing the government could give a rat’s ass about you? I felt like an idiot. Then I found out the number of white womxn voters who cast a ballot for Trump, and I felt like an even bigger idiot. Some of these womxn are my friends, some of them my relatives. Some of them gung-ho MAGA moms, some of them hardcore Hillary haters. Whatever the case, I racked my brain and just couldn’t understand how ANY womxn could vote for a man who has so openly disparaged and disrespected womxn. Enter the patriarchy, a system that says womxn don’t deserve respect. Listen, I’m not really here to lay blame on anything or anyone other than this system. People make the best choices they can for themselves, and that’s why voting is so cool. But as one of the voters within the white womxn category, I am deeply disturbed by 52%. It is a number that demonstrates to me how womxn's ability to make choices  is impeded by a society that teaches them from birth that their interests are not as important as cis men’s. Those choices are further impeded by a society that conditions womxn to believe there is only so much room at the top for womxn. At least you’re in the boat, Becky, best not rock it. 94% of Black womxn voters called bullshit. Now, that’s a number to be proud of. Fifty-two percent is embarrassing. Election night made me realize that just because I have a leg up in this rigged system doesn’t make it any less rigged. Fifty-two percent makes me feel a greater sense of obligation to tear down the system because of my semi-comfortable position on the relative org chart of female discrimination. It’s not good enough to leave well enough alone. I’m talking to you, 48%.
 
2. Gun Violence and Toxic Masculinity
Why is it so hard for reporters to say, “white male” and “terrorist” in the same sentence? If mass shootings in this country are 98% cis male and 59% white, why are we not banning cis white men from purchasing or owning weapons (or at least putting up a zillion obstacles in the way)? Why are we so quick to explore his psyche after he kills hundreds of innocent people (mental illness!), yet so adamant about restricting his emotions and belittling his feelings from a very young age (boys don’t cry)? The patriarchy, that’s why. Could you imagine if womxn were shooting up movie theaters and concerts and schools and churches at this rate? First of all, you can’t imagine it, because killing scores of innocent people isn’t generally how womxn process their emotions. Secondly, if this were the case, the government would straight up not allow womxn in public without a cis male guardian or some shit. Bottom line, cis men get away with murder, quite literally, because the patriarchy is not set up to hold them accountable for shit. All the more reason to get rid of it. Let’s start with taking their guns. You can let the womxn keep theirs. And not to go off on a tangent, but let’s demilitarize law enforcement while we’re at it. At least until we’ve raised one full generation of cis men who are 100% A-Okay with wearing pastels, crying, apologizing, playing with dolls, and doing push-ups on their knees.
 
3. Pigskin Protests and Power Dynamics
I mean, I have just had it with the stupidity of this one. If there’s one thing the patriarchy hates, it’s admitting its own abuse of power. It will stop at nothing to squash a reasonable protest, even if it means having the balls to tell marginalized members of society they should be grateful for the freedoms they do have, knowing full well those members don’t have anywhere near the freedoms that our system affords cis white men. Like, if you can’t admit to yourself in 2018 that it’s dangerous just to be Black and near a police officer, I don’t even know where to start the conversation. If you think standing for a flag salute helps veterans more than a government taking care of its veterans helps veterans, I feel like you’re missing the bigger picture. But if, on top of all that denial and hypocrisy, you assert that “respecting the flag” is more important than protesting the violation of freedoms said flag is supposed to represent, I just want to start screaming into a pillow. I know I’m veering off into other forms of oppression, but it’s all connected to feminism, and I just keep thinking how differently the whole situation would be handled if womxn were in charge. Perhaps we would applaud Kaepernick for using his position to show society how it was possible to discuss and advance social justice in a peaceful, civilized manner. Maybe we’d commend him for protesting nonviolently since it shows so much more poise and restraint than going guns-blazing into a public venue, or thumbs-blazing into the Twittersphere. A womxn president certainly wouldn’t send a womxn VP to stage some sort of childish protest-the-protest bullshit. Seriously, dudes? That’s the best you’ve got? You’re still turning everything into a pissing contest? If any tax-paying American citizen has a grievance, don’t our elected leaders owe it to that citizen to hear them out and find a sensible solution? You know who’s good at listening and finding sensible solutions? Womxn. We’d probably be well on our way to lower police brutality rates as we speak. And on our damn lunch hour, we’d probably make some calls and change the racist-ass lyrics of the Star-Spangled Banner. Call me crazy, but I think it’s poor form to leave the word “slave” in a song that’s supposed to represent liberty and justice for all.
 
4. Unsolicited Opinions
If you’ve been following me on social media for any significant period of time, here’s where I will sound like a broken record. I don’t think the majority of cishet men understand that it’s inappropriate to offer unsolicited advice and opinions. I can’t tell you the number of times they (usually white, usually complete strangers) have happened upon something I’ve written or shared on my digital real estate and taken it as an invitation to educate, disagree with, or downright insult me. I’ve heard the argument that “I’m asking for it” by posting my opinions on a public forum in the first place. Where have I heard that before? The argument that if I exist in the world, I somehow deserve to be messed with? Look. Your unsolicited opinion is the conversational equivalent to a dick pic. I have no use for it. Unless I specifically say “hey, what do you guys think about this?” – I’m actually not asking for anything at all. I need nothing from you. Guess what happens when I come across shit I don’t like on the Internet? I delete, I block, I ignore, I report, or I keep scrolling. (Unless the person is an elected official, because they get paid to hear what I have to say). And you know what? No one dies. Again, I’m not here to lay blame so much as point out flaws in our system. Sometimes men are unknowing victims of the patriarchy, too. Just as womxn have been conditioned to think their opinions aren’t valid, white cishet men have been conditioned to think theirs are paramount. When I do call them out on this, they usually accuse me of being sensitive or not willing to hear out alternative views. Where’s that pillow I was screaming into? How will I ever be able to put this in terms they will understand? Let’s see. It’s like if you walk into my house, uninvited, with a six pack of beer. Horrified, I demand that you leave, first and foremost because it’s my house, secondly because I don’t know who the hell you are, thirdly because I never asked you to come inside. As you leave, you call me derogatory names and accuse me of kicking you out because I didn’t like the kind of beer you brought. Who’s the unhinged one in that scenario? The patriarchy says it’s me so as to not hurt your feelings. But…but…but…how come I don’t bite your head off when you say something nice or agreeable? Using the home invasion scenario, a non-creepy compliment is not an uncalled-for intrusion of space. It’s an acknowledgement. A wave hello from across the street. Plus, every time you acknowledge a womxn's point of view as valid, the patriarchy dies a little bit, so I allow it.
 
5. Bitch
Last week I had a lovely breakfast date with my friend Sharisse where we talked about all things feminism and patriarchy. She told me how it’s pretty much a weekly occurrence for cis guys to call her a bitch or a cunt. Just for existing. On a walk. At the store. Online. I hope you will believe me when I say, no, she is not asking for it.
 
That night, I went to a songwriter meetup where Shelly Peiken – co-writer of the Meredith Brooks’ hit “Bitch” – was a guest speaker. When Peiken began talking about the song, I got a little misty-eyed. (I’m proud to say I held it together much better than that time a couple years ago I openly wept at an Alanis Morissette show). When I was a young girl, witnessing womxn musicians own their strength gave me the courage to start sharing my own songs and stories. Call me a sensi bitch, but that shit gets me emotional.
 
Peiken went on to give a bit of context about writing the song. In a nutshell, she was feeling PMS-y on her way home one day, and thought to herself, thank goodness my boyfriend is willing to put up with me when I’m like this. Nothing against the song – it’s a great song. I don’t want to take away what it did for womxn artists at that time. It’s a big deal for womxn to be unapologetic in art. But really digging into the context and the lyrics proved yet again just how the ever-present patriarchy has its talons even in feminism, even in art. People lost their DANG MINDS when this song came out. Brooks is still on random internet lists as one of the “angstiest” women in music. For this song!? A song where a male partner is essentially awarded a lyrical trophy for being a decent human who accepts his partner as a multi-faceted person. SHEESH. You wouldn’t want it any other way? I sure want it some other way. I want a society that doesn’t set such a low bar for acceptable behavior, that doesn’t thank or reward cishet men for hanging out at the baseline of human decency, that doesn’t universally blame womxn for cishet men’s repeated failure to reach that low bar, and that doesn’t punish or demean womxn for expecting more.  
 
6. Abortion and Unwanted Pregnancies
 
Last week, I came across Gabrielle Blair’s viral Twitter thread about abortion. If you haven’t read it, please abort reading this article and read hers instead. I’ll wait. Okay, you back? If I were a lawyer pressing charges against the patriarchy, I would submit this extremely thoughtful piece of writing as a part of my case. This article activated dormant layers of feminism within my brain I didn’t even know were there. I was surprised that common sense could sound so radical. But patriarchy be patriarchin’ like that. Even if you don’t read Blair’s article, here are two excerpts to ponder when it comes to the abortion issue:
 
“As a society, we really don’t mind if women suffer, physically or mentally, as long as it makes things easier for men.”
 
and

“In summary: STOP TRYING TO CONTROL WOMEN’S BODIES AND SEXUALITY. UNWANTED PREGNANCIES ARE CAUSED BY MEN.”
 
Seriously, chew on it. All this time we’ve been fighting over whether or not abortion is ethical and whether or not it should be legal. Why don’t we back that uterus truck up and move the fight over to the penis loading dock where it belongs? Look what happens when womxn take on complex issues. They come up with effective solutions! All we have to do is raise our baseline expectation for acceptable behavior.
 
7. Kavanaugh & The Supreme Court
 
Speaking of acceptable behavior, I’ll close on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a man who is interviewing for the job of a lifetime. Literally, if appointed, he will rule on cases that impact all of us for his entire lifetime. The stakes are high as shit, okay? We’ve heard partisan arguments about timing. Sneaky Democrats and their last-ditch efforts to railroad Trump’s hand-picked nominee. Weasley Republicans and their desperate attempt to “plow right through” with the nomination before they lose power. It’s par for the political course, right?
 
Here’s the thing, though. Even if the Democratic party is crying wolf on a monumental stage – whether to payback the GOP for a Garland no-vote, to protect Roe, or even to keep a President in an ongoing criminal investigation from appointing his own personal get out of jail free card – even if Democrats are evil, whiny, snowflake brats, it doesn’t matter. We don’t owe it to Democrats to thoroughly investigate Ford’s (and this just in – Ramirez’s) claim.
 
We owe it to womxn. This is how we change the culture. This is how we dismantle the patriarchy. It’s not about taking cishet men down. It’s about raising the bar for acceptable behavior. Because until we raise that bar, we’ll continue to live in a society where “we really don’t mind if women suffer, physically or mentally, as long as it makes things easier for men.”  I mind, y'all. I hope you mind, too.

It’s with great apprehension that I share the following story, which largely deals with the subject of anxiety. Not that I’m afraid to write about anxiety. I write about it all the dang time. I sing about it all the dang time. I live with it all the dang time. It took me quite awhile, but I am actually happy that I’ve learned to identify and discuss my own anxiety. It’s part of me, it always has been, and it always will be.
 
What makes me hesitate to share this story is the simple truth that the act of a woman publicly coming forward about a personal experience often results in the perception that she is attempting to victimize herself or vilify others. I am not interested in any of that. I am, however, interested in spreading some awareness about what it is to live with anxiety. As a musician. And as a female. So at the risk of burning professional bridges and/or sounding like a “crazy bitch,” I decided to go ahead and click that terrifying little share button:
 
So there I was, getting ready to play a restaurant gig. I was the second act on the lineup, so I arrived early and had plenty of time to grab a drink and order food. A nice man walks up to me and introduces himself as the percussionist for the first act. We chatted awhile, then he mentioned he’d be happy to sit in with me on my set. I politely declined, sharing with him that I struggle with anxiety and that it’s really hard for me to play on the fly with other musicians without rehearsing first.
 
I should note here what may not be obvious about this situation. Though I have reached a place where I’m generally comfortable talking about my anxiety via writing or music or performing, this information is not the easiest thing for me to share willy-nilly in the first one-on-one discussion I have with someone. I just met you, and off the bat I must disclose something that makes me very vulnerable and insecure as both a musician and a human. If I were a man, I think a simple “no, thanks” might have been sufficient, but this isn’t my first rodeo. A woman’s "no" doesn’t carry the same weight, and often requires an explanation, so I made sure to be as personal and direct and nonthreatening as possible when attaching my addendum.
 
The man and I joked that I picked a real winner of a profession seeing as how anxiety and performing don’t always go hand in hand (har har har, so peculiar, my life choices). People commonly assume that anxiety equals stage fright. It might for some, but not for me. I rarely have stage fright, and I’ve quite confidently performed for several (okay, maybe 5-6) large crowds in my day (hair flip). Vulnerable again, I shared with him that I’ve thankfully found ways to cope with my anxiety and that I even take medication for it.
 
Our pleasant conversation concluded and the night rolled on. The first act played a great set while I scarfed down some dinner with my wife, and then it was my turn to go on. My expectations for anyone to listen to my original songs were low, as I’ve played enough background music/bar gigs in my day to just grind through it. Even so, I was digging the atmosphere and enjoying myself. I was in the middle of a song when the aforementioned percussionist walked up to the stage area and started playing his cajon. Immediately, I felt the anxiety starting to well up in my chest. Across the room, I locked huge eyeballs with my wife. She’s witnessed my anxiety firsthand enough to know this was a red flag.
 
I had a decision to make, and I had to make it fast. Either roll over and let it happen (as I probably would have done in my younger years), or find my big-girl voice and stand up for myself. After the song finished, I leaned over and reiterated to the man that I didn’t feel comfortable playing with musicians on the fly. Going so far as to comfort him (why do women do this!?) I even persisted in my reassurance that it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with my own comfort level and anxiety. He proceeded to tell me how good he was at “feeling it out” to which I stated again that it had absolutely nothing to do with him or his skills as a musician. Then came the zinger. “Just give it one song,” he prodded. Now I was filled with anxiety and rage. Did this guy who I’ve known for a total of five minutes really just give me the musical equivalent of the classic “just the tip, just to see if it feels good” line?! I stared at him in disbelief and once again told him I wasn’t comfortable with him there. He finally got up and left.
 
Now, I’ve struggled with anxiety for so long that I’ve learned to control it…to a point. I am like a volcano in human form. When a panic attack is brewing, I might look fine on the outside, but there is lava-flavored dread bubbling just below the surface, invisible steam coming out of my ears, and I’m just waiting for an opportune (aka private) moment to erupt. I believe one of the reasons anxiety seems so vague (and dare-I-say imaginary) to people who don’t struggle with it is because the many people who do seem to have developed superhero powers when it comes to mastering the discrete panic attack.
 
On with the show, volcano. Still flustered, I trucked along with a few more covers until the guitarist from the first act heard one he liked and decided to join in. Now, I will clarify here that this man is a longtime friend of mine, and we had previously discussed the possibility of collaborating on a couple songs. Those two crucial details put me much more at ease than the previous encounter with the stranger-percussionist. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done at this point, so the whole thing felt a little twilight zone-y. I could feel the panic attack inching up my throat, so I set myself on autopilot and powered through the rest of my set as quickly as possible.
 
When it was over, I rushed into the restroom and locked myself in a stall. On came the tears. On came the heaving gasps for breath. On came the irrational thoughts that my lungs were going to collapse under the weight of my chest. I didn’t realize until I heard a toilet flush that someone was in the other stall.
 
Her: “Are you okay?”
 
Me: “Ye(gasp)ss. I’m(gasp)just(gasp)having(gasp)a(gasp)panic(gasp)attack.”
 
Her: “Do you want me to stay in here with you?”
 
Me: “No. I just (gasp) need to (gasp) get my (gasp) breath back.”
 
Her. “Ok, just take deep breaths.” Heads to the door. Pauses... “If it’s about a boy, just don’t think about him. Think about something else!”
 
It wasn’t really the best time or place to educate a stranger about my sexual orientation, but I appreciated her sincere offer to help, and her willingness to listen and accommodate my request for space. I finally gained enough composure to leave the stall, wash my face, and walk back to my seat. I could have kicked myself for not carrying my Xanax with me, but thankfully my dear friend had some essential oils in her purse. She gave me a good douse and I finally started to calm down.
 
Once I regained control of my breath, the shame, assumptions, and crippling self-doubt came along right on cue. Man, this drummer dude probably thinks I’m a crazy diva bitch. We share a lot of mutual friends – what’s this going to do to my reputation in the music scene? My friend will probably never invite me back to share a show with him. People are probably wondering why I’m all teary eyed in the back of the bar. People are probably wondering why I even play music at all. Why DO you play music at all, Lindsay? This is what you love? Having panic attacks in random bathrooms, for the love of music? You suck. You’re so terrible and high-strung and uncomfortable that you can’t even have a little easy-going jam session? Why do you always make a big deal out of nothing? You should quit. You should go find a normal job where you don’t have to burden people with the terrible experience of interacting with you. You are the worst. No talent at all. Not to mention ugly and fat. You are a sorry excuse for a musician, and quite frankly, you’re a sorry excuse for a human. The world is better off with out you.
 
Yep, that’s how bad it gets. Thankfully, I’ve learned how to quell those gnarly voices. It typically takes some careful combination of Xanax, sleep, exercise, my wife’s encouragement, a gratitude journal, and a therapist. The emotional toll is one thing, almost familiar and routine now, but the physical toll continues to take me by surprise. If you’ve ever experienced mild whiplash, that’s exactly how I feel the day after an anxiety attack. It’s the kind of discomfort you just have to wait out.
 
Again, I’m not sharing this story to place blame or call anyone out. I trust that people’s hearts are in usually in the right place. I LOVE people! I LOVE collaborating! For me though, time and preparation are HUGE tools I use to combat anxiety on a daily basis. Without them, I can go into a mind-numbing tailspin. I am sharing this story to crank up the volume on the often silent and lonely struggle that is dealing with anxiety. Compounded with the often silent and lonely struggle that is being a female musician, the impossible challenges and choices we face on a daily basis are so numerous, they become dangerously normalized. Everything from the way strangers speak to us, to the way we let them speak to us interferes with our ability to realize our full potential. We are socialized to make nice and not ruffle feathers. We are shown that advocating for yourself means you will be labeled as a raging fem-Nazi. We are taught to shut our mouth and sacrifice our sense of safety for the comfort of men around us. I’ve been playing music for a looooong time, and STILL I fight to overcome the “grin and bear it” cultural mindfuck that is being a woman in this industry (or any industry for that matter).
 
Whenever I hear stories about people with experiences that resemble my own, I’m comforted, and as a result my capacity for compassion grows. Whenever I hear stories about people with experiences that don’t resemble my own, I’m enlightened, and as a result my capacity for compassion grows. I hope there is a similar takeaway for people reading this post. For those who experience anxiety, I don’t wish to speak for you, because everyone is so different. However, I hope you know you aren’t alone. People like us are everywhere, and that makes the struggle less quiet and lonely. For those who don’t experience anxiety, I know I can’t expect you to read my mind. I accept the responsibility of advocating for myself so those around me understand what I’m comfortable with and capable of. In doing so, my wish is for understanding, but my demand is for respect. Just a little bit, just to see if it feels good.  

 Age 11
“NO! We do NOT use that language! It is ugly and mean! It is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!”
 
I had never been yelled at like that by anyone, let alone a teacher, let alone from the driver’s seat of a moving vehicle. Her shrill words shot like an arrow out of her mouth, soared over a handful of my wide-eyed classmates, found me slumped in the back bench seat of the school van, and pierced my well-meaning middle school heart with mortifying precision. What did I, a smart young girl, probably en route to some honors math competition, do to deserve such an attack?
 
I loudly yelled “C***KS!” as an Asian family drove by us on the freeway, that’s what. Somehow in my sheltered little farm town life, I had managed to skillfully detonate a racial slur before I really even knew what a racial slur was. I had no clue the word was harmful or derogatory; I just thought it was an observation. Me. A smart young girl, probably en route to some honors math competition.
 
I will never forget how I felt in that moment. My body went from zero to full sweat in about 2.2 seconds. I was overcome with shame, yet I still felt a strong urge to defend myself. Unfortunately, I couldn’t use the whole ‘I have Asian friends’ bit because my one and only Asian friend moved away when we were in kindergarten. I quietly apologized and shrunk into my seat, thinking about what just happened. My internal dialogue went something like this:
 
Well, I guess that was a shitty thing to say. I don’t have a problem with Asian people. Where did I even learn that word? Shit. I feel really bad. Awful, actually. Am I a bad person? I don’t want to be a bad person! I guess I wasn’t necessarily being bad because I didn’t know better. Stupid. I was being stupid. I don’t want to be stupid OR hurt anyone. So a) I’m definitely never saying that again, and b) I really gotta start wearing deodorant.
 
Age 17
“That makes you sound ignorant. Either you don’t like gay people, which is ignorant, or you’re using gay people to describe things you don’t like, which is ignorant.”
 
My sister was visiting from college, and we were headed somewhere to do something in her car. (Funny how the unimportant memories fade and the stuff that matters sticks). At the time, the phrase “that’s gay” was a really popular way to insult something or someone you didn’t care for, and I had just flippantly used the phrase in her presence. She didn’t let me get away with it.
 
In the moment, I rolled my eyes at her sensitivity and fired back on the defensive. “Sorrrrrryyyyy,” I said with my highest level of sibling-grade sarcasm. “I don’t mean anything bad by it. It’s just a stupid expression that every single person at my school uses to describe everything. I would never say it in front of a gay person.” (At that time, I knew a total of three gay people: one cousin and two neighbors. It didn’t even hit me that I was gay for another decade or so. Oh, the irony!) My sorry excuse for an explanation tasted gross coming out of my mouth. I sulked silently for a while.
 
Dammit. It does make me sound ignorant. She’s right. I hate it when she’s right. I don’t have to tell her she’s right because she already knows she is. So I won’t. And I won’t say “that’s gay” anymore either.
 
Age 27
“It just really upsets me when people say that. It’s so cruel…I know you didn’t mean it.”
 
There was no defense this time. I just sat there in my own ignorance and immediate remorse as my girlfriend’s face winced from the sting of my words.
 
Dammit! I know better than this. I can’t believe I let such an ugly word come out of my mouth. My co-workers say “that’s re****ed” all the time, and I ALSO get upset every time I hear it! Why would I say that? What kind of monster are you, Lindsay White?! Do better! Be smarter!

**********************************************************************************

​This is just three of roughly three million examples of my own ignorance. In these instances, I overcame the urge to be right and eventually swallowed the awful guilt of being wrong. It feels like losing, but in the end you’re rewarded, pinky swear. For the record, I don’t always seize (or even notice) every learning opportunity. I am a human after all, and we’re not the smartest creatures, despite our opposable thumbs and our position at the top of the food chain. For example, how embarrassingly long did it take us to figure out wheels on suitcases?
 
I definitely know I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, as demonstrated by the fact I just used that expression. I could stand to be more educated and make more informed choices regarding the environment, race issues, class issues, women’s issues, foreign policy, the economy, etc. I could go on and on.
 
So who was I to unleash my election rage like a hungry pack of snarling wolves onto anyone in my real or digital life who had the audacity to vote for Trump?

**********************************************************************************
None of it made me feel better (except the Disney song, a little bit) or smarter (except the Disney song, a little bit). I hardly even recognized myself. It was as if years and years of repressed anger came flying out of my fingertips. No one was safe from this verbal vomit. You can primarily thank cat-calling men, know-it-all men, men who call me sweetie, men who tell me to smile, men who have touched me without permission, religious people who don’t understand the separation of church and state, and my mother for that.
 
Trust me, I know expressing rage on social media is a colossal waste of human existence. Who did I expect to reason with on this forum? With insults, no less? I started having flashbacks to all the times in my life I’ve been scolded for saying or doing something hurtful. Using the same critical thinking skills that I’ve learned in those crucial moments, I momentarily dropped the case I’d built for myself, scanned my sensibilities, and tried to put myself in the shoes of those I riled against. These were my findings:
 
I meant what I said
I couldn’t find an emoji that quite encapsulated my emotions, so I went to town with my favorite coping mechanism: words. I was outraged at, hurt by, and scared of those who "at best dismiss — or at worst, celebrate" the blatant and strategic racism and misogyny of Trump’s campaign. I wanted to express my gut-wrenching, binge-eating, bowel-moving blend of anger, disappointment, and fear. You know that one breakup you have where you think life as you know it is OVER? It was like that, only about a million times worse. By the evening of November 8th, it felt like America abruptly dumped me allowed a new rapey boyfriend to grab her by the pussy on national television. Suddenly I was the personification of every Carrie Underwood song, slashing all the social media tires I could find. Maybe next time the electoral college will think before it cheats the popular vote. I know I offended people, and I truly take no joy in that. But I kinda just needed to rage against the dying of the light for a minute.

​​I’m also not entirely sorry about questioning the collective intelligence of Trump voters. When I cursed the white uneducated masses, I wasn’t talking about people who lacked the ability to earn a diploma. I was talking about all the frosted flakes out there who lacked the ability to discern that Tony the Tiger would make a better presidential candidate than Donald Trump. I mean, if you’re into the idea of an orange president who is obsessed with the word great, why not pick an affable cartoon cereal mascot instead of a despicable buffoon serial narcissist?

​Okay, I’m doing it again. I know people don’t like being called bigots and/or ignorant. But I just can not for the life of me wrap my brain around any door number three explanation that excuses HANDING DONALD TRUMP THE KEYS TO THE FREE WORLD UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER.

But I also meant it for myself
Sorry. I almost blacked out there for a second. That was like the scene in Wayne’s World where Wayne scares the camera away with his self-pity and frustration. “OK, things aren't that great, but I'll get 'em back, OK?”
 
Referring back to the breakup analogy, I had to give myself one last snotty-nosed, puffy-eyed look in the mirror. I was livid at my country, but eventually, the only thing left to analyze was myself. Why did America dump me? Where did I go wrong? What did I do to deserve this rejection?!
 
A sudden realization came over me.
 
Duh, Linds. This is how SO MANY people feel 24 hours a day. Rejected by the very country they love. So you’re just going to sit here and throw an online tantrum? Sorry, friend, that’s not gonna fly. You can’t just throw a safety pin on your black lives matter T-shirt and call it a day, boo. You can’t just wear your protest like a trendy fall flannel for election season. A lot of people don’t have the luxury of taking off their otherness. They don’t blend in like you. They’re used to this. This is why your Mexican wife is more upset by a Lakers loss than a Trump win. She’s used to the folks in charge not giving a shit about her. You’ve been throwing around the word bigot, but you’re also kinda racist in your own complacency, aren’t ya? Eeeshh, you don’t look so good. Now you feel even sicker to your stomach because you just realized you could have been doing more this whole time, huh? Ain’t that some Schindler’s List shit? While you’re reaching for that barf bag, I might as well just get something else off my chest. I’m just gonna go ahead and call you ignorant too. Spending all your time berating people for their vote on Facebook like a damn loser. SMH. You’re just like them. Scrolling down a random abyss of cute cats and lunchstagrams and hilarious Biden memes, peppered with haunting images of child refugees and fancy profile pic filters for the latest mass shooting. No wonder you can’t process shit. It’s already a jumbled mess by the time it hits your brain. You ask what you did to deserve this? It’s what you didn’t do. It’s what you aren’t doing. So stop staring at a screen and fucking do something. Call your representatives. Do your research. Don't fall for the shock headlines. Donate. Volunteer. Make art. Peacefully protest. Speak up. Talk to people. Listen to people. Write your ass off. Own your shit. Do better! Be smarter! 
 
Age 33
Hopefully those who felt insulted by my words can take comfort in the fact I also have no problem ripping myself a new one. Which, I guess is the point I’m not-so-eloquently trying to make. If we hope to clean up our collective mess, we all need to stop treating Facebook like a sloppy, silly cafeteria food fight and get to work on ourselves.
 
I know I can only do so much to hold government officials and the media accountable. (Mostly just using my vote, my phone, my wallet, and my brain). But I could be doing a LOT more to hold myself and others around me to the very standards I seek in a president. I see how I've fallen short at that even in this very post. I’m still trying to adjust the dial somewhere between “shut up and don’t cause a scene” and “let ‘em fucking have it” so bear with me as I learn my lessons and find my voice. And I’ll try to bear with America while she does some learning of her own.