Last year, I had one winter blooming flower in my front yard. Now I have a small colony, surviving snow and frigidness.
Someone called it an evening primrose but according to Wikipedia, that would open only at the close of day. Mine opens all day, everyday.
I believe someone else called it a wood rose. Is that what this is?
By whatever name, it is sweet. It is my own, personal miracle that appears in January and persists.
As must we all.
More than 225 years ago, English author Mary Wollstonecraft wrote that women were coerced into believing -- “that they were created rather to feel than [to] reason, and that all the power they obtain, must be obtained by their charms and weakness.”
No one believes that now.
Or not many people.
But traces of that anomaly seep into attitudes that are perverted into excuses for various crimes against women-- whether violence, abuse, or patronizing behavior/comments.
An occasional pat on the back is okay. Pats on the head are not. Neither is any form of uninvited groping or grabbing.
The whole man/woman thing is fraught with . . . almost everything. Attraction is inevitable. Detraction, not acceptable. Sexual tension can be delightful but respect is required. Permission sought. Mutuality confirmed.
Whole industries are founded on stoking the fires of desires. Extreme décolletage rules. Misogyny rules. Lasciviousness rules.
Enough.
Whether we are 8 or 18 or 80, each of us must establish boundaries, advocate personal autonomy, and work to protect those females who have a hard time doing it on their own.
At least stand with them.
Now is the time.
For all of us.
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