Howl @ the Moon

HOWL @ the Moon By Amy Ca ton CULTURE CLASH (WOMEN’S ISSUES)

FOR CENTURIES, A DEFINING FEATURE OF BEING A WOMAN IS HAVING A SECOND-CLASS VOICE IN ANY ROOM, (IF YOU CAN GET INTO THE ROOM, BUT

THAT’S ANOTHER ISSUE). Women inherit a societal playbook that teaches subservient silence and nonverbal compliance while working with a reduced allotment of verbal space in a conversation. Speak less, smile more. As a woman I often experience and witness women fight to be heard, not get talked over, or be dismissed for talking too much. As a woman, I also witness this effect and behavior with transgendered women and effeminate men. So let’s rethink and expand our definition of women as the target of this discrimination. The scope of the term women is capable of including non-dominant, male identities. The term women is flexible and incorporates effeminate characteristics. However, for all that women includes, it does not seem to include our voice.

There is a deep growl growing in the absence of women’s voices. Can you hear it? It’s the grinding of teeth, swallowed howls, and subvocalized rebellion of millions of women’s missing voices.

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3 Here’s how:

Be assertive and make statements not asks.

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Don’t rush. Take the time you need to share, present, and explore your ideas.

Keep talking. If someone talks over your sentence, ignore them and keep talking like you can’t even hear them.

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Use your voice to repeat and support what the woman next to you said to bring her voice and ideas back into the conversation.

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Hold the silence and don’t be tempted to fill it by repeating or re-explaining your idea. Silence can be powerful and used to make a point.

So howl woman! Howl and growl and bark to defend your voice.

Let’s reset the classism of voice and get out of our own heads to recognize and value diverse voices and ideas. The defining feature of being a woman should be including, valuing, and applauding other women’s voices, ideas, and successes. To all the non-women, give this a try: wait your turn to speak, search for connection and meaning in other’s ideas, and listen actively. To all my fellow women: Speak when you want; smile when you feel like it.

“To all my fellow women: Speak when you want; smile when you feel like it. “