“Do Not Touch Me!”
There is a time to be quiet, there is a time to be considerate and compassionate, and there is a time to put people in their place.
I needed to witness a woman unapologetically exercise her right to maintain autonomy over her body without worrying about the feelings of others. I needed to see a woman set a boundary without smiling, without saying please, and without begging or trying to compromise, all tactics I use to keep the peace externally while I am at war with myself internally.
Because yes, I want to just say what’s on my mind without giving a fuck about how I come off, whether that is abrasive or downright bitchy. I want to maintain seriousness when faced with conflict instead of trying to make light of how my feelings were hurt or my boundaries crossed. I want to just embarrass the fuck out of people and not feel bad about it afterwards, or consider whether or not they had good intentions as justification for sparing their feelings. Because whether their intentions are pure they still crossed a line.
And sure, there are times when I let people have it. But I don’t do it enough. That’s why I was so triggered.