Dear Everyone,

     Recently, I've realized that I never stand my ground on societal topics and arguments. I do this because it's deeply ingrained in me by society, that as a teenage girl, my opinions don't matter because much of what we say is seen as "silly".
     And as a woman, my period, is apparently something that causes everything I say to turn into "Are you PMSing or something?" Other things that come with my being a woman: cat calling, judgement and/or correction referring to how I dress my body, comments like "boys won't like you if you ____ , really just the notion that my life revolves around boys, the deeply ingrained shame of my body because females are taught that we need to cover up because males can't control their eyes.  
      And as a human who suffers from mental illness a lot of people think I'm faking it, or I'm hungry for attention. BONUS: having to listen to people use my illnesses as adjectives (i.e. "I used to be anorexic."), having to listen to people tell me I can when I really can't, having to keep up with mentally healthy people in school and work, people automatically assuming I'm "crazy" or "I went off the deep end", and people who have no idea what to say to me, but they still say something.

       So I deal with that on a daily basis.

       But hear me when I say that I'm not complaining. Because I am lucky. I'm privileged.

       Emma's Privilege Tally:
       Native English Speaker
       Standard Accent
       Employed
       Cis Gendered
       White
       No Criminal Record
       Adult
       First World
       American
       Thin
       Attractive
       Born in country of residence
       Connected to family
       No Speech impediment
       Brown Haired
       Able Bodied
       Intelligent/Educated

       And that's a short list.
       Can you imagine if I was unprivileged in all these areas? I would've had to explain each one for you instead of the three that I did list. And that's the thing, I bet some of you didn't even think about some of the ways I am oppressed, because oppression is basically invisible most of the time.
        So I'm not going to be silent.
        Please expect several more blog posts like this one.
     
        And if this post just makes you that uncomfortable that you have to confront me about it, feel free. But chances are, this letter was meant for you.

         Signed,
         Emma