Women, We Are on the Precipice of a New Paradigm: Keep the Fire Burning.
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I have been feeling the need to write this, because I know we are on the precipice of the next pivotal phase in this tricky and transitional moment we’re in.
Not long after the start of #MeToo, I started feeling apprehensive because I knew enough to anticipate the other shoe. You know. That shoe. The threat of the words witch-hunt and hysteria eventually being used to encompass a very important and potentially positive shift.
Don’t get me wrong, no doubt there are people who have (and are going to continue to) hijack this movement to suit their own advantage, and that absolutely sucks. And yes, all accusations need not only be heard, but investigated. But before we push the needle too far in the opposite direction, let’s remember that this is new territory we’re exploring.
Not six months ago, harassment was considered normal until we finally collectively said, “What the actual fuck?”
If it seems like a lot of women are coming forward, that’s because they are. The truth is, this has happened to a lot of women. Yes, I will dare say every woman (many men too, but for the sake of this article, I am going to focus on the women). They are speaking up now, and that’s (I hope) the start of a new paradigm.
Not every accusation is going to be legitimate, but generalizing it as a witch-hunt is very dangerous, not to mention offensive. Those witches (who were tortured and killed) were mainly women, persecuted by mainly men, and I’d say they were once again the ones who got the shit end of the stick.
Calling it hysteria is also a slap in the face, as hysteria was a bullshit misogynistic medical diagnosis. Back in the day, if a woman was headstrong, emotional, or didn’t obey her father or her husband, Oh, it must be because of her pesky floating uterus. (Damn that thing, it’s floating again!)
And since a woman didn’t have rights and couldn’t own property, she could just be committed, and her husband would then be free to take everything she had in her name and remarry. I find it darkly ironic that the very terminology that symbolizes epic female persecution now might be used against a movement for women.
We are making noise now. That’s a first. For anyone who claims that women naming names has ruined lives, none of the women who have spoken up has had the power to fire anyone. No, in general, it’s been the industry that has been firing people.
It seems that this very industry that had previously endeavored to keep all of the nasty bits under the rug is now chopping off heads left and right, because it doesn’t know for sure how this whole thing is going to play out.
This is a town run on fear, and it fears being on the wrong side of public opinion. But believe me, if public opinion were to sway back in the other direction, people could easily stop listening and women could be railroaded into silence once more. That’s why we have to be very careful of the words we use and the accusations we make.
This movement has the world’s attention now, and as a result, corrupt people are going to commandeer it for their own warped agendas. That’s the real witch-hunt. But putting the onus on the women honestly speaking out can’t help but silence them again. I really don’t know the solution, except to remember that this is our movement. Everyone with a progressive mindset is on the same side.
Let’s make room for each other, accept that we’re all breathing at a different altitude and learning a new vocabulary. Let’s tread carefully and respectfully, but wisely and deliberately. Let’s keep listening, but let’s keep our eyes open. Don’t let the bastards turn the progress around.
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Andrea Gabriel is an actress, writer, creatrix, insatiable spiritual seeker, cheeky monkey, and certified spiritual life coach and guide. Her purpose is to reconnect humanity with its own intuition, authentic truth, and source energy. An intuitive empath since early childhood, her passionate intention is that everyone is able to experience the exquisite infallibility of his or her own true self, and her focus is to help facilitate individual connection with one’s innate intuition, power, and potential. She firmly believes that everyone has the ability to carve out the sweetest, most magical life imaginable, and her intention is to facilitate a spiritual community of like-minded light workers to spread kindness, love, and compassion throughout the world. She also loves the Muppets, beer, and very dark humor. Go figure. You could contact her via Gypsy Rogue.
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