Compiled and arranged from “Fighting the tyranny of ‘niceness’: why we need difficult women” by Helen Lewis
Difficult.
It's a word that rests on a knife's edge:
when applied to a woman,
it can be admiring, fearful, insulting, and dismissive, all at once.
She was "a bloody difficult woman," he said.
Unreasonable.
Selfish.
Unfeminine.
Rude.
Thoughtless.
Obnoxious.
Diva.
Problematic.
Traits of women who stand up for themselves:
Difficult
Then there's the second meaning of difficult.
Changing the world is always difficult;
The demand for greater rights.
It faces opponents. It causes backlash.
Then there is the difficulty of womanhood itself -
In a world built for men, women will always struggle to fit in.
Our bodies:
Fluid.
Hard to read.
Unpredictable.
Mysterious.
Unknowable.
Our minds:
Silly.
Emotional.
Weak.
Fickle.
Subjective.
Victims.
People are complicated;
making progress is complicated too.
Feminism is not a self-help movement,
dedicated to making everyone feel better about their lives.
It is a radical demand to overturn the status quo.
We need difficult women.
About The Author
Jeana Prudhomme
Jeana Prudhomme is a Communications professional, as well as the Founder and Editor of Respect Your Mother Magazine. She received B.A in Communications from Alverno College in 2017, and a M.A in New Media and Professional Writing in the Spring of 2022. After years of focusing on solutions journalism and non-fiction writing related to feminism and sustainability, she has created art from her passions in the form of this ecofeminist magazine.
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