The argument got so heated yesterday that I was yelling at this pro-Trump protester. A passerby, likely offended by my critique, went inside the building and complained to security. When security came outside, because of my past experiences, I tensed up. I was prepared to be misgendered and attacked based on my appearance, as well as being victimized by someone power-tripping.
Yet when he walked up to us, he informed us that a woman had complained about “a woman yelling outside.”
Woops. That was me.
But wait there’s more. No one batted an eye at my sleeping bag — perhaps because of the ridiculously high cost of housing in Arizona that’s left much of my path through the state littered and filled with the homeless. Still worse, some are veterans. Many more are just struggling to get by.
In the country as a whole, a person making minimum wage and working full-time cannot afford a rental anywhere in America. But it didn’t seem this bad in New Mexico…
Still, this isn’t what made me proud. Before I move on from the topic though, I doubt it’s something that can be answered in this article, say, as simple as finding the fault in resort communities for 55+ year-old retirees.
When security came outside, because of my past experiences, I tensed up. I was prepared to be misgendered and attacked based on my appearance, as well as being victimized by someone power-tripping.
Yet when he walked up to us, he informed us that a woman had complained about “a woman yelling outside.”
Woops. That was me.
But wait there’s more. No one batted an eye at my sleeping bag — perhaps because of the ridiculously high cost of housing in Arizona that’s left much of my path through the state littered and filled with the homeless. Still worse, some are veterans. Many more are just struggling to get by.
In the country as a whole, a person making minimum wage and working full-time cannot afford a rental anywhere in America. But it didn’t seem this bad in New Mexico…
Still, this isn’t what made me proud. Before I move on from the topic though, I doubt it’s something that can be answered in this article, say, as simple as finding the fault in resort communities for 55+ year-old retirees.
Nor was it the proof of Trump supporters’ cop out from reality. In this case, as soon as the cop came out, the protestor walked away. In a hurry apparently, because they were gone!
No. The prideful moment was before those last two. “A woman had complained about a woman yelling outside.”
There it was: validation!
In that moment, I could have cried. After all the struggles I’ve been through and wanted to scream, finally, I learned that I could. I could raise my voice and still be identified as a woman.
Let me say that again, for my friends whom wish me the best in my life:
I could raise my voice and still be identified as a woman.
Brienna Parsons 