Thread by @HollyStallcup

Today you are going to watch a lot of women, across the political spectrum, share the videos of @AOC calling out the bull on the House floor.

Why? Because this is what it is to be a woman in a society built on patriarchy. Because every one of us has a story, or twelve.

We've been name called on the playground & told that he is picking on us because "he likes you".

We've blushed at comments made about our new bodies in middle school before crying at home.

We've been told no one wants to date us as high schoolers because we are "intimidating".

We've gone to college, been hit on by professors, and then been dragged for saying "no".

We've entered the workforce at lower pay than our male counterparts, asked illegally about our plans to start a family in our interviews for promotions.

We have been asked over and over and over again when we are going to "settle down" and then asked if we have tried online dating.

We have had our parents give our siblings with kids all the attention because they have made their lifelong dream of becoming grandparents come true.

We've been told that "he apologized" when he didn't say our name, didn't name his behavior, outright said we were lying, and then explained his "passion".

We've been asked what we were wearing,

We've bravely told the truth, then been ignored, dismissed, blamed.

We've stayed when we should have left, because we had been told since we "played wedding" as preschoolers that nothing was worse than to be alone.

We've been talked over only for a man to say the same thing a day later and be applauded.

We've stayed in abusive relationships for years because no one ever told that abuse was bigger than being hit.

We've been told to "loosen up" when we didn't think sexual harassment was funny.

We've been retaliated against and fired for reporting.

We've been told that THE COLOR OF OUR HAIR means we are ditzy and dumb.

We've starved ourselves to catch the eyes of men who will never respect us.

We've been relegated to youth, children's and women's ministry despite our seminary degrees and decades of experience.

We've worn painful, non-functional clothes and shoes to look "professional and put together" while men wear khakis, polos and loafers.

We've been shamed for staying home. We've been shamed for working.

We've been shamed for not breastfeeding and then shamed for daring to breastfeed in public.

We've been given "spending money" from our own damn spouses.

We've told our daughters to put on makeup before they leave the house, and then hated ourselves for saying so.

We've been told birth control is only our responsibility, that men just can't control themselves.

We've worn pantsuits and cut our hair short when some of us really want to wear flowery skirt and long curls.

We've said no to conferences because "how will he handle the kids".

In a million ways, almost everyday since we were barely old enough to speak in complete sentences, we have been told we were "disgusting", "out of our mind" and a "fucking bitch".

Yoho simply said the quiet thing out loud.

Even with the best parents, the best teachers, the best churches, we have all been forced to swim in the undercurrent of misogyny.

We have been harmed and, devastatingly, harmed each other with the belief that women are less than.

So today, we are @AOC and she is us. Today, if even for a moment, we get to stand with her and call out the bull that she experienced this week. And if we are lucky, we gain a little strength from her words, her dignity, her tenacity to call out the bull in our own lives.