Thread by @monaeltahawy

#ThisIs53: it is not my birthday. I want you to see a 53yo woman. I’m saying “Here is a middle aged woman. Look,”at a time when it seems that every time I look away, my body has changed. 

Read & share my new essay👉🏽: feministgiant.com/p/essay-perime… #Perimenopause
📷 @rerutled

As I navigate #Perimenopause, l’ve been thinking about Nefertiti and Bruce Lee.

When people think of the #Egyptian Queen, they think know that gorgeous bust of hers 👇🏽 feministgiant.com/p/essay-perime…

But I think of Standing Nefertiti.

My belly nods at her belly, knowingly; in the way that when you’re the only person of colour in a white space you nod knowingly when you see another person of colour. I see a middle aged, cisgender Egyptian woman, like me. And I nod, knowingly

To look honestly at our bodies as we age is to begin to understand what Bruce Lee meant when he said be “like water.”

To acknowledge the folly of “control.” At a time when we enthusiastically vow to become ungovernable vs fascism, to believe we can “control” our bodies is folly

Standing Nefertiti eschews that folly. She is a middle aged woman saying “Look at me, breasts and belly and all.” Millenia before Bruce Lee, Standing Nefertiti’s power came from being like water--her power was to stand in her body as it was. feministgiant.com/p/essay-perime… #Perimenopause

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Also available as an audio essay:

soundcloud.com/mona-eltahawy-… #ThisIs53 #Perimenopause