It's like trying to drive a car with the hand brake on.
Releasing the hand brake--releasing any illusion of control--is the only way to go.
Releasing the hand brake in order to move, emerge, transform. #BloodyHell
Past 2yrs have taught me to do everything I can to NOT exacerbate my anxiety. When I was younger I saw therapists for depression. During a pandemic! Haha!
Perimenopause + pandemic = depression telling anxiety "She's all yours now, babe. Menopause Mona is all yours." #BloodyHell
I found out almost by chance that perimenopause–the time leading up to menopause–could last up to 14yrs. At first, I thought “Are you fucking kidding me?” That quickly turned to“How the hell did I not know that?” How was a feminist like me so ignorant about menopause? #BloodyHell
It is exactly when the once-whispered moves into the mainstream that it most matters who is speaking the once unsaid & who continues to be sidelined & silenced. Which is why I'm so excited to be editing #BloodyHell with @unbounders! feministgiant.com/p/essay-bloody…
Too often when feminism takes that brave dive into the deep end of a taboo, it takes along just a select few: white, wealthy, cisgender, heterosexual, able-bodied women.
I have exciting news! I have joined forces with the wonderful, award-winning publisher @unbounders to edit Bloody Hell! And Other Stories: Adventures in Menopause from Across the Personal and Political Spectrum. unbound.com/books/bloody-h…
I found out almost by chance that perimenopause–the time leading up to menopause–could last up to 14 years. At first, I thought “Are you fucking kidding me?” And that quickly turned to “How the hell did I not know that?” feministgiant.com/p/essay-bloody…
How was a feminist like me so ignorant about menopause? Was I not paying attention?
When I finally did start to pay attention: lo and behold! It seems that M is also for mainstream.
Some are calling it a revolution. I wish! A moment? A wave? A movement? Maybe!
I am learning, much to my thrill and awe, that one of the greatest gifts of the transition known as menopause is shamelessness. And the news is along those lines.
Patriarchy deploys shame like a drone: it shadows you, ready to take you out any minute, exhausting you by keeping you forever aware of its presence to the detriment of all other things that you could be investing your attention in.
Dec. 8, 2011: I had surgery on my left arm to straighten the fractured bone so that it could fuse properly, after Egyptian riot police broke it during the Mohamed Mahmoud protest on Nov 23/24.
The ortho surgeon inserted a titanium plate & 5 screws and I have a beautiful faint white scar that reminds me.
Soon after surgery,I flew from NYC to meet my family at my brother’s home in the Midwest: I asked for a wheelchair because I could not do anything w/both arms in casts
At boarding gate, I started to cry because I felt sorry for myself.
Onboard, I asked the woman sitting next to me to open the bottle that contained my pain killers. She asked what happened to me. I told her but knew that what had happened would be impossible for most to absorb.