Thanksgiving?

I'm completely aware it's the wrong time of year, in fact nearly the opposite time of year, 6 months later, moving from winter to summer, not vice versa, but I don't care. I've got good reason.

I am not required to travel only with the permission and accompaniment of a male relative.
I can legally work.
I have nearly 15 years of schooling under my belt, and there's no reason why I can't get more.
I have never been intentionally locked in somewhere.
I have never been severely beaten.
I reached the age of majority in my country of residence without being married off.
I have both hot and cold running water in my building.
I am not forced to cover my hair or face in public.

Much as I frequently voice (justified, in my opinion) complaints about the state of women's rights in my own country, in relative terms, this is not so bad. I just finished reading Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, which reminded me, as something does every now and again, to take a second to be thankful for how far things have come in this country, however far we may still have to go.

Even more so, I dream of the day where every woman on earth, indeed, every person on earth, can be thankful for every single one of those things.

Daydream Believer

How Far is Heaven?

I could.

Bleach my hair out, wear too much eyeliner, wear skinny jeans and decry all things "ordinary".

I could.

Be petty and mean and fake and pretend flawlessness and put everyone down who doesn't meet my exacting standards of thinking just like me.

I could.

Follow all the other lemmings off the bridge, place more stock in appearance than fibre, go on a diet and weigh exactly one hundred and nine pounds, and then complain about how fat I am.

I could.

Stand by and watch, listen, speak only when spoken to, or about.

I won't.
I'm sick of this shit, how old are we?

And I would love to say this is just about me, that I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself because I want something from someone, because I feel gypped. I do as well, but at the moment I'm more concerned with who else this affects. Really, girl, grow up.