“It’s the only safe space in a surveillance state,” one of my students asserts in a conversation that has left the pages of The Handmaid’s Tale and become about the girls’ bathroom down the hall.
So insightful Alissa. And set up so perfectly with the story:
These bodily spaces of collective grief and joy and relief and fear are necessarily exclusionary. Not just of boys, but of me, too. I’ve aged out. It’s a place I no longer belong. I won’t intrude.
And the next line:
“I want to be their choice not their circumstance.”
That’s a gut punch. A wake up call for me as a father. I want my teenage daughters to “choose”me vs. “contend” with me because I’m their dad.
+1 to what Karena said!
So insightful Alissa. And set up so perfectly with the story:
These bodily spaces of collective grief and joy and relief and fear are necessarily exclusionary. Not just of boys, but of me, too. I’ve aged out. It’s a place I no longer belong. I won’t intrude.
And the next line:
“I want to be their choice not their circumstance.”
That’s a gut punch. A wake up call for me as a father. I want my teenage daughters to “choose”me vs. “contend” with me because I’m their dad.
May your sons “choose” you too ❤️.
Thank you, James. I love hearing your reading always. I think my sons are about 60/40 with choosing and contending with me at the moment!
From the very first line, I am so glad to have you back in my inbox!
❤️❤️❤️ thank you, Karena