Today I had a beautiful conversation with a worker from the hostel named Nicolas about how language informs power. How in language we can oppress people to the point where hierarchies are built. Even though our native languages are different we understood how oppressive both languages were towards women….yup back to patriarchal masculinity!
We brought back language to sexual and political identity, how matter-of-fact language and clear communication is power but because we oppress women in language since we are little it is a really hard skill to practice and become comfortable with. This is why I continue to do the work that I do because I want people to talk to each other. Let’s talk about political identity and sexual identity and everything in between! Let us not normalize our experience.
We can communicate with each other. I make fun of communication in this piece, which I decided to name “Just Add Water” (referencing the instant pancake mix by Aunt Jemima) by showing people the “simple steps” to peace, to communication, to love…….to good tasting food. “It” is not simple because of history but there are simple things we can do to control our history.
