photo: Pixabay
All of us, have been conditioned to remain silent. Fortunately, the conditioning doesn't always take. Sometimes, an issue becomes so overwhelming that even the meekest person will stand up to be counted.
The thing is, we have been taught NOT to speak out, NOT to tell the truth, by those who need us to be quiet so they don't have to deal with us. The rich and powerful want sheep, so they can do anything they like and the sheep will just remain in the pasture eating grass and not fight back when they are being dragged away to be slaughtered.
So many people have told me how afraid they are to say what they think. They are afraid to draw attention to themselves, afraid of being targeted, hurt, afraid to stand out in a crowd. Violence, and the threat of violence, keeps people silent for a reason. We are not expected to make waves and the punishment can come fast and furious. That in itself should show everyone how terrified the rich and powerful are of THE PEOPLE. They know we have the power and they punish and scare people into not using that power against them as they have used their wealth and power against all of us.
I understand, on some level, how afraid some people are of standing up, or speaking out. Especially the first few times. But for those who are unaware that they have been conditioned to be silent, FORCED to be silent, they might want to think about things in a new way.
I grew up at a time when the saying, put your money where your mouth is, meant stop talking and do something about whatever it is. It can be dangerous. Deadly even, depending on what it is. But just know that we were trained, brainwashed into shutting up and sitting down because the powerful NEED us to shut up and sit down, or they will fall off their pedestals. They want people to be afraid. Just know that. They can't hold their power together without our silence.
Think of the brave women who came before us and fought for our right to vote, to own our own children. Women who made it possible for us to go to college, work, buy a house. Without their voices and without them standing up, and yes, without them suffering, women would still be locked in houses, and under the thumb of whichever man they were GIVEN to. Those women were probably terrified at times. They came from a place where they were expected to be invisible and do as they were told. But they found the courage to fight for what they thought was right and YES other women stood AGAINST them, not wanting themselves to get the vote because patriarchy is so evil and their brainwashing so deep, that some women couldn't see they were killing the freedom for themselves and for their daughters.
But Susan B. and Elizabeth Caddy Stanton, Alice Paul and all the other brave women who stood up and said, NO! They opened the door to the beginnings of freedom for women. The freedom to own our own bodies, which is under threat by MEN right now, and by the women who are still blinded by their conditioning enabling them to fight against their own sisters/gender. We can never thank those brave women who fought for us, and for our right to exist and be counted.
How many times has a woman wanted to speak out but, was afraid to say anything? Think about it and you'll see how deep the conditioning is that made women live in silence for their entire lives and train their daughters to do the same.
Life is dangerous. But if we are living in a country where it's dangerous to say what we think, then freedom of speech is one more lie. If the country devolves into Russia, where a person is jailed for holding a sign, then we let it happen. We can SEE IT HAPPENING NOW.
But don't just listen to me, Audre Lorde can say it better than I can...please read the following:
"Your silence will not protect you": Healing with Audre Lorde
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