(CW: rape)

always use the active voice. that is what mrs. reynolds taught us in AP english. that is what so many of my english teachers have told me since. what they did not tell us was the cost. (<- engaging opening anecdote)

they made it sound so easy. dear people, it is not. (<- connecting with the audience through a direct address)

the thing is, the whole language works against us. the sentence structures work against us. the institutions do not love us and neither do our words.

because it is far, far easier, in english at least, for me to have been raped than for a man to have raped me, for men to have raped me. Continue reading →