Something has been bothering me for quite sometime and I’ve been ignoring the urge to give it life. That’s not typically like me however I’ve been busy with other projects in my life and I put this thought, rather concern, on the back burner.
Unfortunately, (really fortunately) but I say unfortunately because sometimes it’s bothersome to me how the Universe has a way of agreeing with me and nudging (really nagging) me to address whatever is bothering me by continuing to draw attention to it. So, as I am scrolling through my Instagram feed, looking at random things on Facebook and even Google the thing that continues to blare in my face is a word. The word, one would say is seemingly harmless however the context in which it could be used, at times, aggravates my soul. I guess now more than ever when I see it used to describe me, as I am today, I almost have a visceral reaction.
What’s the word, you ask that could give cause to such a physical response? The word is girl. Yes, girl. Why am I still being referred to as a girl, when I am most certainly not! I don’t mean as in someone has mistaken my age, what I am referring to is why do we still perpetuate this term when referring to a grown ass woman. The context in which a grown melanated woman is referred to a girl came from slavery and I’m not about that life. See, I know that to refer to a black woman as a girl was clearly a way to let her know that she was less than and I don’t know about you, however I am more than. And you know what’s unfortunate is that in today’s society we’ve kept it alive. Most unfortunate it is within the melanated community that it still thrives the most. I for one am sick of it. I want the distinction, hell I’ve earned the distinction.
My rant isn’t meant to be long, cause it’s just a thought I’m sharing. I fully expect most people to disagree with me but this is just my opinion and not a fact. However, I will leave you with the last thing I saw which was the final encouragement that I needed to finally write this out and that’s a recent quote on Instagram which said “colonization ended but its effects and consequences of it continue to effect people of color” Gabes Torres. Let that simmer in your soul. I am now going to listen to that podcast because, well…it got my attention.
