So you’ve probably seen this meme which is always some variation of being lost at work:

This was me in December when I found myself in the middle of a meeting with like 20 men. Actually, I’m not even Big Bird in this meme (he’s a BOY after all), but the woman in blue that you probably had never paid attention to before.

Now, this is not to say that nobody was paying attention to me. That wasn’t the case. This is more of a reflection on whatever happened in my life that made me suddenly find myself there. Luckily, I wasn’t wearing sneakers that day.

Once again, it’s one of those things that I think, what am I even complaining about? Wasn’t I there? Wasn’t I included? I WAS there. These 20 men paid attention TO ME (my favorite subject) when I talked. They treated me as EQUAL.

And yet… there was still something off.

So of course I did what I do best, which is to talk about it. I commented on this with some female coworkers after it happened. And most of the replies that I got from them were along the lines of oh, but that’s good for you! Or hopefully, there will be more women there in the future. Or it’s great that you were invited, this is great for your career!

This past year has been frustrating and scary regarding horrible men doing horrible things being celebrated by horrible men. Like how are these people in charge?! I’m absolutely tired of seeing men with huge egos but tiny thoughts just fucking getting away with things.

And before you complain about “Oh but it’s not only men, there are also horrible women in charge”, yes but EVEN THERE there’s no equity. Women have not even had the chance to have an equal number of horrible women in charge. And it sucks because I know we would be great at being horrible women. JUST GIVE US A CHANCE!

At many points in my life, there have been moments when I’m like oh wow, am I even going to be able to do this? And you know who were the ones who told me HEY, YOU’VE GOT THIS, YOU CAN DO THIS, YOU CAN COME TO ME IF YOU NEED HELP, YOU CAN COME TO ME IF YOU JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. It was women (some men too but this isn’t about youuuuu).

It’s always women.

I don’t know, maybe I’m just very lucky because I’m surrounded by amazing women. Whenever I think about the horrible men mentioned above and the scary status of the world and women’s rights around the world, women are always there to show me that we can keep going. More importantly, that WE SHOULD KEEP GOING and that we should keep fighting because this fight won’t be fought on its own.

Because can you explain how it is that Gisèle Pelicot, who went through what she went through, can still come out and say to other victims that they’re not alone and still show strength and courage to make sure other women don’t have to suffer what she suffered?

It’s unbelievable.

I’m not trying to romanticize womanhood and I don’t mean to say that women are perfect human beings (although we’re quite close, of course). Feminism isn’t about that.

It’s hard to feel hopeful when everything around us is constantly bleak and turning into a dystopian nightmare, it’s hard not to be angry. But in a world where even the women of Love Is Blind have surprised me with their sorority, even if it’s completely staged, even if it might be entirely performative, I feel like there’s hope.

There’s still hope! And I’m hopeful, I am!

I hope we will keep questioning structures and stay vigilant about our rights. I hope we won’t minimize the fights of others just because we’re privileged enough not to understand them. I hope we keep calling out misogynists and I personally hope they don’t ever find peace. I hope we won’t get tired even when it’s too much and it’s overwhelming and it seems like it doesn’t make a difference. Because it does. It does! I hope kids don’t have to worry about that. I hope our moms are proud of us for being able to turn everything around.

And I hope we will keep supporting, encouraging, and holding space for other women 👉🤏*, who in return will do the same for other women in their lives.

Ps. If you’re a woman and you’re reading this, the chances are really high that you are or have been one of those women who have supported me in my life so THANK YOU, keep fighting the fight! I wouldn’t be here without you. ❤️❤️❤️

*shoutout to my friend Mafer who is the intellectual owner of this emoji combination.