octoling
Active member
- Messages
- 88
- Reaction score
- 165
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Hello everyone at Windice!
Today i want to talk about something important. For years, March 8th would sneak up on me and i would feel a bit clueless about it.
It's not that i was against it. It was more that feeling of, "okay, sure, equality, obviously... but what's this got to do with me?" i always saw it as an important day for them, for women. I would watch from the sidelines, like someone seeing a protest on TV, thinking "good for them, protesting," and then just changing the channel.
Until one day, something completely changed my mind.
It wasn't some big revelation, no. It was small things. My cousin, explaining why she couldn't walk home alone late at night, and me saying "you're overreacting, cousin" until i started actually paying attention, asking questions, and realizing that i had never, not even once, crossed the street out of fear that someone was following me. My coworker, earning less than me for the same job, and when we checked, she just gave that sad smile like, "yeah, i knew it". Her mother, giving up her education so her brothers could go to school, and telling the story like it was the most normal thing in the world.
And then, i started seeing everything differently.
This March 8th, 2026, i woke up early. i made breakfast while my partner slept in a little longer, and i didn't do it to be a "perfect ally" or to get a gold star. I did it because it's just what you do, because we've been building this life together for years and she spends every day taking care of everything and everyone, and today i wanted her to feel that small moment of relief.
Later, i went outside, saw that violet sea of people, and thought about the women in my life. The other day, my cousin told me how a man asked her for "a chance," and when she said no, he kept pushing, got angry, and called her a "prude." And me, who's always telling her "stand up for yourself," i was speechless. Because standing up for yourself is great, but why do they always have to be the ones doing it?
I don't join the march to put myself at the center. I join to take my place, which is in the back. Listening. Learning. Because this isn't about men saving anyone or men explaining anything. It's about men realizing that machismo mutilates us too, stops us from crying, demands we be tough, and robs us of the chance for more honest relationships.
But above all, it's about justice. It's about my cousin being able to walk at night without fear. It's about my coworker getting equal pay. It's about my grandmother seeing that her granddaughter is achieving some of the things she never could.
Today is March 8th. And me, who used to watch from the sidelines, now i know that this is about me too. Not as a protagonist, but as part of something that benefits us all...
A world where women can be free.
i wish a happy international women's day to all the women at Windice!
Today i want to talk about something important. For years, March 8th would sneak up on me and i would feel a bit clueless about it.
It's not that i was against it. It was more that feeling of, "okay, sure, equality, obviously... but what's this got to do with me?" i always saw it as an important day for them, for women. I would watch from the sidelines, like someone seeing a protest on TV, thinking "good for them, protesting," and then just changing the channel.
Until one day, something completely changed my mind.
It wasn't some big revelation, no. It was small things. My cousin, explaining why she couldn't walk home alone late at night, and me saying "you're overreacting, cousin" until i started actually paying attention, asking questions, and realizing that i had never, not even once, crossed the street out of fear that someone was following me. My coworker, earning less than me for the same job, and when we checked, she just gave that sad smile like, "yeah, i knew it". Her mother, giving up her education so her brothers could go to school, and telling the story like it was the most normal thing in the world.
And then, i started seeing everything differently.
This March 8th, 2026, i woke up early. i made breakfast while my partner slept in a little longer, and i didn't do it to be a "perfect ally" or to get a gold star. I did it because it's just what you do, because we've been building this life together for years and she spends every day taking care of everything and everyone, and today i wanted her to feel that small moment of relief.
Later, i went outside, saw that violet sea of people, and thought about the women in my life. The other day, my cousin told me how a man asked her for "a chance," and when she said no, he kept pushing, got angry, and called her a "prude." And me, who's always telling her "stand up for yourself," i was speechless. Because standing up for yourself is great, but why do they always have to be the ones doing it?
I don't join the march to put myself at the center. I join to take my place, which is in the back. Listening. Learning. Because this isn't about men saving anyone or men explaining anything. It's about men realizing that machismo mutilates us too, stops us from crying, demands we be tough, and robs us of the chance for more honest relationships.
But above all, it's about justice. It's about my cousin being able to walk at night without fear. It's about my coworker getting equal pay. It's about my grandmother seeing that her granddaughter is achieving some of the things she never could.
Today is March 8th. And me, who used to watch from the sidelines, now i know that this is about me too. Not as a protagonist, but as part of something that benefits us all...
A world where women can be free.
i wish a happy international women's day to all the women at Windice!