"The physicality is definitely part of it and I think because you see it everywhere and it's so pervasive, it's everywhere and it's not even as simple as a man coming out and saying that a woman should be short, it's like everything that you see on media when you are a child, everything that you see on the television, everything that you read, like, women are supposed to be tiny and are meant to be picked up and that like, has stressed me out my whole life and I think its made me feel conspicuous in so many ways. So conspicuous walking down the street, so conspicuous at a party, so conspicuous at school and that has caused a lot of damage over time, and I think it has made me quite angry. Rather than letting that anger out, that anger gets turned back on myself and I think it's such a defining part of how I've become the woman that I am today."
©Diana Patient
I challenge you to find a woman who, at one time in her life, has not been described as Too [INSERT BLANK].
Angry.
Emotional.
Sensitive.
Loud.
Bossy.
Ring a bell?
I had the privilege of participating in an incredible project by Diana Patient a while ago. Too Much of a Person chronicles the experiences of self-identifying women and non-binary people being told they were "too much" of something to dismiss or conform them to the current perception of how a woman should be.
You can hear my story here.