Heather Flyte

Angry and too cowardly to hit “reply”…

So Steph Sullivan, a tech-person I follow on Twitter but don’t know in person tweeted what should have been a lovely sentiment.

And after reading Xeni Jardin’s eloquent and heart-wrenching post about discovering she has breast cancer, my heart echos the good wishes and how the strength of women can amaze us everyday.

I am not missing the point.

But… (you knew it was coming)

…if only disease were as easy to shake off as a pair of stupid fucking shoes.

I get it, I get the idea about dealing with pain and still being beautiful – but really? A pair of stilettos? The idea that women HAVE to endure such things for a sense of beauty means we still have our priorities twisted. Here are two beautiful, intelligent women whom I admire and never once have I wondered what they have on their feet. BECAUSE IT DOESN’T MATTER! And the perpetuation that some sense of “beauty” that can only be valued from outside observers — that we women are complicit in every time we do something uncomfortable for that outside reinforcement — well, that pissed me off.

And I’m may not be expressing it clearly, I know, but the strength that women find in themselves rarely has to do with how they look – even if their mothers told them to put on some lipstick to make themselves feel better…

…or a pair of stupid fucking shoes.

11. December 2011 by hb
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