"After all, if women's power and creativity had simply been suppressed by thousands of years of sexist bullshit, surely we should have knocked out Star Wars and conquered France within a year of getting the vote?
But of course, on being freed, people who've been psychologically crushed don't immediately start doing glorious, confident, ostentatious things. Instead, they sit around for a while, going, "What the fuck was that?" trying to work out why it happened, trying--often--to see if it was their fault.
They have to work out what their relationship is with their former aggressors and come up with new command structures--or work out if they want command structures at all. There's a need to share experiences and work (a) what 'normal' is and (b) if you want to be it. And, above all, it takes time to work out what you actually believe in--what you think for yourself. If everything you have been taught is the history, mores, and reasoning of your victors, it takes a long, long time to work out what bits are poisonous to you, and which parts salvageable.
In short, there is a long period of gently patting yourself, going, 'Am I ok? Am I all right?' often followed by a long, long thoughtful silence before any action gets underway."
~Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman
But of course, on being freed, people who've been psychologically crushed don't immediately start doing glorious, confident, ostentatious things. Instead, they sit around for a while, going, "What the fuck was that?" trying to work out why it happened, trying--often--to see if it was their fault.
They have to work out what their relationship is with their former aggressors and come up with new command structures--or work out if they want command structures at all. There's a need to share experiences and work (a) what 'normal' is and (b) if you want to be it. And, above all, it takes time to work out what you actually believe in--what you think for yourself. If everything you have been taught is the history, mores, and reasoning of your victors, it takes a long, long time to work out what bits are poisonous to you, and which parts salvageable.
In short, there is a long period of gently patting yourself, going, 'Am I ok? Am I all right?' often followed by a long, long thoughtful silence before any action gets underway."
~Caitlin Moran, How to Be a Woman
Of course, this argument also applies to minorities, GLBTQAI, and various oppressed or formerly oppressed religious and ethnic groups. Also D &D players.
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