I am here.

Dear all of those who wish to deny me equality based on my gender,

I am here. I am a human being that also happens to be female. I am not here for your entertainment. I am not here for you to yell obscenities at from across the street. I am not here for you to stare at just because you can see my shoulders or knees or chest or back. I am not here to be told because I have breasts I am a sex object. I am not here to be sexualized by a society that has locked me out and ostracized me because I do not fit its mold. I am not here to have my reproductive rights infringed upon by politicians that have no business telling me what I can and can't do with my body. I am not here for you.

You do not get to tell me whether or not I am valid. You do not dictate what happens to my body. You do not get to tell me that my pain is invalid. You do not get to use my period against me. You do not get to make decisions regarding my sex life. You do not get to take away birth control because you believe sex before marriage is wrong. You do not get to slut shame me for being comfortable in my sexuality. You do not get to invalidate the fact that I am not an equal to the male population. You do not get to tell me that I am overreacting.

I am not equal because the notion that women are weaker is still out there.

I am not equal because instead of teaching guys to reign it in and respect women, I am forced to cover up because boys will be boys.

I am not equal because I will get slut shamed for losing my virginity, while men are praised.

I am not equal because there is still such thing as victim blaming.

My body is mine. You do not get to make decisions regarding what happens to it. If I want to get an abortion because for some reason or another I can't take care of it or it will inevitably hurt me, I will fucking get an abortion and there is nothing you can say to convince me otherwise. If I want to have sex before marriage, fuck off I'm going to do it, and there is nothing you can say to stop me.

But I can stop you. I can stop you from taking away access to birth control. I can stop you from misinforming the nations youth. I can stop you from taking away women's reproductive rights. I can stop you from taking away my right to my body.

And I will. I will use my voice, my writing, my mind and I will be loud. And I will stop you from taking away the rights that shouldn't even be up for debate.

Sincerely,

Emma