Black and Brown Women are Not Here for You
Black, indigenous and women of color are not your sin-eaters, we don’t exist to endure pain for the sake of our communities.
The 1st of May marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness Month, and Wear Your Voice’s writers and editors have always worked on shedding light on the mental illness, health and the stigma attached to both. Mental health is a feminist issue—it is inextricably linked to oppressions like misogyny, queerphobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and a multitude of others. Studies have proven what we already know through our experiences: racism is literally making us sick. Micro and macro-aggressions take a toll on our mental health, and for those of us with mental illnesses, treatment is often difficult, heavily stigmatized or ignored. In our worst moments, mental illness can lead to the police killing us rather than helping us. Our pain goes unnoticed or untreated because there are limits to the empathy people feel for us, especially for indigenous and Black women and femmes. Resilience happens to be the thing people praise about us rather than our vulnerability or softness. But when do we get to be open, honest and broken without being discarded because we cannot take care of everyone around us? Why is it that people expect us to fix everything without taking the time to heal from our own wounds?DONATE TO WEAR YOUR VOICE: SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA
How “Lemonade” Saved My Marriage
Ultimately, I have chosen to accept my husband and our marriage with all their flaws. To make lemonade from this sour yellow lemon. [iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=US&source=ac&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=wear06-20&marketplace=amazon®ion=US&placement=B01EQGOW8E&asins=B01EQGOW8E&linkId=46654e6b2713025ba11c4761118301ba&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true&price_color=333333&title_color=0066c0&bg_color=ffffff" align="right"] [/iframe] As I write this, my husband and I are in the middle of
Dear Virgie: I Have Knee Pain. Should I Diet?
Dear Virgie, Is it possible to lose weight while still rejecting diet culture? I have serious knee and ankle problems that would be relieved with some weight loss. However, I don't know how to combine these ideas. Hi Friend: This question requires a