He / She / They
He/ His
entitled, valued, privileged, unquestioned, authority, respected, confident,
professional, leader, recognized, interesting, expert, praised, agentic, powerful,
validated, in control, competent, consequential
She/Her
unvalued, less than, questionable, questioned, disbelieved, not credible, shamed,
mocked, interrupted, unheard, unseen, silenced, weak, ignored, belittled,
ridiculed, incompetent, patronized, trivialized
They/Them
uhhh
§
“Can I help you, Sir?”
Privilege of White Male bestowed. Author of my life. My needs and desires
paramount.
How long will this last? Five seconds? Ten? A whole minute? Until I speak? Or
look the questioner in the eye?
“Oh, I’m sorry. Ma’am?”
Authorship evaporates, value disappears. Eyes look away. Disinterest fills the
space.
How long will this last? A lifetime?
“Uhhh”
Ellen D.B. Riggle has lived in Lexington (KY) for over three decades working a day job as a professor of gender and women’s studies in order to support a moderately serious hiking habit. They are author of over 100 scholarly research articles and 5 books, including a romance novel.
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Pegasus 