oppressive spaces
- Rachel
- Mar 22
- 2 min read
03/18/2025
dear reader,
i wanna keep talking about creating space
and i wanna talk about oppression
i wanna talk about what happens when we normalize oppression
when oppression
and homeostasis become the same
i'm handing the microphone
over
for a reading
from grapes of wrath:
'muley watched the approaching lights. "Yeah!" he said. "I was mean like a wolf. Now I'm mean like a weasel. When you're huntin' somepin you're a hunter, an' you're strong. Can't nobody beat a hunter. But when you get hunted- that's different. Somepin happens to you. You ain't strong; maybe you're fierce, but you ain't strong.'
i think one of the many faces of oppression
is to be made to feel weak
due to
suffocation
cc: hoarding as a eating disorder
oppression is the inability
to leave space
open
for others
to grow
to avoid growth of an oppressor's own
i think we unknowingly adopt oppressive behaviors
speaking of avoidance
speaking of wrongdoing
speaking of them
i think we unknowingly adopt oppressive behaviors
help it spread
help it feed
(the content you carry does not change depending on the light it's placed in.
it is being carried nevertheless.
notice the a(e)ffects.)
what would it look like
if we normalized
having room for growth
taken
filled by oppressive projections
one oppressor
taking the place
of another oppressor
again
and again
and
again
so let's say you eat fast food daily (if that's you, awesome. we all understand that diet and quality of life are linked in whatever way you choose to link them) from the same restaurant.
you drive the same route to get to the restaurant every day.
spring is arriving, the eternal option of renewal,
and today you think
'no more fast food'
and instead of exploring this past relationship,
in order to build a new relationship,
you just know you are showing up for yourself
committing to the commitment
and not eating fast food
and you feel better
its been two weeks and you notice a new restaurant open on your new route
you've been doing so well not eating fast food,
you decide to stop in for supper
the restaurant is fast, casual but healthier
and you're going to eat in the restaurant
you start eating there more frequently
you start ordering your food to go
you start becoming friendlier with the staff who have your order ready for you
you start tipping them when they bring your food out to your car for you
you and your sneaky brain
human and behavior
we must move into
find
nurture
and normalize
a new relationship with life
lock your fear away
in an ante proof case
it will not serve now
so i wanna talk about tulips-
these flowering spring plants that
push
up and out
because it's what they do
regardless of conditions
imagine
the difference
between
normalized weight within oppressive institutions
and
life outside
sit quietly
and figure
and i will too
the hunted are fierce,
hunters are strong.
there is a difference
and it's okay to have standards.
as the pink tip of tulip greens,
as a promise from life itself,
