Women, keep yourselves safe this holiday season in more ways than one

Women, keep yourselves safe (from exhaustion) this holiday season. Remind yourself before every gathering that you do not have an obligation to put everyone else’s needs above your own.
It’s not your job to choose presents, manage social arrangements, come up with menus, shop, cook and clean up after family dinners, while also making sure the men are feeling appropriately manly and chesty as they stand over the BBQ.

Women, keep yourselves safe (from being put down) this holiday season. If you’re told you’re too loud, too opinionated, too pushy, too demanding, too uncomfortable, too unwilling to compromise, too fat, too thin, too overdressed, too unkempt, too black, too white, too queer, too smart, too stupid, too funny, too quiet, too present, too absent, too much something or not enough of something else, armour yourself with the knowledge that you can never be too you and “sod off” is a perfectly acceptable response to anyone who says you’re taking up emotional, intellectual, physical or professional space in the world.

Women, keep yourselves safe (from too-harsh self criticism) this holiday season. Unless you have committed real transgressions against another person, do not apologise for being imperfect. Do not apologise for speaking or thinking. Do not apologise for who you are or how the potatoes turned out.

Women, keep yourselves safe (from being over-burdened) this holiday season. If you’re feeling burned out and exhausted, and sometimes you want to eat more than you should, drink more than is recommended, stay in bed after the kids wake up, or huddle on the couch with the dog instead of going to yet another party, go ahead.


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