I recently realized all the ways in which I, who I consider to be progressive, inclusive, feminist, was conditioned subconsciously in all the wrong ways against the things I stood for and how these things started playing out in my own eye as I grew older. The patriarchy lives on and continues as an ongoing battle. As I become more aware I am constantly course correcting. How exhausting is this shuffle? To live in a world that decides your fate for you based simply on your gender. On this note, I recently came across the term- Patriarchy Stress Disorder. Phew! It took me back to all the ways in which listening to my mother's eye experiences, and that of her sisters, has engraved a certain anxiety in my own body, and how I am trying to carve out a new, different path for myself as a result- It is all very liberating and stifling at the same time. And that is the hardest pill to swallow.