Thanks to International Women’s Day, I woke up thinking about being a woman. Here’s a look at the first things I wrote down in response:

I’m so lucky to have been raised without being told to think about the fact that I am a woman. And the more I think about it, this was privilege and not a thing of luck.

Some may say I was stripped of my right to know the struggle that my fellow woman face, but I think being blind to my gender has helped me find strength and balance in a sort of self-made equality that I hope to spread to and share with every woman.

I’m blessed with the sensibility and empathy of women. I can see the struggle without being in it. And yet… aren’t all women in it? My sense of equality has also grown a thick skin – another sign of privilege. I’ve lived through being told no, but grew up with enough self-entitlement to tell that no-sayer to fuck off.

Being a woman doesn’t mean you have to live in the pain that life tries to give you because you’re a woman. It can be there, it can help you grow stronger, but you don’t have to dwell in it like life has taught you. Break that pain, make it work for you. Turn it into power and set the world on fire.