Dear Sylvia

As advocates of women’s health we are still processing recent events in our country. We believe all women have the right to make decisions regarding their bodies, health, and whole person.

Written by Theresa

I feel like I already share too much with you at age seven so I’m going to hold on to this until you’re older and I have found the language to discuss it with you. So until the day we get to this...

Women across this country are processing something. A vote cast, a decision regarding our bodies. A decision that affects the futures of some women, the immediate health of others. But at its core, it is something much bigger: that as women, our bodies aren’t ours alone. We share them under society’s gaze. We subject them to the opinions that they’re not thin enough, smooth enough, hairless enough, toned enough, tanned enough, wrinkle-free, ageless. We’re too sexual or not sexual enough. It would be better if we wore shorter skirts and higher heels unless you’re older, then you should be draped in linen, unless the fashion gods pick that as a current trend (which, go figure, it’s the first time I’ve lined up with the gods and it’s called Coastal Grandmother).

I want you to live your life, my Bean, where you pick the clothes that make you feel happy and confident and no one has a goddamn opinion other than observing how yourself you are in your skin. That your body is your business. That you grow to understand yourself as an intellectual, creative, and sexual adult being that possesses both the light and the dark but your actions towards yourself and others are based in the light. That if something happens to your body you have the options to care for it. That you prioritize your body and your health and can decide what is best for you. And that other women can be trusted to do the same.

These are strange times, my love. Understand when I drift off in thought I’m either checking off my daily to-do list or puzzling through how to make this a better world for you. I love you more than anything and will love whoever you love as long as they treat you with respect and kindness and I will support you in your decisions to keep yourself healthy and your future bright.

With love, 

Mom