Gender-Based Violence

There is a very old wound in me/ between my legs/Where I’ve bled, not to birth pueblos or revolutionary Concepts or simple sucking children/But a memory/Of some ancient /betrayal.

Cherrie Moraga, “loving in the war years”, 1983

This morning something extraordinary happened: I experienced genuine happiness! Wait, wait, this is not a I-lay-in-my-bed-and-the-sun-came-shining-through-the-windows-story. This is a I-got-harassed-by-a-12-year-old-and-flipped-him-off-story.

Well, with everything happening in my personal and in the region around me, I feel kind of silly being so angered by the polemic surrounding Nemr Abou Nassar’s sense of humour. But here it goes.