(I Am) Outspoken

A mother. A writer. A Wife and lover of all things Dr. Who.

I’m ADHD and I’m anxiety and I’m really, really bad at putting the forks back in the same spot every time I unload the dishwasher.

I’m allergic to the world, infertile, and at 35, I’m dealing with major hormonal imbalances that are a total pain in my ass. I’m an insomniac and a tennis player and a paleo-eating, homeschooling accidental hippie. I’m the Mexican living in Maine.

I’m in love with possibility and a master of procrastination. I can’t tell you how many spectacular things I want to accomplish but maybe after I pin this one last thing.

Butterflies. I’m a lover of those, too. Especially when they are fluttering about in my gardens. Not so much when they’ve taken up residence in my stomach. Like now.

I’m a life-long recovering bulimic on a mission. I’m a founder and self-image activist and Weight Loss Industry survivor.

I’m in therapy. Or at least I would be more often if my therapist read my blog every now and then, because in the time that passes between writing something I need to talk about more and showing up 15 minutes late for my appointment, I’ve written about four more and the clock is ticking  so I talk about my kid and her anxiety instead.

I’m a contradiction in terms; outspoken and afraid to speak. So I say what I can when the time comes to say it with words that appear letter by letter on a screen.

Right now, I have something to say.

I want to apologize to Cherice Morales on behalf of all that is decent and right in this world. I want to tell her mother that I am so very sorry her daughter’s bravery in reporting being raped by her teacher when she was 14 was pushed away like that bravery meant nothing. Twice. I want to hug the friends and family left behind after Cherice took her own life while her case was still pending and tell them how I want to be like Cherice when I grow up.

I want to ask that judge exactly what the fuck he was thinking when he sentenced ex-teacher Stacey Rambold to serve just 30 days of a 15-year prison sentence. I want to know how he’d feel if it had been his 14-year-old granddaughter who was said to be”as much in control of the situation” as the authority figure who admitted to raping her. Would he still blame the victim? Would he be angry if someone said the rapist deserved a break because the victim looked older than she actually was?

I want to tell that judge that his 81-word apology is bullshit and that I don’t believe him. I do believe he is sorry to be the center of a public outcry for his resignation. He’s sorry he got caught. No more. No less.

I want to ask the Washington Post who thought publishing the op-ed piece arguing for the legal acceptance of consensual sexual relationships between teachers and their underage students was a good idea. I want to ask the writer if she used Cherice Morales as her example because she legitimately thought there was a valid reason to do so and why, considering the small fact that both Cherice and the rapist teacher both stated their sexual relationship was not consensual. I want to ask the writer, an artist and former lawyer, to look me in the eye when she answers. I want to see if she’s got the balls to admit that the shit storm that hit after her piece was published was the end goal.

No one ever looks at the byline unless the reporter pisses them off.

I want to ask all these things and know I won’t be happy with the answers. I want to thank Cherice Moralez for being strong enough to open up to her family and press charges because so many victims never do. I want to tell her that assholes — like that judge and the Washington Post and that lawyer painter writer who thinks teachers having consensual sex with their students is a phenomenal idea — will always exist. And that for every unsympathetic idiot in a position of authority who thinks like they do, there are so many more willing to listen so that girls like Cherice feel safe in revealing their abuse.

Because that matters.

I am many things. I’m sarcastic and say bad words a lot. But usually for good reasons. I’m full of good intentions that are, more often than not, completely misplaced. I’m a mother raising a daughter to know that she can always come to me if the unthinkable happens. That I will support her. And that even after recent events, it will always be okay to speak out.

Because I never did.

 

 

Pauline Campos is Latina Magazine’s advice & relationship columnist, editor of the ebook anthology, Strong Like Butterfly, and contributes to Owning Pink and 30 Second Mom. Pauline blogs three times a week at Aspiring Mama (or when she remember to take her Adderall) & is the founder of Girl Body Pride. Strong like Butterfly is currently available on Smashwords. This post originally appeared on Aspiring Mama.