Written By: Lauren Howard
It’s a myth as old as patriarchy.
The difficult woman.
A creature who is covered in scales, breathes fire on anyone she doesn’t agree with, and must be larger than life because she is called “too much” so often.
The one who is “hard to work with” because she doesn’t just “go with the flow.”
The flow being “what the menfolk and the current systems want.”
In the stories, her questions are evil shrieks that pierce through harmonious discussions filled with implicit agreement from only the most reasonable people.
Yeah, right.
In reality, her (likely incredibly valid) requests are ignored through silent complacency from people whose perceived power would probably be harmed by giving her the time of day— or the consideration she probably deserves.
She isn’t a dragon.
Or wait, maybe she is. Her intelligence, creativity, and value have been simmering for so long from the box that you made her shrink into.
Now she’s breathing fire.
Not sorry about that at all.
She isn’t and never was difficult. Her male counterparts were lauded for sharing the same ideas without being labeled anything other than rockstar visionaries.
But you’ve called her that for so long that now she owns it, and you can’t use it as an insult anymore.
You created TeamDifficult.
We just owned the box you made us break out of.
Founder & CEO at elletwo