Hey There,

Remember me? Or do you remember the look on my face when you told me “All women are dumb, especially when it gets to be ‘that time of month’.” Well, I’m here to tell you that even though you may have said these mean and hurtful words to me when I was only 16, they still drive me to prove you wrong. In that moment, I put you in your place, proving every argument that you thought you had against me and other women wrong. But now, now I am a living document of how I am not dumb.

Today, I am attending one of the top ten Catholic Universities in the nation-- but wait, it’s probably only because I’m a woman. I graduated my high school in the top ten percent of my class—but wait, it’s probably due to the fact that I had a man do my homework. Today, I hold a steady job and am succeeding—but wait, you’ll probably ask what I had to do in order to gain these opportunities. Little do you know, that while I was working my tail off, I never asked a man for help unless they were my teacher or family member. Little do you know, that because I have a caring nature, I am doing well within my current place of employment. Not saying that you can’t, but I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do by taking care of children, right? Little do you know, that I am aiming towards not one, but two degrees because I want my daughter to see that just because I am a woman does not mean that I have to sit back and let life take a hold of me.

You silly man, you thought that by calling my dumb and emotional I would quit. Yet, you failed to realize the type of person I am. That I am a driven young woman, a woman who knows her strengths and weaknesses and refuses to quit until she is satisfied with herself. A woman who isn’t afraid to ask for help when she needs it, a woman who grew up surrounded my men in her family who know that I am intelligent. Little did you know, that you lit the fire in my heart to want to soar even higher, push even farther. You allowed me to remember that “us girls” have to stick together, you reminded me of the common idea that needs to be fought and proven wrong. You sir, are not the reason that I am doing all of these things, I am doing these things for me. I am doing these things so that I can prove you and every other male wrong. To give strength to women who are afraid to speak out against the men in their lives, to show my future children that I can have a job and a wonderful family.

You sir, reminded me of everything I am not and I will smile on my graduation day knowing that I proved you and every other man with the same opinions, wrong. So thank you, for reminding me that I am not dumb, I am intelligent and that I don’t need to seek others for that knowledge of myself.

Sincerely,

The “Dumb Girl”