You are receiving this email as one of Alexandra’s most engaged followers. If you no longer wish to receive emails or updates, please click the “unsubscribe” link below. Hi John, I grew up terrified to be a woman . . . I watched Disney movies (on VCR) and I saw how the princesses were damsels in distress needing rescuing from a prince in order to find happily ever after. I feared that becoming a woman meant losing my freedom and being reduced to living in a cage. I told everyone I was going to play on the boys' soccer team when I grew up because I saw how the school made a bigger fuss over the boys' team than the girls'. I rejected the color pink as harshly as I could. I felt shame when my breasts came in, I felt shame when I got my period — I feared that the closer I came to becoming a woman, the smaller I would have to make myself to live in the box of society's expectations. One Halloween, my twin brother and I dressed as knights and went trick or treating. We both had mail coifs around our faces. One older woman answered the door and exclaimed Oh how cute! Twin boys! I was actually offended. I realized that I didn't want to be a boy or on a boys' sports team or blend in with the boys...I just wanted the same freedom to be assertive and competitive and messy and unapologetic that boys have. I decided then and there that I wanted to be a girl, but I wanted to be a girl my way - sporty and spicy and really fucking opinionated. That has led to a difficult road in my womanhood, especially in the realm of politics. Internationally, women are not seen as equal to men. We're not seen as equal through the lens of a paycheck, through the rights to our own body, through the allocation of resources to women's and maternity health, through the fact that child-rearing still falls predominately on women and is still not recognized as actual labor, through the fact that sex work is dismissed as some kind of demonic vice instead of a real job. If you had asked me when I was younger what does it mean to be a woman? I would have said trapped. Now I say strong. This world wasn't built for us, but we are here anyway. I'm thankful for all the women who stood up before me, for all the women who are standing beside me, and for all the women who have yet to rise - but will. If you'd like to join our fight, chip in here. DONATE NOW ! With gratitude, Alexandra Hunt, MS, MPH, ACRP-CP Candidate for Philly City Controller Contribute SHOP OUR STORE >>   Alexandra Hunt is a public health researcher, a girls’ soccer coach, an advocate for social, racial, economic, and environmental justice, and a community organizer. She's the daughter of two teachers and a sister to a twin brother with a learning disability. Seeing the systemic obstacles her brother faced inspired Alexandra to become an advocate and challenge barriers on the basis of race, gender, class, and ability. Now, Alexandra's running to be the Philly's next City Controller because the people in Philly work too hard for too little. And right now, line items in budgets create lines for food and health care. It's time to elect a City Controller who is going to prioritize the needs of the communities Philly's money comes from. Paid for by Friends of Alexandra Hunt FOLLOW ALEXANDRA ON Alexandra M. Hunt | 4615 Jeannes Court, Philadelphia, PA 19129 Unsubscribe [email protected] Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today!