In the battle of the sexes, the war between man and woman, there have been many gains, but just as many losses, on both parts. But this is a right I feel I, and many other women, have lost though. It's an important entitlement that we must reclaim; it's the right to be pissed off. Genuinely pissed off, not upset because we're on our periods (you fucking dare take that away from us!) but justifiably angry that we have been wronged. I can tell you who took this away from us as well, Michael Douglas.One of the biggest films in the 1980s was Fatal Attraction and its influence remains with us today. How many girls have been called a bit of a bunny-boilers? Aside from giving us a snappy little bit of alliteration, it really undermined and eventually revoked a woman's right to be pissed off. Put yourself in Alex's (Glenn Close) position for a moment. You meet a man, he shags you, you spend a glorious weekend together, you tell him how you dad died, you let him fuck you in a lift, you cook for him, he cooks for you, you open up to him, but come Monday morning, he dumps you. That would piss me off, and that's because of something I like to call good moral values rather than a penchant for pet rabbit stew.
But Glenn Close is not allowed to be pissed off, she ends up being drowned a shot because of it. Her unborn baby ends up dead too, which doesn't seem very fair to me.
So now we're left with this legacy, this fear of showing any kind of upset when a man dumps on us because we'll be branded bunny-boilers. Well, fuck that, I am pissed off and I know plenty other women are too. I'm pissed off at the boys that met me, shagged me, then left. I'm pissed off at the lies told to get me into bed, ranging from the predictable, "I love you, I think you're beautiful" to the mildly ridiculous, "I've never made love to anyone else in this bed." I'm pissed off at the excuses told to get them out of a serious relationship, ranging from the predictable, "I have issues" to the incredibly ridiculous, "My doctor said I was getting ill from doing too much stuff."
And now you're all thinking the same thing – these words have branded me a Watership Down's premier sous chef. You all think I'm a bunny-boiler don't you? And by doing so, you are taking away my well-earned right to be pissed off. People get pissed off when the bus timetable is wrong and I'm not allowed to be upset when I'm fed bullshit a million times more repugnant? Well that stops here and I am reclaiming my right to be pissed off:
I am pissed off at:
1. The boy who told me he hated he girlfriend to get me into bed.
2. The boy who told me he didn't have a girlfriend to get me into bed.
3. The boys that are only interested until they get me into bed.
4. The boys that say they'll call and don't.
5. The boys that have called me a bunny-boiler
I accept I was naïve, but that only counts for so much. If there were no lies told in the first place, there would be nothing for me to believe.
Please share yours.
Originally plblished circa 2004 as part of the Skirt columns on ClickMusic.com
