San Michael Monologue

Men are always trying to tell us what to do with our bodies. My father tells me “I deserve grandchildren. It’s your duty.”, but I scoff internally at such a request. Children? No thank you, I still have other things to do that don’t involve changing soiled diapers and hating the lack of silence, beautiful silence. I much prefer to be in nature, enjoying the breeze underneath the shade of a laurel tree. I can’t have some kid ruining that, crying because they haven’t been fed. Who wants that responsibility? I don’t. “I don’t want any children, father. It really isn’t in my temperament. It’s not like this is the only time in history this has ever happened!” I proclaim. My father is not pleased with my decision, but he accepts it. He loves me,
I couldn’t believe it. This entire time I had done nothing wrong. All I wanted to do was spend time with her, surely there wasn’t anything wrong with that, was there? My anger surged as I began to feel more insulted than I ever had before. She should give me a chance, I deserve it. I’m not just some random schmuck. I’m Apollo! I’ma go and find her. Yeah, that’s what I’ma do. My father and my uncles always tell me if you really want something, you go ahead and take it. You don’t go asking for permission. That will get you nothing. I knew what I wanted, so all I needed to do was take it. Boys will be boys, right? We can’t be anything else. It’s only natural. Maybe if Daphne didn’t walk around looking so good this wouldn’t be an issue. What else can she expect? It’s her fault if
I don’t believe that makes it a futile task, but considering that the Apollo and Daphne myth must be centuries old, it is distressing to consider the implication. Men oppressing woman has been the norm since the days bards were first composing their epics, if not earlier. Modern western civilization has taken a lot of cues from its Greco-Roman predecessors, inheriting its sexism. I see a lot of my female friends try and espouse feminist ideas, and I try to be as understanding and supportive as I can possibly be, but then I’m reminded of the resistance to those ideas. Whether it is perpetuated by the media, by the ignorant, or by history, it is difficult to not believe the situation is bleak. It seems that a good portion of humanity–men mostly–would prefer things to stay the way they are. It brings me great shame to think about situations where I was too shortsighted to see any harm brought upon by my actions or words, simply because it easy for me to do so. It makes me realize that even if some men try and do their best to be allies, they will be prone to sexist behavior. Therefore, there must be a genuine effort to curb such thought and behavior. The best intentions are not enough right now, but it is all we have. I’d like to think that eventually, that will make all the