I have really started to get a little tired of all the posts and slogans which say things like…

“A real woman …. (insert action) …. and never complains or lets her standards drop etc etc…”

I tire of this ridiculous propaganda and brain washing of what “a real woman” should be and do.

It also makes the heart break and struggle of living with a health condition very difficult when these slogans are being passed around dispensed like vending machines.

REAL people are those who are living, breathing, biological organisms and they are doing the best with the hand they are dealt.

The problem with all this judgmental ‘positivity porn’ is that it hurts and isolates REAL people and attempts to invalidate everyone who doesn’t fit into their slogan or ideals.

My illnesses mean I can’t always cook for my husband. It means that my husband has to do housework. It means that I can’t always dress like a movie star or do my hair like a hairdresser.

I can’t work out. I can’t mop the floors and I can’t be the sexual being I was back when I was physically well…

But I AM a real woman and I am living a real life with a real illness…

I don’t need someone, who doesn’t know me or my life’s challenges, telling me what a REAL woman should do and I certainly won’t be comparing myself with the standards of free-off-the-internet-vending-machine-validation-and-hidden-agenda slogans.

Its BS like this that makes the lives and struggles of the chronically ill so much harder and keeps perpetuating the gaps between the healthy and the chronically ill.

Lets tell the world how a REAL person feels with life long health challenges!

Gentle (and respectful) hugs,

Trish