#will probably write a seperate hc about feminism + verse 4!daphne too

[danger-archive]

             [ THIS APPLIES TO ALL VERSES. THE MAJORITY APPLIES TO GROWN UP DAPHNE IN VERSE 3, BUT PARTS APPLY TO VERSE 4 AND VERSE 1/2 DAPHNE IN HER TEENHOOD ]  

FEMINISM + DAPHNE BLAKE = A lot of going round and round, to be honest. To first consider this, talking into account what we mean by feminism is important. I’m not talking half-assed, only when you feel like it feminism, I’m talking real, raw, feminism. Acknowledgement of white privilege, acknowledgment of cis privilege, acknowledgment of ALL privilege, really! Let me start by stating that Daphne is NOT perfect. All through high-school, her only perception of real feminism was ‘wear what you want to wear’ (and even that wasn’t always present) and poetry slams about rape culture, and false ideals of sisterhood? But it’s only as she’s looking back in college that she starts to realize where she was flawed (and I mean, she’s still flawed, but more on that later). As she was, like many young women, a victim of internalized misogyny, she felt a need to, during certain times of jealousy, to compete in a sense, with other girls. Jealousy is something we all feel, obviously, but it stemmed from a place of clear sexism. Of a need to compete with other girls for attention, for affection, for space. It’s something that even I have experienced, and I think something many other girls experience. Like when a guy tells you you’re not like “other girls” and you take it as a good thing. (Verse Four Daphne, for example, will absolutely set a guy straight if he said that. Verse 1/2 Daphne wouldn’t realize how problematic it is, though, she’d probably have a niggling thought of ‘is that... a good or bad thing?’ and grown up, verse 3 Daphne would be realizing how shitty that is, because it tears down other girls.)

She’d also make remarks like, oh god what is she wearing? And now she looks back and she realizes hey, who the fuck cares what she’s wearing as long as she likes it! But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Being in college in New York and meeting people from all walks of life has allowed her to open her world view and perspective and realize that she’s not alone in her struggle, and that instead of turning her back on other girls, bonding together is so, so much better. She looks back with some shame at all the horrible things she’s thought and done, and tries to reform herself into a stronger person who empowers others.  And that isn’t always easy. Sometimes that means sticking up for someone who doesn’t have as loud a voice as you, and it can be scary. Sometimes, she over steps her boundaries too and speaks for people who don’t want to be spoken up for. And I mean, she really is not perfect. Sometimes she’ll still say things which may undermine other girls, and she’ll still feel jealous, and she will not like every girl she meets, and sometimes it will be for the wrong reasons, and she’ll fumble people’s pronouns, and forget that other genders exist, and she will fuck up, and fuck up, and make mistakes but –– that’s what makes her human. When it comes down to it, she’ll own up to her mistakes, even if her cheeks blush and she feels as though she’s failed. Knowing that there is a world of girls out there who share the same burden as she does had opened her eyes a lot. In short, Daphne’s perception of feminism has gone from thinking screaming GIRLPOWER at the top of her lungs is enough to do some damage, to actually getting up and fighting for said girlpower. With her platform heels, her lipgloss, and pink-dotted knuckle rings, she’s fit to fight back against the crushing weight of the patriarchy –– but she understands that if her best friend wants to fight back in a pair of clunky glasses and an oversized (and endearingly ugly) sweater, then that’s fucking fine too. Live and let live. And yeah, she’s still learning and she’s still growing, and there’s a lot she has to understand, but you know, that’s what time and personality development are for. And I mean, obviously it fluctuates and she’s not always going to be the poster child for modern feminism (I mean she’s not even aware about the debate between like the whole post-modern ‘put on your war paint’ feminism verses traditional ‘bra-burning’ feminism) so there’s a whole way to go but, yeah. She’s getting there slowly. (And I mean it does make her feel like she’s doing more good, so there’s also that). 

UPDATED: 03.06.17