Cassandra had the gift of prophecy, and the curse that none of her prophecies would be believed. Because she refused the come-on from Apollo. It figures.
Cassandra, daughter of the king and queen, in the temple of Apollo, exhausted from practising, is said to have fallen asleep; whom, when Apollo wished to embrace her, she did not afford the opportunity of her body. On account of which thing, when she prophesied true things, she was not believed.
The woman was fucking tired, and she didn’t want to do anything but sleep. Therefore she was cursed to not be believed whenever she told the truth. God forbid you don’t fuck a god when he wants to be fucked.
How many women have given themselves up to be fucked on the regular, to keep the peace, and yet are not believed? How many women have refused to be fucked at all in any way, and are also not believed? How many women have been taken by force, raped, and not been believed?
Women are not believed. From time immemorial. Since forever.
Today I was coming back from an appointment, driving home, and I had to make a left turn. But someone was crossing in front of me – it was a woman in a hijab. Not unusual on Staten Island! And she had a phone tucked – no, jammed – into the side of her headscarf as she was chatting and crossing the street. She was using the hijab as a hands-free device. I kind of loved that.
That’s lovely independence to me. A headscarf – and the wearing of the hijab is complicated! – and yet here is an inventive use of it. I feel like a lot of women will find their way around things and make their world work for them, eventually. It might take a while – it frequently does. I really love the efforts.
But others, as they are telling their truths, are reporting reality and are not believed because their reports do not conform to what the men in charge want people to know. And they wonder about the bear.
There are endless Cassandras now. I might be one of them. But I’m not the only one. There are a lot of us, but Timnit is the most knowledgeable.
See me after class.
New Virago 
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