Every single time I go on This Morning and talk about sexism, inequality, women’s rights or politics, I get some variation of this comment from a man telling me I’d be more attractive if I kept my mouth shut. Apparently I’m too loud, too opinionated, too feminist, too much basically. It’s something women hear our whole lives, isn’t it? That we should be less and feel not enough. It starts when we’re little girls being told not to be “bossy”, and by the time we’re teenagers it becomes “boys don’t like girls who are too loud”. We’re constantly taught that if we want to be loved, desirable or taken seriously, we need to shrink ourselves a bit, be softer, less outspoken, less intimidating, more agreeable. Basically: take up less space. And the message is clear: male validation is the most important thing. But why are we still expected to twist ourselves into whatever version of femininity makes insecure men feel comfortable? Men like this genuinely do not like women once we start using our voices. The fantasy falls apart the second women have opinions, boundaries, political views, ambition, anger, confidence or standards. That’s why so much of manosphere culture revolves around wanting younger women who are supposedly more “submissive” or “traditional”, because what they really mean is easier to control, easier to mould and easier to silence. Well guess what? I don’t like men who want silent and subservient women either, so I guess it’s an unmatch made in heaven 💋 Honestly, I take pride in being the manosphere’s worst nightmare, a loud feminist woman who refuses to shrink herself for male approval. And I’m going to keep speaking up, because I want younger women and girls to know they never have to make themselves smaller just to be accepted by small men. If using my voice makes me unattractive to certain men then that genuinely sounds like a win to me 😉 #fyp - @ashleyjames