What you brush off as “sulking” we see as lost rights, and the exaggeration you accuse us of is just a description of reality. No one knows the full extent of what every woman on this planet goes through.

More than a hundred years after Susan Anthony’s death, a woman riding a bicycle is still something shameful. Women who cycle are even accused of wanting to show themselves off and draw attention by highlighting their charms. These are further attempts to tighten control over women’s lives, their private choices, and their simple desires.

No matter how old you are and how far you get in life, you are forced to repeat time and again that being single in your 30s or 40s is not a shortfall or a weakness. It does not mean that no one chose you. It simply means that you are the captain of your own ship…