[Lynn]

I guess I am stuck at the notion of "femme sensibility" being a lady thing that must be protected by someone more masculine than I. It just feels sexist to me. While I may be feminine and appear to be a lady (to the world, maybe to you), these are attributes of mine. They are qualities that reflect something about me. They aren't ME. I'm a small, soft-spoken woman who says "fuck" a lot. And other things which might affect your sensibilities, whatever they may be.

If I don't like how I'm spoken to, I am likely to say something. I hope you would do the same. But, I don't ask people to change to suit me. I may prefer to be in an environment where people mainly treat each other as they would like to be treated, but I don't need or want anyone watching out for my delicate linguistic constitution. In fact, the idea of it is more off-putting to me than using any particular word in any particular context. What is validating and empowering is when I am given the space to respond the way I honestly feel, and where you (the general you) show respect for what I say.