When You’re A Quiet Girl, Everyone Wants To Walk Over You
When you’re a quiet girl, others are surprised when you speak your mind. They’re shocked to learn that they are unable to take advantage of you. They thought you were nice — and to them, nice means a pushover. Nice means pliable. As soon as they realize you’re not going to stand for someone treating you poorly, their image of you changes. They get angry and frustrated that they can’t control you.
When you’re a quiet girl, others assume you’re soft and innocent. They assume you’ve never uttered a swear in your life, that you’ve never made a mistake, that you’ve never gotten angry, that you’ve never expressed actual human emotions. If you’re not blurting out your feelings in front of them, telling the whole world how you feel, they assume you have no feelings. They don’t understand how much you’re holding inside. They don’t understand that you’re just as complex as everyone around you. Your quietness is not indicative of what kind of person you are. You can be quiet and sweet. You can be quiet and stoic. You can be quiet and a badass bitch.
When you’re a quiet girl, others assume you have no backbone. They assume they can say what they want to you (and in front of you) and won’t suffer any consequences. They assume you’re perfectly harmless because they don’t view you as an equal. They look at you like a child, like a non-entity, simply because you’re not sharing every thought that pops into your head. They let you blend into the background, to become nothing more than furniture.
When you’re a quiet girl, others assume they can hurt you without guilt. They assume they have the upper hand because they have the louder voice. They don’t realize how intelligent you are or how resilient you are because you don’t wear your strengths on your sleeve. They have no idea who they’re dealing with. They have no idea what you’re capable of achieving.
When you’re a quiet girl, people make up a personality for you because they don’t bother to get to know the real you. Instead of asking you questions to get to know you on a deeper level, they fill in the blanks themselves. And most of the time, they assume that you’re on their side. They assume you’re a carbon copy of them and will never stick up to them, not even when they cross unforgivable boundaries.
When you’re a quiet girl, others underestimate you. They have no idea how strong you are. They have no idea what type of bullshit you’ve been through. They have no idea what you’re willing to put up with — and it isn’t much. You’re not going to accept cruel treatment. You’re not going to stand there and be disrespected. You’re going to put your foot down. You’re going to say enough is enough. And since they’re so used to your silence, your anger will be the loudest sound in the room.
When you’re a quiet girl, some people are never going to get to see the real you. But that’s okay. The important people will never make you feel inferior. The important people will actually give a shit.