Suck an Egg

You know how when you were a kid and your mom/dad/aunt/grandma/other dropped the following wisdom on you: “Now sweetie, remember if any kid makes fun of you, they are just jealous, and they actually like you.” This piece of guidance transcends childhood. Society was just jealous of Anne Lister and people actually really liked her. They liked that she was different and had the strength to, time and again, refuse to compromise herself. Others were just jealous of her ingenuity, savviness, charisma, intelligence and gull to dress and behave in a way that was a reflection of who she truly was, not who they tried to deem her to be. This was in the 1800s!

I bet she told everyone who doubted or ridiculed her, “Go suck an egg, this is who I am. And while you do that, I hope the yolk breaks all over your boring face, oozes all over your gender-conforming attire and into your knickers and onto your knee caps and down to your shoes so when you walk it squishes and you feel that unpleasantness, and then a flock of chickens see what you did with one of their yolks and subsequently attack you and peck at your ankles until you cry! I, on the other hand, will be poaching an egg and eating it like a civilized person would. On toast.” Okay she probably said something way more sophisticated, but you get me. Unique...that is what everyone longs to be, and that is what AL was!