We need to talk

By Mónica Hernández

The dreaded phrase in the title of this column paralyzes our bodies while our imaginations run wild. Scenarios parade through our minds, one more catastrophic than the last. We know we will not leave the conversation as we entered it. The future is painted in shades of gray to black every time someone says "we need to talk," because it is never a casual phrase. Always, the person who says it has already had plenty of time to think about something that is going to affect us (and if it catches us by surprise, it would be another topic of conversation).

Women of the world, we need to talk about money. Virginia Wolf said that every woman needed a room of her own, but she didn't just mean the romantic idea of having a room with a door where we could isolate ourselves and write, one that we could decorate to our liking. It meant and means that we need to earn our space, earn our money. You can never be a total feminist if you have to reach out to ask for your income (maybe, but it's an incongruous scenario: you can be a partial feminist, but for what?).