Octopuses and Women. 

We hold them both in high regard.

But the way we do that is by imprisoning them.

We see octopuses as incredibly intelligent and so we capture them, trap them, put them in labs and ogle their brains. We poke and prod at them to learn how they do the magical things they do with their arms and skin and nervous system. The book I read about octopuses most recently looked closely at how octopuses are treated in the labs by the people that wish to take their magic and turn it into military camouflage techniques and robotic manipulation. 

We see women as sexy/beautiful/graceful and so we trap them in beauty standards that require them to wear high heels, skin tight clothing, fake hair, nails, eye lashes, boobs, etc. This ensures that women have to spend their valuable time, money, and mental space on trying to meet these standards. And then the reward for putting all that energy into fitting into the mold is they are ogled and mistreated by society.

BUT

The beautiful thing is how octopuses and women behave in those prisons.

Octopuses learn to use their intelligence to break lab equipment, escape their tanks and antagonize scientists.

Women learn to use their beauty to get ahead, distract, and manipulate.

Now, obviously I would prefer a world where women did not have to conform to the beauty standards and could be promoted for their intelligence and qualifications but that's not where we're at. 

And obviously I would prefer if science/the military could just leave octopuses alone or study them in their natural habitat but that's not where we're at.

So this piece is a celebration of subverting the structure. Breaking out of our prisons by using cunning and deception.

I love octopuses. I love purple. I love women.