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The Stigmas Attached to Me as a Divorced Woman
None of them are asked for. None of them are accurate.
When I got divorced, I knew that my entire life was going to require reinvention. I had to learn to be happy again. I had to figure out who I wanted to be and who I was because somewhere on my matrimonial road, I lost sight of that.
It was hard to acclimate to my new skin. Certainly, some freedoms and opportunities excited me. Six months after my divorce I went on my first solo vacation. I have made countless new friends. I started writing again.
What I wasn’t ready for were the stigmas people would attach to me. I learned quickly the different misconceptions that go along with being a divorced woman. I had no idea these were a thing.
I also was not aware that the absence of the ring on my left hand was a call for commentary on my life.
One by one, these roles people had created for me would emerge. I never took it personally because they’re no reflection of me but rather a culmination of what we’re taught about the modern divorcee. It comes from movies and television and a myriad of other outlets selling the trope of the divorced woman who should be feared for one reason or another.
