Women, We Need to Stop Doing This When We Speak

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

A few weeks ago, I came upon a post on a feminist social media account* that really resonated with me. It was a graphic depicting a concept called “kneecapping sentences,” and women do it all too often.

Here are some examples of kneecapping sentences:

That kind of makes me uncomfortable.

I’m just trying to help you.

Maybe you should leave.

I think I already knew that.

I’m sorta feeling overwhelmed right now.

Do you notice anything that these sentences have in common?

If you were wondering, it’s their use of words like kind of, sorta, just, maybe, and I think. These are words that people — but especially women — tend to use when they’re interacting with others and are trying to be “nice” or “polite.” These are the “kneecaps” of the sentences. When women don’t feel comfortable saying something straightforward for fear of being perceived as too direct or mean, they use kneecaps.

Here’s why this is problematic, though: women have every right to feel comfortable expressing their feelings without needing to censor themselves, or soften the delivery for someone…