Call Me Whatever You Want
From Chapter 9 of Wild to Wise by Geraldine Carriere. Out October 1.
Last week I told you about the day Ger was taken from her family home, and what was done to her in the white basement of a government building. That's where Wild to Wise begins.
This week I want to show you where it goes.
Nine chapters later, the girl in that basement is a woman who walks into a room and shows us what it looks like to take back her name. Ever since I first read the original version nearly two years ago, I knew Chapter 9 is the one people were going to talk about. Hell the title has two words I'm not putting in your subject line.
Some readers will flinch at it, but honestly? That's the point. I’d say look past the ‘horror’ of some vulgarity and understand that this is a process where the author is taking words that were built to shrink women like her and turns them inside out, then hands them back to you as something you can use.
Okay, now I shut up and I’ll now let her explain.
From Chapter 9: “Cunt Life”
In this passage, Ger takes back the words used against women who speak up.
When a woman asserts herself, she’s called a bitch. A cunt. Savage. Squaw.
These words were designed to shrink us.
But here’s the thing: money is paper. Laws are agreements. Words are not chains unless you accept them as such.
Call me whatever you want.
You’re only reminding me how powerful I am.
I’m not talking about feminism.
I’m talking about humanism.
I’m not here to tear men down. I’m here to restore agency: equality of choice, of voice, of possibility.
That is Wild Woman energy.
And this chapter isn’t about being crude or offensive.
It’s about naming what has been exploited.
[…]
My personal mentor — spiritually, culturally, unapologetically — Tupac Shakur carried “THUG LIFE” across his chest.
Not as bravado.
As truth.
[…]
My version of this is:
CUNT LIFE: Cultivating Understanding of Nature’s Temptations, Illuminating the Intelligence of the Feminine Essence.
That’s what I’m reclaiming.
Not vulgarity.
Wisdom.
Not shock.
Truth.
Somewhere along the way, women were taught that power looks like control, dominance, hardness.
So we armoured up.
We became hyper-productive. Hyper-independent. Hyper-masculine.
“I don’t need a man.”
“I can do everything myself.”
“I’ll outwork everyone.”
But that’s not sovereignty.
That’s survival.
The rest of the chapter is about what comes after survival. You'll have to read it.
What else is in the book
Wild to Wise is ten chapters, and they explore more territory than I could ever hope to cover. Ger writes about the foster system, grief, heartbreak and faith. But she also writes about building businesses, because she has. She's a certified life coach with an MBA from Simon Fraser University, and that’s where she hands you her tools, not just her story. A few of the section titles, to give you a sense of it:
“You Are Not a Tree. You Can Move.”
“Pick an Industry That Won't Fire You”
“The Objective of Education Is Not Learning”
“Your Pussy Is Your Power”
“Healing Your Masculine Lineage”
“Building an Empire”
It’s a guide as much as a memoir. It's funny, it's furious, and it's as real as it gets. And it is exactly the kind of book V13 Press exists to publish.
Get it.
Wild to Wise is out October 1: $19.99 USD / $24.99 CAD in paperback, $9.99 USD / $12.99 CAD as an ebook. Everything about the book is here.
That's ten days away. Join Ger's email list now and you'll hear the moment it's live, straight from her.
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Regardless, thank you for reading. Thank you for reading in an age of increasing illiteracy, cultural stagnation and attention divestment. You are doing something revolutionary. ∴
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