Business is Political

I’ve always been told to stay out of politics when it comes to talking about my business. Don’t talk politics with patients. And by all means, don’t share anything political on social media.

But business is inherently political. I’m in the business of working with bodies. And bodies are political. As a pelvic floor PT, most of the bodies I work with are female. And female bodies are inherently political.

To call them “female bodies” instead of “women” has become political.

I am a White, queer, cis-gendered woman. I have a husband, one child, a dog, and own a home. I have a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and I own two businesses. My student loans are paid off, I can pay all my bills on time, and have retirement savings. I share all this to lay my privilege cards on the table and name the perspective from which I engage with the world around me.

I work with pregnant and postpartum folks, peri- and post-menopausal. I work with vagina-owners. And not all of them are women. I use gender-neutral language because not everyone fits into the binary. Because inclusive language is respectful and does no harm. I work with trans people—they exist, always have, and always will. They are not erasable. They deserve to be seen and given the same dignity and respect that any of us who are cis-gendered do.

I share my pronouns and will continue to ask you yours. I will use your pronouns and will probably mess it up here and there. Call me out—I will apologize, then move on.

I am a mother through IVF. My son’s very existence was made possible by the protections and science made possible by Roe v Wade.

I hold the stories of patients who have ended pregnancies, and every choice is valid. Every choice is unique and so very complicated on so many levels. It is never simple. It is never mean. They are people—not murderers. They are humans who made the best choice for their body and situation and family. I believe that no lawmaker should be able to take away the right for us to make medical choices for our own bodies.

My son has multiple disabilities. He is on Medicaid. He is in a special ed classroom. I am scared for what his healthcare will look like, his education, and his protections as he grows up.

My platform is not a political one. And yet—it is. My life and my work are inexplicably linked together.

I just applied for an SBA loan to fund this dream expansion of my business into a place that is open and welcoming and celebrating of LGBTQIA2S+ and Black and Brown and fat and disabled folks. Every bit of that is political as we are under an Administration that is working to dismantle rights for all of these people groups. I’m afraid I won’t get funded and wonder if I should have left the LGBTQ-owned box unchecked.

My patients have helped form my worldview. It has changed drastically over the past 16 years. I came to this work closed-minded, with the worldview that I inherited through my conservative, evangelical, strongly pro-life lineage. I was scared of queer folks and asking how my patients identified, let alone asking for their pronouns. Over the course of my career, I have become more open-minded, more curious, more loving, kinder, and more queer myself. I become humbler the more time I spend with people in such an intimate way. My work has changed my life. Let me see myself more clearly. Allowed me to see my privilege and how much Work I have to do for myself, for my son, for my community.

I see what is happening in our country and I am scared. I see two of the richest men in the world cutting jobs, halting research, trying to eliminate whole swaths of people and genders, redlining papers, and attempting to eliminate words that identify people. I see them cutting funding for the poorest people in the world, stopping the flow of food to the hungry. I see them giving our land up for plunder and profit. I see them dismantling efforts toward diversity and inclusion as they add more and more White people to places of power.

I do not see kindness, love, generosity, curiosity. I do not see the very things I am teaching my 4-year-old to be. I try to extend generosity of spirit — I do believe we are all good people inherently, that we are good people having a hard time, to quote Dr. Becky. I extend that to the Oligarchs in our country to the best of my ability. It is not easy. But I refuse to lower myself to their level.

I am scared for my son. For my patients. For my community. For the first time, I’m afraid for myself, even with all my privileges.

My platform is not political, but it is. I will keep using my pronouns and asking for yours. My practice and businesses are open to all of you. As long as you carry kindness and love, curiosity and respect, you are welcome here.

My work of seeing, holding space for, and empowering people will continue. I believe that we can’t do this work if we are burning in anger, if we are beat down and exhausted. We need to have enough regulation in our nervous system to move us forward, not spin in circles.

I woke up with this on my tongue this morning, and it wasn’t full of dread, it was full of forward momentum. We need forward momentum. We need safety in our nervous systems, even when the world around us feels like it is on fire. Especially when the world around us is on fire.

My work is teaching people about their bodies and helping them integrate their experiences, their injuries, their trauma, and their symptoms. My work is giving them the knowledge that was knowingly kept from them so that they didn’t know their power, so that they wouldn’t stand in their power.

Perfectionism is a tool of colonization. Ignorance is a tool of the patriarchy. I believe that the more a woman or person of any identity is seen, acknowledged, and given agency over their body, the more they are able to show up in the world in an empowered way. They are able to create change. They are able to know safety in their nervous system to do the small, daily acts that over time build up to change the systems of oppression. They are able to see the way they have been held back, held down, kept in the dark. And they are able to use their response to move forward.

They are able to change the world.