I have a loud voice which I used to think of as a curse, since being loud is considered unladylike. If the ideal woman is supposed to be demure and sweet-sounding, like sun-tinged honey drops, then my voice is like the blare of a thousand angry women screaming; raucous and intense! Quite often I will find myself at a café, minding my own business and chatting casually with a friend, when someone from a nearby table will get up and shush me – how rude! My mother is always asking me to “keep it down” whenever I speak.
