women's rights
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Your mother fought this battle as a child
Made your future a promise of her peace
Yet you bring this war back upon her
Does it feel grand, to slay your father
Look into his eyes and twist the blade
It’s taken me a thousand and one cries
To realize
I put a blanket over my head to shut out the world.
A world that sees women as sex objects
Trust me: all mothers are incredibly special
Wonderful, beautiful and phenomenal
Without mothers, there will be no living
When I was a teen I had a rat. A white dumbo rat, with red eyes, who was blind. Her name was Fresno, like the California nightcrawlers she bore resemblance to.
Girls must have the undeniable rights to speak,And the God-given rights to choose and pick.Girls must have the rights to be educated,To be respected and to be protected.Girls are human beings too;
I find something small, Suspicious and strange. Black marble, crystal eye,
And it was you who knew my fate, Taking the glass and pushing it down my throat.
Hello.
I say with a smile on my face
Because their gaze is in search
Of all my stereotypical mistakes
Before I even make them.
A woman has rights,
But I’m told it’s her choice if she dies on the table,
Surgical steel stabbed through the womb,
Bleeding out, bleeding death,
Bleeding money.
A woman has rights,
A queen does not bow to ignorance
Nor belligerence
Nor any man who dares to spare her life in her house
This here is a woman's world
A queen has no need for pearls
Loves the way her body swirls
She’s A Lot
You’re right.
I am A LOT.
I’m A LOT of a woman.
With A LOT of layers.
A LOT of personality.
A LOT of dreams.
Parents, teach your daughters.
Don't let them walk through life
Like this broken girl before you.
Who did not know her rights to leave,
To let that word, No, so bitter on her tongue, pass through her lips.
Who left the tap on?
When his building storm spills out,She is made to carry the overflow
He refuses to call a plumberAnd there’s only so much flooding this room can take
When I was around sixteen, I became hyper aware of how the boys my age categorized the girls around them.The ones they found attractive were worthy of attention, the others... not so much.
When the gesture of kneeling demands to be heard
And the rainbows in the sky earned their own parades,
People are excited to check name boxes on paper,
While goddesses of the workplace are finally being praised
Phorcys and Ceto, two siblings so close,
They birthed three healthy gorgons out of passionate throes.
Two of the girls had interests that align,
Do you know how it felt when i was there with you sitting under concrete at the couch on that day.
Do you know how it felt when you were saying those things about me and how I look.
It doesn't make it less a war on women just because you think I'm wrong
Because you think we’re at fault
That this is the story of murders getting what they deserve, but for what
A body belongs to its owner.
And to no one else.
Uterus to cornea.
Let there be no theft.
No discussion or judgement.
Of what goes in and what comes out.
Why was Medusa hated?
They told me not to speak about it.
Pretty girls should't have ugly problems.
Pretty girls should be grateful.
Pretty girls should be poised.
So, they molded me into that.
I was twelve when I realized that nobody would love me more than me
School, the place where I went to get learn, was where I learned to despise myself.
I hear
a woman crying pitfully
a man bellowing
we are not all like that
it's not about
you, personally, sir
just our individual violations
show me one
A useless flower on Valentine’s Day
Red to paint her lovers name as tainted as the love he gave
Roses have thorns but men have blades
He grabbed my wrists and cut my veins
Isn't it odd that I consider myself lucky
That no unwanted man has ever put his grubby hands on me?
This is not about luck though, or the clothes I've been wearing
It’s different than a period
Dripping down your thigh -
That’s from me: that’s mine.
Not the boy at the party who
Let you feel safe -
In nineteen and sixty-two,
heads that were filled with sharp numbers, formulas,
an abundance of calculated self confidence,
I am 12 years old
Im sitting in my sixth grade science class
During our health unit
And giggling with my friends
About the “magical” goings-on
When I was 5 years old, my mom said be yourself
What she didn’t know back then, who I was got put on a shelf
A shelf full of crazy ass dreams
Another black man is killed
Another trans kid commits suicide
Another woman is sexually harassed
Aren't we just statistics
In the sadistic game of life?
Dear Womanhood,
Thank you for your strength
For teaching me to hold my head high
For giving me the will to fight
Dear Womanhood,
You have made me cry
Sleep around player.
Don’t be a pussy.
Grab her by the pussy.
My legs are shut,
Crossed,
And locked with my chastity belt.
I wake up again, look in the mirror, see my face.
God, I gotta cover it up with makeup, not because I want to but because it's considered 'not pretty'
Dear Mr. Trump,
I feel like I’m living in a required reading novel,
I’ve been hoping it’s A Wrinkle in Time, but it’s looking like 1984.
Please stop goading North Korea, please.
Monday morning,
Sleep deprived and mind a blur.
I step onto Main Street.
Walking to class,
tripping over broken bottles, barbed wire,
Chained to the sea
oppressed by its waves and torturous tides
to conform or be prepared to die
that's the decision the Little Mermaid must make
there is more than just her life at stake
Once upon a time
When knights in armor shined
There waited a young princess
Who had many hobbies and interests
Yet at the very thought of marriage, she felt herself grow distant
My name is Ariel,
and I fought to live on land,
so here I am walking today
with Eric; my beautiful man.
We pass all types of people;
all different colors, smiles, and hair,
A woman who speaks her mind without hesitation.
A woman who follows her own path and dismisses the disapproving voices.
A woman who knows her limits and knows that we are lifelong learners.
Once Upon a time,
“You really are a funny girl”
Is a statement that has followed me my whole life.
When I was young my father asked me why I didn’t like to play with the other kids,
The scene always opens with a girl in rags
On the floor
Tired and overworked
Exhausted and sore.
The archetype who deserves so much more.
Once upon a time,
In a land obviously far, far away,
There was another princess crying,
because her mom was taken away.
I mean come on Disney,
Stuck in the muck, I am a slut There is nothing I can do but sit and sulk. I can't control minds, I can't control your vibeI can't control your life, but you controlled mine.
They say this is the land of the free, but how can that be
when the police are shooting black people like me.
As a white person, I know very little of oppression.
I am not shot in the streets for no reason
I am not taunted with that confederate flag
I am not put in jail for the smallest infraction
America
Land of the...
Oppressed Minorities,
Sexualized children,
Free Caucasian Males.
Home of the
Bigoted,
Racist,
Perverted,
America is violence.
America is a land, “where all men are created equal”
But what happens when those men are people of color, Islamic, gay, or female.
Free, free, free
They all want to be
But what is the cost?
We bleed red, white and blue, but crimson runs the thickest and disppears in one swig
Death by hunger, death by war, death by the pig
Picturing a beautiful, vibrant young girl crouching
Amongst a crowd of bellowing white men,
Who won’t put down the argument that doesn’t concern them.
This beautiful, vibrant young girl
Is the argument.
Equality, it can never exist,
I’ve heard people say, “It’s impossible,”
“Inequality is in our nature.”
Boys will be boys,
Bullies will be bullies,
We the people
Are the future of this country.
We have reached an age
Beyond which the future is unclear.
So, as much as we can,
Women standing in the crowded downtown,
Hold home-made signs in their hands.
Many of them read,
"Keep your laws off my body".
I am one of these women who stand,
Although my hands are empty.
"He's just a guy."
Just a guy,
just being a boy,
What's wrong with that?
Let boys be boys.
Don't be so uptight.
He just got drunk.
He just did coke.
He just took the car-
Being born on US soil means your life has more value
Hate special snowflakes, unless it’s Matthew
One life is worth more than 80,000 so long as it’s Christian
America the Brave risked everything for the future.
America the Strong fought endlessly for our rights.
America the Proud flew the flag for all people to see.
The heterosexual white men of our country are blinded with their star-spangled eyes,
As the rest of us become motivated and brave.
Yes, this may be the “land of the free”,
Dear Daughter,
The strange man
who you called father
was only looking to bruise you at night
I am
A woman
Belittled
Degraded
Insignificant
The consequences of my
Gender
I watch white
wealthy
middle-aged
men
in stiff suits
pick and chose
Lovely that we get to live here.
Grateful for the hard work of someone else, For Chance
I truly believe that every human on this Earth is born with a desire to save the world,
and somewhere along the way,
we realize that this world does not want to be saved.
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
“Women these days think they
Can do whatever they want
with their bodies-
That is false.”Said my community preacher:
At age 5 I heard that 'boys will be boys'
I learned that boys had more privileges than I because they were luckily born into it
At age 10 my mother told me to act proper, say your please and thank you's, don't speak out
supporting choice
supporting freedom rights
(but are you ever
horrified?)
choosing girls
fifteen sixteen eighteen
who deserve their high school
college years
walking through hallways of deceased childhoods and wet pillowcases
where little boys and girls couldn’t find protection in their own homes
their lips cold
When I was born
When I was a baby
I was the purest I could be
in the eyes of society
but now that I’m older
now that I’ve gained wisdom
On the occasionally sunny day,
when it does not rain
The Smiler walks out into the blue of today,
and bike rides to the city
The Smiler is one who,
sees with open eyes
"Oh, baby! What I'd like to do to you!"
What'd you think that'd make me want to do?
I wish I could let out the anger in me,
but I know that it's safer to just let it be.
People will say that women today have no freedom
But this goes far back
For the times have not changed
We've only taken steps back.
Women no matter their race are always paid less
But it seems we're only nice
Dear class,
Welcome to 2016.
where we’ve had someone walk on the moon
and a black president
but still haven’t completely wiped the dust from the word
When I was a kid,I had this amazing friend,We hung out all the time He and I, We were invincible.
"You see I'm different,"
She said, "because
I'm just like the rest
As I walked down the street
They yell and they holler
Even as I turn and hide my breasts
At the bank she said
Anything you can do, I can do betterI'm sick of you telling me I'm dumb WorthlessNothing.
I'm sick of you telling me I'm a nagUseless.
I need feminism because
our oppression isn’t real because at least we can vote
because the wage gap or lack of control over our own goddam bodies cannot be oppression
My fair lady, my fair lady
Be a good girl, be a dear
Do the cleaning, be the cook
All your worth is in how you look
I am… The Lady
I am the lady who likes muscle, not malls.
I like the feeling of how the power and strength that surges through my mind and body and soul creates harmony amongst my demons
I dream of something that should already be done.
I dream of bonds like the red tent.
Solidarity between womyn.
Because when we were property that our fathers could sell,
And our blood was dirty,
I am an activist
An advocate for those who don't have as good of a life as I do
I acknowledge my privelege
I am white, I am not oppressed
I am a feminist
Intersectionalism is most important
I ache for something more than this.
There is this spark in the pit of coals that smolder underneath my skin,
that scars my flesh from the inside out, that promises
– that swears –
When I was in high school
I was very conscious of the way I smiled
And talked and laughed and sat
And I never knew where to put my hands
As I walked down the hallways
And I was usually looking down
When the stick in your hand reads "postitive" there is an expectation from the world around you
Except instead of instantly feeling maternal joy, you feel the pang of a loss.
Oh, Baby
Shining light
Dazzling smile
Shimmering eyes
All sounds too cliché.
What is there to say?
Such joy
Unknown bliss
Unexpected peace
I am angry. Fuck what you've heard.
I don't get half the recognition I deserve.
There's a blazing fire in my heart.
It's been burning there from the very start.
You confuse my demeanor for weakness
Who is at faultFor the statisticThat states that every two minutes(That’s one hundred and twenty seconds)
Don't look that way
Don't say those things
There's another pretty woman
Look away from the screens
They are supposed to define you
I am FLAWLESS
When I fall, I am going to rise
I am challenged with many obstacles
And yet I am still just fine
I refuse to fall under a stereotype
Because I am a woman
i heard a child scream once,
only once,
and it was the sound of Algebra,
the Cold War,
global warming,
but also a mango seed
scraping wood to etch grammar rules.
I pant in the darkness whispering a silent prayer
Praying to the mighty lord
To let me be the one he spares
Because when night falls evil fills the night
I’m sorry people who look like me hurt you,
I’m sorry people who look like me whipped you,
I’m sorry people who look like me took away your freedom,
I’m sorry people who look like me brought pain and anguish daily,
Walking home from the
grocery store with
two heavy bags, one in each
arm to balance the weight.
A man
blocking the sidewalk
whisky on his breath and blurry eyes
“What have you got there?”
I am a womanI do not wait for my prince I do not stand behind a manI create my own pathsI walk my own journey
If they say “shh”Don’t speakI SCREAMSo they can hear my story
A couple of months ago
A man murdered two women.
Murdered two. Injured six others.
But it was okay.
It was 100% justifiable by his
“troubled past.”
I am tired
Tired of waking up at 6 AM to go to a white-washed prison where
I am taught
Not to learn
But to pass a test
Tired of hearing my dad loudly groan, "Oh really?!" when he sees a homosexual
The female identity
Is not to be confused
With the male entity
On what they think
What they say
Or what the media portrays
And they?
They’re the men
and also the women
Listen,
I tell the tale
Of my pain
Of their pain
Do you hear them?
The collective despair
Shared by every woman who is forced
To witness their culture stripped
Only to be sold
Just a girl.
Raised in a patriarchal family.
But what is family?
Abused at the age of 11, by family, stripped of my innocence.
You ask what I want in this world?
More than anything else?
Well it is what most women would want also,
I want there to be a higher likelihood that we die of disease than by the hands of a man,
God's greatest gift of birth in disrespect.
A child's life, but now wil never be.
The fate of baby, could have been with me
or you. Not through love you chose to reject.
When I was born, my mother gave me a pearl
It was flawless and shiny and beautiful and mine
What to change
or what to do.
Why can't their be anyone
in this world uniquely like you?
Changing inequality isn't possible
but why should it be?
I'm glad that we're not all equal.
I tried to be soft; tried to be gentle and delicate,
but I’ve got a body full of bones
and sharp edges.
I’ve got blood;
red hot blood,
pumping through my veins.
I tried to be soft,
I have never met a woman who told me she thinks she's pretty
I don't know if it's because they aren't confident
or because they've been trained to think they shouldn't be
But either way
Silence.
It surrounded me like a thick blanket,
a false illusion of security as I walked
across Fulton and through the market.
My flats tapped the ground, giving off no sound,
dare i say if
nd piss of thousands
of women marching
no man no cold assassin
career attackin life changing paper chasin
for me! I would much rather
lather lavishishly in the morning aromas of
As a DRC Woman, I believe a woman's mark on the world should not be shallow.
As an African American, I want race to be something celebrated and not discriminated against.
Racism
Sexism
Heterosexism
Classism
Humans
Oppression
Privilege
Advantage
Suppression
Humans
White
Heterosexual
Male
Perfect
This breathing box, this imprisoning womb,
Is my vision’s tomb.
Birthing lineal contours, knives that cut ingenuity,
Patriarchal forms, notions, popular standards strangle voice within a vast continuity.
We see one another everyday, and your talk is so condescending.
Maybe it's because I don't have that look
The look of your kind
I get it. It's "God's Will"
We don't see eye to eye because of our polar views
On the Contrary
if you look in the Dictionary
you'll see that the term you Use
has been the subject of great Abuse.
One must be Visualized
in order to be Objectified
not merely faux-Traumitized
i was told as a little girl
to stay quiet
when i really meant stop.
boys only tug on girls’ hair
when they really mean she’s pretty.
i was told as a little girl
to never scream at the shadows.
She snaps the heels off her stilettosThat never gave her enough stature.To cease treading lightly alongside theHenry Tudors and Pablo PicassosDue to two X's that cannot be overlooked
Shame that I must have
Because it is my own fault
For dressing like that
(a haiku about rape culture and the shame a woman feels after being raped)
We are but black and white
The letters that we write.
The colors leeching from our pens
destroy worlds and breathe sins.
I am a someone and not a something.
I am derived from irreplaceable queens.
I hear the war cries in my heart ring
and when I bust through walls I hear them joyfully sing.
Your vibe I feel inside deep through my eyes, suprise, I rise, the soul flies like a magic carpet ride, all
the lies dies, as a woman like you becomes wise. For you special, beautiful like a rose petal, tender to
I had zits.
I have zits.
We all do, it just comes with being a teenager. And just like zits, that awful “I’m not beautiful” feeling also comes with being a teenager.
My Sunshine, my breath
My Flutters, my walkings
My Idols, my rage
My Rippled water
My Static dreams
My Alive world
My Language
i was born into a world of
glitter and pink
barbie dolls and baby dolls
and men who would call you pet names
without bothering to raise their line of vision
At the start, I felt them place the chains upon me.
Decisions, ideas, thoughts they decided for me,
Pushed so hard I believed they were my own,
Yet they were so different from the writing on my heart.
The implications of your strength confuse
My emotions and leave me perplexéd;
Do I find safety in your able arms,
Or do I fear the strength sup’rior to mine?
The way you take control is my excuse
To be ownéd by you is my dark wish,
Sweet man who has power to bid me his will,
And protect me from those who’d demolish
My heart and send my world into a hell.
I do not care what the radicals say,
Let's be honest
Truthfully, who are we?
How can we keep stepping?
Stepping towards our future one head at a time
What is the meaning of life?
A meaning that could be meaningful or less
As I looked around me I knew I was safe
But then Mommy brought me to a different place.
With people my size and a lady like Mom
I began to assimilate into the mob.
They gave me a stick and stiff napkin
Today I take a stand, I take an oath I make a promise, to be the best woman that I can, dignified, untainted, and honest, I will be what God defines me as, instead of a product of my past, so I hold fast to what God says about me, forgetting what
Innocent.
Such a connotation,
as if there is only
innocent
and
guilty.
Guilty of what?
Of love?
Of curiosity?
Of experience?
Does it matter that I have
been loved before you?
I could blend in.
In the background.
Up against the wall
Slip myself in between the paper and the plaster
Beside the tile lining the bottom of the wall next to the cabinet
And smile.
Yes, he lost the election
But the scary part
is
apparently 47 percent
of my fellow Hoosiers
think it's cool to say
God wanted you raped
and vote for him anyway,
which makes me think
Woman reigns
on her throne. She decides your fate
with the third knuckle of her right index finger.
You kneel before her as she uncrosses her thighs
to stand.
Delilah, with
your head in her lap
When I was thirteen,
I had my first f***.
Sex has this positive connotation
Of being greatly enjoyable by both participants
The guy’s feeling fly, girl’s feeling high
And for this feeling,
You play a part
While I fall apart
Under the weather, now...
Under the weather, now...
And I beg you please
for some room just to breathe
under the weather now...
under the weather now...
how dare boys tell my gender that sexism doesn't exist
they say it so flippantly
but they don't know
how could they know?
She was afraid
Of words they said and thoughts they would have
She felt unsafe
For their actions often go excused
In a world where victims take the blame
America. Land of the free.
A land where you can get married based on the gender you were born with, but not based on who you fall in love with.
America. Land of the free.
I speak Pythagorean,
Platonic, stars, and shapes,
imparting my knowledge to others.
They love it, and tell me
that I am Minerva, incarnate
highest, uppermost, supreme.
Girls in lace dresses
you are precious objects.
Your blossom bursts open to soak up the sun.
You are gazed upon as your fruit hangs heavy.
You are ripe for the picking
turned into a commodity.
In the mind of my mother
dishes are cleaned and neatly stacked
all on her account.
His dress shirts are washed and neatly pressed
in great, abundant amounts.
In the mind of me
Heaven's Fall
You're driving home,
darkness close behind,
this sleazy solace
so painfully unkind.
What is it I do, as a true blue Woman?
I fight for justice so free, for love, for me-
Me and mine, and you'll find
that my kind, though we may bind
each other, one another, our OWN brother
My spirit was invaded today, my pride was conquered
The strongest, surest part of me crumbled to bits before him
And I could only back down,
Shy away,
Stare blankly like the thoughtless, emotionless being,
when I was in high school learning to take the tenets
of journalism like the sacraments of Christ
we learned a wealth of rules;
some matter more than others
but
I must have missed the day
how odd, to be a woman and a girl
to wear the dresses but concern about cleavage
more than meets the eye: because.
and so we waddle for the men –
twisting straps, my petticoat drawbridge
Who are we?
We, who razed down walls that kept us hidden,
Spoke firm words that altered the face of the nation,
We who stood up for equality in an unfair society.
We are women.
It is August of 2012 and I walk through your memories, a museum.
My feet pace the floor where yours once did, a battleground.
I gaze at your portrait and into your eyes, silent.
In the election of 2016 I will vote.
Blindfolded
I am led to the asphalt
And blindfolded I stand
Hoping these men
Will pave the way
Don't take it away
don't let us regress
we've pushed that boulder up the mountain
and now
it's threatening to roll right back down
to crush us
to smother freedom.
I pity a docile and feeble repartee.
Opaque words cut down by characteristic pride
Though I know the fault lies with me
Look, boy, I'm talking to you:
You who love the curve of my hip like a child
You who find solace when I'm meek-mannered and mild
You who find sweetness in my summer fleetness
I can't sing but the way you make my heart feel is wonderful
and I cant dance but the way you make my body feel is beautiful
but you can't run your hands through my hair with your fingers
