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“You’re not very nice to men”
my mother and sister said
over conversation and dinner.
They say, if I carry on this way,
I will be alone forever.
Maybe it’s just my humour.
And not everybody gets it.
Besides, I tell men at bars to fuck off
and they seem to find it attractive.
My sister will tell them,
“She is a psycho, you know?”
Hoping they will leave me alone
but, instead, they pull out their phones.
I have never wanted to change
the way that I speak.
But I am no longer sure this is
a choice that belongs to me.
The parts I like about myself
get tarnished once a man
takes a liking to them as well.
Why must they steal my personality
when they already own everything else?
So I try to be kinder.
Stick around longer
when I just want to leave.
Assume their intentions
are not what their brothers
have allowed me to believe.
Unlearn all of the lessons
that I was taught by society.
Try to be a good feminist
without getting angry.
I want to be friendly
and I want to be kind.
But I do not want my kindness
to be some rapist’s alibi.
And they’ll ask me why.
Why did I stay?
Why did I speak?
Why did I smile?
Why didn’t I leave?
Why was I there
at that time of day?
Because we can no longer state
that harassment only lives
in the night.
On a Monday morning
I have feared for my life.
Well-lit streets will only shine light
on the crime that continues to live
long after we die.
Our ancestors. Our sisters.
Our girls to come.
Fighting a battle
that is not ours to be won.
Because we are not the problem.
So why must we be the solution?
Fix your men. Fix the system.
Stop trying to fix the women.
You lengthen our hemlines
and cover our chests.
So offended by what keeps you fed.
Addicted to pornography
but call us all whores.
Fighting with yourself
but make it our war.
Say, “This may be a man’s world
but, darling, it would be nothing
without a woman or a girl.”
Our existence gives you hierarchy.
For without women there
would be no patriarchy.
I tell my mother and sister
that I would rather be alone forever
than be a placeholder
in a man’s world
any longer.
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Comments (2)
Thank you for the interesting and delicious content. Follow my story now.
"This may be a man’s world but, darling, it would be nothing without a woman or a girl" hehe lovely ideas. Nicely done it.