To Be A Woman
To be a woman is to hold power –
a force to both be celebrated and feared.
We embrace our femininity,
Soft and fierce in equal meausure.
Beautiful,
caring,
Kind,
Loving.
We are the strongest of warriors,
At the forefront of every battle,
Fighting for what’s right,
Freedom,
Justice,
Peace.
Being a woman provides a community,
Beautiful friendships,
A sisterhood of those who understand,
What it is to be a woman,
The joys,
The struggles,
The resilience.
I love being a woman,
I love everything that comes with it,
The pain,
The hardships,
Being a woman is what makes me who I am,
What makes me unstoppable.
Yet to be a woman,
Feels impossible,
The suffering we are forced to face,
Just for being born,
Is an unbearable burden to endure.
A burden that has surpassed many generations,
My mother,
Her mother before her,
Their sisters and daughters,
Discovered the same fear we face everyday,
One that still haunts them,
And that continues to haunt their legacies.
A woman must live in fear.
A second thought before speaking aloud,
Not remembering your company,
Fearing the dark alley.
The drink you turned away from,
Even for just a second,
The clubs deafening atmosphere,
The lingering stares,
The man who calls you beautiful,
But doesn’t take no for an answer.
“He’s just being nice.”
As he lingers too long.
As he corners.
As he cages.
As he takes.
A woman is supposed to be pure,
Untouched for her husband,
But even then it’ll never be enough,
She must have experience,
He can’t teach her everything,
Be a virgin.
Be a whore.
She must be quiet,
Listen,
Do as she’s told,
But then she’s too submissive,
Not enough fight to her.
Not enough edge.
Not enough.
To be a woman is to never be enough,
You’ll always fall second to someone better,
Constantly comparing yourself to the woman next you,
A friend,
A stranger.
Being a woman means that you must twist and contort,
Molding yourself into the perfect wife,
Mother,
Maid,
A role you never chose.
My daughters,
I pray don’t suffer,
I pray they are free,
No longer living in fear,
I pray that they are strong women,
But they shouldn’t have to be.
The choice to not have children,
Is one a woman is not meant to make.
“You’ll never be a real woman if you don’t want kids.”
“It’s in our nature to nurture.”
“You’ll never find a man like that.”
“He’s going to want a lot of kids.”
You must become a docile incubator,
“What’s wrong with you.”
“You were built to breed.”
“Your body is made for pregnancy,
For birth.”
“You’ll change your mind one day.”
“You’ll want it.”
“You will.”
Despite it all,
We rise.
Despite fear,
The pain,
The weight of expectations,
We push forward,
We carve our own paths,
We redefine what it means to be a woman.
We are the fighters,
The dreamers
The mothers,
The daughters,
The sisters,
Not solely defined by our wombs,
Nor our worth determined by a man.
We love,
We rage,
We break,
We build,
We take the pieces of a world,
Not made for us,
This is a man’s world,
But we can shape it into something new.
To be a woman is to hold history in your hands,
To carry the strength of those who came before,
To rewrite our stories,
So that our daughters and their daughters never have to live in fear,
To be a woman is to not merely survive,
But to thrive.
Never let them tell you who you are.
We. Are. Women.