This poem was written in response to MDGs 3 and 5, which are about women’s equality. I wanted to show my frustration with how women are treated in today’s society, which is completely out of sinc with our modern world.
Women
Why is that such a loaded word?
Why, when we say it, do we think of
More girls than ever with eating disorders?
and only 17% of Congress?
and the tabloid lives of Kim Kardashian and Lindsey Lohan?
Why don’t we think of empowerment?
Our mothers
and grandmothers
fought to vote
yet more women than ever
feel as though they have lost their voice
that they are powerless
Why is our worth measured by the size of our boobs
and how flat our stomachs are?
I don’t know.
Maybe men are afraid of us
Maybe they don’t want to admit
that we have power over them
But we do.
We are strong
and smart
and truly, truly beautiful.
we
are
women.