Five o'clock Shadow (a feminist poem)
Weâre all about fairness these days. However, let me speak.
Men now earn almost $300 more per week
Than women, based on average wages in full-time jobs
Are womenâs blotted lipstick
A crimson mark of a beauty
They have been forced to equip themselves with
Itâs their only method of survival
In a world where they have been told
That their thighs are their most powerful asset,
Their bodies a marketplace;
Meanwhile they remain passive
Donât comment on the cat-calls and ass-grabs
Theyâve been taught to accept as a âmassive complimentâ.
My older brother and I were driving in town not long ago
He rolled down the window, as a teenage girl,
Probably younger than me, walked past.
âCall out to herâ, he said, his eyes laced with hunger;
A savage desire for this woman;
A walking piece of flesh;
That often women in marriage
Are told they cannot refuse to have sex with their husband
Like theyâre some kind of baby carriage
Being a woman in contemporary society is a full-time job.
Young girls put on makeup to feel confident
A skin-care commercial for what they aspire.
Full lips, perfect brows, shiny hair, shaved legs, white teeth,
A dress to match the heels their one desire,
Their only sin envying the girl who made out with a guy at that party.
âIsnât she a skank?â They enquire,
If she does, sheâs âtartyâ.
And we have men sighing about their
 Women have their own five o'clock shadow that evokes a sigh
Itâs the one that trails behind them
As they walk home through the park at night
A silhouette of lust stalking its prey
She dives into her purse reaching for the pepper spray
And still, thereâs that one person who will always say
Letâs teach boys not to rape
Instead of telling girls they should be caring
About their.. shorts? spaghetti straps?
It should never be the clothes sheâs wearing that proclaim her apt
As the reason she was victim to his wrath.
Girls should not have to move over to a different path
When they see a man approaching at midnight,
Their first instinct to get out of sight. Â
In fight or flight she prepares herself for any
Indication that her life is endangered
And thus, she is a force to be reckoned with.
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
germansingergirl
2087
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