My “Feminist Agenda”

 

We are told we are equal

But in order to be good enough

We must live a sequel

Of another bluff.

 

Women are told

To do as they are told,

To become who they are told

Because an untouchable woman is one who is bold.

 

To put on makeup,

But not too much.

To hold ourselves up,

But make it seem like we need a crutch.

 

Because if a woman is independent

If a woman is ambitious

If a woman refuses to be dependent

Her success becomes suspicious.

 

And if that woman is of color

And if that woman is gay

And if that woman is transgender

Her life becomes one viewed with dismay.

 

But she has already become silent

After her friend’s mother told her she didn’t seem “too ghetto”

After the doctors wouldn’t help after her symptoms became violent

After she was mugged and went home with a broken stiletto.

 

So don’t tell me 

That it doesn’t matter.

Don’t tell me

That these problems are mere chatter.

 

When hundreds of women are killed

For saying no,

When thousands are killed

For wishing to grow.

 

Grow,

In a world that would rather they wilt

And succumb to the will of a crow

Rather rise to live lives they themselves built.

 

The Feminist Agenda

Is about lifting one another up

Rather than allowing the destruction of a gender,

And ensuring that no one is predestined to be runner-up.