What makes me a woman?

I mean, besides the biological logic of my body

Is there some sort of international ideal? A universal rubric of womanhood?

Where is the Academy of Appropriate Existence for Female Human Beings?

And who writes the curriculum?

Unless my brain is completely fried from college apps, I’m pretty sure the AAEFHB isn’t present in our realm of reality

There’s no checklist of requirements or an application process for becoming a woman

Why, then, does the world set such unattainable requirements for us women?

Why is a Victoria’s Secret model the highest form of beauty?

Why are big hips and small breasts frowned upon?

Why is long, straight hair the best hair?

Who is the author of these ludicrous laws,

because I would like to give that person a big “what gives you the right?”

along with a huge “who the heck do you think you are?”

I am beautiful, and I’m definitely not built like a Barbie doll

I’m smart and witty, and I will never dumb myself down for the pride of men

an outraged and uncensored speech seems to be in order

but since I’m a civilized woman, I’ll put it in a letter

(ahem) “Dear vile misogynist,

You wrote the rules so that none of us could ever win this game of degradation

You tied our hands, then chained our feet, and proceeded to shove us in this unbelievably microscopic box of superficiality, so confined that there’s no room for even blinking

And you forgot to poke air holes, so any hopes of getting oxygen through our lungs is as dead as our hopes of gaining any respect while trying to fit into the unrealistic mold of society’s “perfect” woman

But guess what? It’s not over

All hope is not lost

The women that you have forced into this box are more than capable of overcoming your ridiculous rules

We are fighters, and we will not conform to your desires just because real women make you uncomfortable

You’ve hit us hard, but we will hit back much harder

You’ve pushed us down, but we will rise up again

And if you have a problem with that, you might want to make your own little box to hide in

Sincerely, a woman”

What would I change?

I’d change this sad, sorry scenario of injustice and mistreatment of the very beings who have always given (and will always give) birth to the entire population of humankind

I’d change society’s male-domination mindset,

and women’s female-inferiority mindset

I’d save the self-esteem of the 13 year old girl who feels the world pushing her to be a Miley Cyrus or a Britney Spears,

instead of an Emily Dickinson or a Dorothy Hodgkin

I’d save the intelligent, qualified women who are denied jobs because a person with a more masculine anatomy was their competition

Women are strong, powerful creatures that were made to be more than sex slaves and reproduction machines

We are Queens, Empresses, Governors, Champions, and Warriors

We have been changing the world since the dawn of time

and that power will never part from our spirits

We are very capable, but we can also work WITH men,

rather than for them

Equality is only possible when both sides are willing to agree

If I could change one thing, I would destroy this unbelievably microscopic box that we’ve been ever so rudely forced into

and liberate this universe’s union of women to unleash the power that has always been inside of us