By Noelle
Thinner
Curvier
Smart
(Not too smart)
Sexy
(Not too sexy)
Strong
(Not too strong)
Shinier
Healthier
Quiet
Speak up
Shhhhh. . . .
The burden of humanity’s collective synchronized cry for perfection, that not one individual in the masses has attained, falls square on the pointed shoulder blades of she. She is the battered oxen to your show-cart of desire.
Her intuition gifts her with the cursed stake and flame-death of the witch.
Her delicacy earns her the reward of broken and tightly-bound feet.
Her natural sensual lines are exaggerated by the crushing of ribs beneath the weight of a mocking corset.
Let her be what you can’t fulfill. Let her suffer and die on your cross of unreasonable expectations. Please, let her withhold, sacrifice, and indulge all for the sake of your ideals.
Fickle finicky ideals.
As if being a carrier of a womb, the inception of God in flesh-form, and every other hero you’ve ever needed, is just not quite enough.
As if being the soft that tempers war and power-struggle that is our planet won’t suffice.
She is the fertile crescent of Eden.
She is the battle cry of Deborah.
She is the dubious queen who saves an entire race sentenced to ethnic cleansing.
She is the breast that God pulled natural life from.
She is the harlot beckoned to wrap her glory around God’s feet as waters flowed from her face. Shame and rejection commingled with defiance and love.
Her body, a birthplace of life.
Her mind, the origin of invention. Her hand, the center of creation. Her heart, a caldera of charity.
Woman, bow no longer.
You are she.
“I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God’s creation, woman, the object of our lust.”
~Mahatma Gandhi
I like this. A lot. Acerbic. Sardonic. But also empowering and encouraging. It makes me realize it would be hard being a girl. And that I probably make it so.
beautiful noelle. capturing the essence of what it means to be a woman. pushed in pulled by so many competing expectations and demands. achieving one means failing in another. compelling imagery. thank you.
Thank you, Jason. For me, the weight of being a girl can be paralyzing at times. Acknowledging unspoken under-the-neath expectations and harmful ideology is a good place to start the conversation. Also, there is something categorically empowering in the realization that we (I) are (am) not alone…
Thank you so much, Tammy. We’ll call this words born in the sauna. 🙂
[…] Noelle… […]
There really is no discussion here…. Women rule and Men drool! JUST kidding people
The rest of my comment didn’t come through 🙁 this is no fun!!! I said I was just kidding and it’s a beautiful piece and makes me honored to be a She! muah!
You have a way of expressing a world of burden and hurt in just a few, perfectly placed words. I don’t know how you do it. I never want to underestimate the weight that men carry, but being a woman is hard enough without the external expectations, stereotypes, misunderstandings and objectification. Being a woman can be beautiful, I wish we were freer to enjoy the calling. Thank you for your transparency.
Freedom to enjoy the calling. Perfectly put, Amanda. That’s exACTly what I’m after.
I love this. Love.
lldi, I’m so glad you connected with it! Thank you for the feedback.
Speechless. Thank you, love.
Melissa
<3
Jason said, “But also empowering and encouraging. It makes me realize it would be hard being a girl”
Well, hipster is a close second LOL
A lot of truth in there Noelle. It is what it is. There are differences between the sexes and male physiology has allowed the man to be the dominant gender of the species. Doesn’t excuse the abuse and misogyny etc found in nearly every culture throughout history, it just explains the biological and physiological advantage the male has through force. Power corrupts. It’s good to see the Enlightenment and Christian liberalism move the ball on taming man’s corrupt nature in the area of respecting women’s rights and not abusing man’s power. I love my daughter very much and I’m teaching her self defense and to be strong, etc. I teach her about money, negotiating, the nuance of business interaction and how do deal with bullies and arseholes etc. I give her unconditional love and she has much power in our relationship. My hope is that she’ll be able to confront the imbalance in society when she becomes a woman and I’m trying to equip her for such to the best of my ability. I love her so much. She is more important to me than anything in this existence (her and her brother).
Go shoot and kill something, Alex. . . .
Thank you for your feedback, Alex.
Good thoughts…