I paused to think, though I am not supposed to;
As being part of a venomous society, where me
And my sex akin, are menial, oh! Lowly too;
That should I hate being a girl, or should I hate
Being born into a man’s world?
This was not my belief, it was a ‘fact’, they state
That bleeding red was a taboo, a reality, they advised, to hide the same.
Hide the shame.
At five I was taught to sit apt, as there are hawks who leer;
At ten I was told to keep my voice low, eyes low, head bowed, as
I was a creature of subservience, apparently mere.
At fifteen I was told to stay ‘secure’ in a nook, but
What if the rat there turns out to be the rook?
Questions went unanswered, I was shunned,
Before (they feared) I became one of those; who have their say.
So I did, like a marionette in the hands of the world of might;
Qualities encapsulated within, duties wilfully done
Became the ideal woman, no I’d say; Rather a female.
Because an ideal woman is someone phenomenal;
I was just a female who acted on patriarch’s demand.
The world was a man’s place.
I was groped on the bus I boarded; I was teased by a ‘hawk’, a sordid;
I became familiar to pay slip disparity; I became familiar to ‘male’ dominance severity.
I saw my kin being plagued;
But they just shrugged off, saying “Girls put themselves in ‘such’ situations”
But isn’t it true it was others who made it ‘such’? I paused to think, rather have my say once;
Can’t I be a girl, blessed in my world?
My shell my pride, my soul my power;
I create life, which no man can deny. Ain’t it an honor?
The lord knew it, it is the woman who can bear such pain
And she’s the only one who can create.
I said such, and they swore;
Said I am a ‘feminist’, used it as a cuss; That I am a misfit, toxic for the social.
So I tried to understand everything, everyone;
You give your life, body, soul, mind, thoughts
To the misogynist: he was but a sexist.
So I asked Why? And I was told, in a rather grim undertone, “Because you are a girl.”