Words are spread like wildfire,
Traditions held; boundaries sold, why does it cost status?
Restrictions made; opportunities withheld; changes still made.
Fear is felt; worlds are built; possibilities to conquer all.
Hurt it mandatory; self-growth is expected all in the name of development?
Words are spoken; authority is made but said to be emotional?
Comfort is expected; beauty is expected but opinions are disrespected?
Be bold, be able to mold; be timid, be able to hide it can one really do it all?
Ideas are made, innovation is bread; witchcraft is what they called it?
Destiny pre written; cards pre pulled, decision was never a choice.
Vanished from past; villainized in history; control and authority is not a choice.
Lowered gazes; closed legs; improper is what they call it.
Can’t be loud, can’t lead, can’t dream, forsaken that’s all.
Be sweet like honey, but not the queen bee.
Be sexy behind closed doors, but don’t accept your sexuality.
Spoken over; thrown over; beaten over, its tradition they say.
Study but not too much, work but not too much; you should never outdo a man Afterall.
Pain is expected; loyalty is demanded, coddling is expected, Afterall it’s the woman’s job?
In fear must smile, in trouble keep smiling, in terror well keep smiling.
Safety is a privilege that can’t be felt.
Its dark doesn’t go out, its far don’t go out, its late don’t go out. Its fine but he can go out?
Be built small, but not too small. Have proportions but not too much.
Truth spoken, called a slur. Mind cleared, called uptight, showed kindness, called easy.
Every decade, re designed to fit societies mindset, to please others’ views not theirs.
Skirt too long, skirt too short? Don’t wear pants. Why aren’t you wearing pants? Button up that shirt, show a little skin?
Be natural, be artistic, be beautiful, be pretty, be skinny, be curvy. Keep it straight no wait keep it curly.
Voice low, pitch high. Be shy, be cute. They don’t like loud women.
Born fearless, born strong but sweet. Born queens not princesses. Born conquerors not conquered.
Bear the wisdom, bear the glory.
Abandon the ideals; create your own story with passion.
Write your own tale, be loud, be aggressive be bold, be what the immeasurable soul you want to be.
Be mothers, don’t be mothers. Be independent, don’t be independent, be yourself and choose your own destiny.
Be your own Women.
![](https://www.victormagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/01-IN.png)
Finio BJ-
From past to present the struggles feel generational, women have given life but get theirs taken everyday simply for being women. Respect is not given and treated with societal pressure to be perfect, to be the one who carries the families’ honors and traditions.
They are meant to struggle they are meant to be hurt, because a man says so, if she works and takes care of her kids, its reckless and bad upbringing. If she sits at home and just raises the kids, its simply lazy.
Don’t sit like a girl, don’t talk like a girl, don’t walk like a girl. We instill negative thoughts in the minds of young boys and then get appalled that they turn out to be aggressive towards women when they grow up, that they don’t respect the idea of women and the idea of femininity.
We expect women to be mothers, but what if they don’t want to be? Women have been tried and tested for centuries. When they showed they had potential, they were called witches in the past because men feared the potential they saw in women. When they speak their mind, they are called emotional but a man is called assertive? When they refuse someone, they are called uptight, but a man is called loyal?
Society and media preach how women should dress, how women should eat, how women should look all to please the male gaze. She can’t have hair that is too short. Men don’t like that. She can’t wear that much makeup; men don’t like that; she can’t be that curvy because men don’t like that? They don’t exist for men; they exist for themselves. They deserve to be who they want to be and do what they want to. They deserve to feel safe when leaving the house, they deserve to make their own choice, they deserve to be treated fairly and equally in life, they deserve so much more.
![](https://www.victormagazine.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/02-END.png)