Feminist:

A person who advocates

For the social, economic, and political

Equality of the sexes

I need feminism because

When you’re seven you shouldn’t wonder

Why ‘like a girl’ is a bad thing.

I need feminism because when you’re seven

If a boy hits a girl it’s

‘just so cute’

And

Oh,

He must like her

But when that same boy hits that girl

When you’re 20

it’s abuse

But

She brushes it off because

Oh,

He must like her.

I need feminism because when you’re eight it isn’t ladylike

To raise your voice

Because it isn’t ladylike  

To fight back

Because it isn’t ladylike

To take up

Space.

I need feminism because when you’re ten

You learn that Joanne

Is the ‘J’ in J.K. Rowling

But

You learn she was worried that boys wouldn’t like

The book

If they knew she was

A girl.

I need feminism because when you’re twelve

And you see a boys’ magazine

It features leadership

But

The girls’ magazine features

How to get a beach body

As if the one I have

Isn’t

Good enough.

I need feminism because when you’re thirteen

And sitting on the biggest rock you can find

At the beach

Chattering with your best friend

Three grown men shouldn’t

Shout obscenities at you

And

At thirteen

You quickly come to find out

That ‘go away’ and ‘no’

Doesn’t work as well as

‘I have a boyfriend’

Because

You’re more respected as somebody’s

Than somebody.

I need feminism because at thirteen

People begin to say respect her

Not as its own sentence.

They will it drown in

Respect her because she’s

a mother

A sister

A daughter

Not

a human.

I need feminism because at fourteen

When I attend a family gathering

My brother is asked how school is

And how his

Grades are

Yet

I’m asked

If there are any

boys I have my eyes on

As if straight As

And never missing high honors

Doesn’t

Matter.

I need feminism because at fourteen

If I sit at lunch

Joking with friends

saying

‘I’m a lone queen’

Someone will always ask

‘But what’s

A queen

Without

Her king?

Well

Historically speaking

More powerful.

Just ask

Cleopatra, Nefertiti, Dido, Victoria,

Elizabeth

And the countless other kingless queens

Who ruled the greatest empires.

I need feminism because at fourteen

I know that a boy who has a strong opinion

Is

Loud

But

A girl with an opinion is

A

B***h

And that

‘With such loud opinions, I’ll intimidate boys’

As if my opinion

Isn’t only that my sisters and I should be

Equal.

I need feminism because at fifteen

Boys will mock us and ask

Why do girls

Travel in packs

When they go

Well

Anywhere

As they snicker.

We know that joke is a lot less funny

When

You realize that it’s because

We’ve had it scarred

And etched intricately into our minds

That we must stick together

Because

Maybe

Because

What if

Because

‘It’s safer.’

I need feminism because at fifteen

I know too well

That girls are in fact

Not ‘free’ to do as they wish

I know that

No girl

Can win

At the game society created.

Girls are ridiculed for

Everything.

I need feminism because at fifteen

I’m told

You aren’t like

Most girls

As if it was a compliment

As if my mother, friends, and sisters

Are people I want to be isolated from.

There are millions

Of ways to give a

Compliment

Making my others small

Is not one.

I need feminism because at fifteen

The teachers that

I looked up to

The teachers responsible for

Shaping

For creating

the future

Told us

To not bubble over

And

Distract the boys

As if they were speaking

About inanimate

Objects

Or

Boiling water

Yet

When they came to me

In my anger saying

They had not meant it in

That way

Only that

Boys were going

To stare

As if that didn’t

Send my rage to the boiling

point

Why had no one told them

To keep their hands to themselves?

To listen to my no’s

To not read my body like a book

Why were we

Taking the

Heat.

I need feminism because at fifteen

What do you expect,

You’re a pretty girl

And

Boys will

Be

Boys

Has stopped being

Good enough.

Everyone

Will

Be held accountable for their actions.

I need feminism because at fifteen

I’ve heard that men can be predators

But let me tell you

Women are not

Prey.

I need feminism because at fifteen

I know what it means when people say

misandry irritates

But misogyny kills.

I need feminism at fifteen because of

Tiffany McKnight, Tara Serino, Zhou Yan

Nadia El-Dib, Jennifer Paulson, Maren Sanchez,

Shemel Mercurius, Lavena Johnson, Nova Henry,

Mary Spears, Jessica Hampton, Cherica Adams,

Tiarah Poyau, Janese Jackson Talton

And the countless other women who were

Killed

Because they

Said no.

I need feminism because at fifteen

I know the argument

Not all men

But let me assure you

Enough men

That every girl I know has referred

To a man as a creep

And enough men

That every girl I know

Is afraid of

Most men.

I need feminism because at fifteen

I know that the price I pay

To go to college

Should not be a 1 in 5 chance of

Being raped or assaulted.

I need feminism at fifteen because

Nearly 75,000 black girls and women

Are missing in America

I need feminism at fifteen because

Boko Haram still holds

100 girls

They exchanged a few

For our ignorance

I need feminism at fifteen because

I refuse to let the plant of patriarchy

Root itself inside me

I need feminism because at fifteen

This is just the experience one

One girl

And what

one girl

has heard.

One girl

In one country

In one state

In one town.

I need feminism

Because some people still think

They don’t.