1700

Abigail Adams asked her husband to ‘remember the ladies’

and John Adams denied with a laugh.

We were instrumental in the British boycotts,

creating clothing, food, goods,

and healed countless soldiers,

yet we were told to stay at home and take care of the children,

as if that were the least important task on the list.

We started fighting against the idea that

‘beauty is a woman’s sceptre’

and established Litchfield Female Academy,

the first school for women.

1800

Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Sarah Grimké,

work hand in hand to abolish slavery

despite having no representation in the government.

Maria Mitchell discovered a comet

and earned a medal from the King of Denmark,

but instead of receiving recognition

she was told she stole a man’s job.

The first women’s rights convention discusses

how to gain rights to property, voting, and their children.

They discuss how to spread their wings

like a bird flying away from it’s captor

escaping to a land that is actually free.

1900

We gain partial rights to property, money, and work,

then Margaret Sanger is arrested for trying to give women

control over their bodies.

After countless years of fighting, we finally gained the right to vote

and started infiltrating the legal system

only to have most women lose their jobs

to The National Recovery Act.

But instead of being discouraged,

we used this to fuel our fearsome flames

and after many years,

we are being provided with

more legal support than ever,

outlawing gender discrimination.

2000

We can now sue sexual attackers

and have more control over our bodies.

We acquired even more firsts in the government,

can join the fight for our country,

and are extending support to all kinds of women.

We are now required to be on the board of directors

of businesses in California and

prisoners are given feminine hygiene products for free.

Present Day

We hold record numbers of women

in government positions,

including one who could be the first woman president,

yet we are stereotyped as

belonging in the kitchen

with a spatula in one hand and a baby in the other. 

We broke Olympic records,

yet are often seen as

trophies to be won.

We are told to love our bodies,

yet so many young girls

are having their self esteem destroyed by

societal norms.

We are taught ‘My body, My choice’,

yet we can’t get an abortion after we were unwittingly

stared at by eyes that have no regard for privacy,

spoken to by mouths that haven’t been cleaned since 2nd grade,

and felt up by hands that shouldn’t even exist nightmares.

We preach for equality,

yet male athletes are paid way more

than their female counterparts.

We call ourselves the ‘land of the free’,

yet the only people truly free are men

who are swimming in pools of cash

and using hundred dollar bills to wipe their teary eyes.

And even though we’re no longer

‘legally restricted’

we sure as hell ain't free.

Because the government that’s supposed to be

‘For the people’

is run by too many

greedy, power-hungry, selfish men

who don’t understand our struggles.

Because we deal with

periods,

childbirth,

sexual predators,

nightmares full of creeps with freaky smiles and grabby hands,

that aren't always dreams.

And despite everything we go through,

we’re expected to put on a lovely little mask

and a pretty perfect smile

and follow all the contradictory rules

society has placed on us.

Now, I’m not trying to negate or ignore

the struggles men or anyone else deal with,

because I know they’re a burden

I can’t even begin to imagine.

I’m simply trying to say

I

HAVE

HAD

ENOUGH

with the mold we’re supposed to fit in.

This mold that was forged from the depths of insecurity

crafted from years of oppression

and decorated with discrimination.

This mold we can break free of if we 

stand together, hand-in-hand, and

rise in the face of adversity,

like the rose that grew from concrete.

Facing the challenges thrown at us

with an iron will,

sword held high above our head

not using violence, but resisting just the same.

Because if we want change we must

work

fight

cry

fall 

struggle

and rise

from the injustice we’ve been served

to make our own platter full of

equality, acceptance, and freedom

in a world where anyone and everyone can thrive

as the extraordinary people they are.

It’s going to be different

You’ll sit with writhing discomfort

The kind that makes your insides sink

Sink, twist, tinge and tangle in a way that's wrong

In the knowledge that you can never return

Return to a time where everything was clean and simple

Where the world was a place of color and laughter

Where everything hard and ugly was dealt with by others

When you were protected from all the grime and pain of the world

You knew this was inevitable

Then why does it feel like this wasn't supposed to happen?

It’s going to be different

You won’t walk down the same hallways you once did

The way the rough grooves in the wall felt underneath your fingertips 

The smell of fresh ink and paper

Music flooding your ears on the bus ride home 

Aching in your legs after days of long practice

Flashes of color that dance and twirl

Cheers from the crowd as a curtain closes

A warm embrace of someone familiar

And the sound of laughter around the lunch table

All the delicate memories you held so close to your heart 

will seem so far away

All the good of the past will be nothing more than a memory

you’ll wonder why you didn’t stop for a moment

enjoy the simplicity of consistency.

It’s going to be different

Time will seem to quicken

and the days will blur

And shake

And pass

And break

And like a rollercoaster of highs and lows

The chaos you were so accustomed to

Will suddenly stop

and you’ll find yourself wondering “How did this happen?”

How did I lose and gain so much in what seemed like a day?

How has all this time been used?

It’s going to be different

it’s going to be scary

every day will seem to stretch and warp

Or blink in an instant

The future is an ever changing unknown

nothing will stay consistent,

And there will be times when you doubt you should’ve left that time

You’ll doubt that you should’ve ever moved on

But look around

At all the love you've already created

What seemed like an angry storm over a dark horizon

What seemed like clouds chuckling in mockery

Rumbling the sky and breaking it apart 

Has passed

It’s going to be different

But it’s going to be worth it

Worth everything you've been dreading

It’s going to be different

But it’s going to be okay.