Sweetie pie, I will always be too much.

Because
I want you to see
me as more than pretty
and well-figured
with nice eyes.
My body’s been pillaged,
ransacked, plundered,
for years.
It wants to rest.
Freely.

Honey,
Please don’t tell me
my aspirations don’t
matter to you
if I’m not
sitting in a board room.
And don’t frown
upon me if I choose to help
at home.
My role throughout most of history
has been unpaid,
and underrated.
I don’t need
another opinion.

Sweetie pie,
I don’t need your hand
to help me out of a muddy rut.

This life is the one I created,
and I’m capable of opening its doors
with my own hands.

Sweet cheeks,
I’d prefer to
walk along the streets alone,
without your words hitting my back,
urging me to walk faster.

Sugar,
I want you to know
paying the bill for me
was birthed from a time
when women were men’s property
and unable to make a living.

Hun,
I’m not making a living.
I’m thriving.

Hot stuff,
I hope you know many women feel the need to pay
or split the check
so that they don’t feel obligated
to offer their bodies in return for a
nice dinner.

Gorgeous,
I want you to know that
I pay
to ingest drugs
to enjoy the same
responsibility-free
sexuality that you enjoy.
Don’t take away the structure
that gives us
equality.

Buttercup,
I want you to know that you
don’t have to be tough
and I don’t have to be
feminine.

Sweet thing,
I’m going to let my hair grow long
around my body,
and you can shave yours,
if you like.
Or, I can shave mine, if I like.
It’s more about having choice
than the particular action.

Honey,
I want to know how you feel.
I don’t want you to push
down your emotions,
feeling the need to
dominate,
to be strong
and in control.

The gender constructs of women and men are
things we have been taught.
They were never ours to begin with.

Feminism is about coming back to the center.
Meeting halfway
It is for men just as much as it is for women.
It is distilling masculinity and
demystifying femininity.

So dear one,
Don’t be afraid.
We are on this journey
together.
In fact,
we can’t do it alone.