Planting a New tree
I told him I went to see the doctor, and he replied “what did HE say?”
“*SHE said…” a minor correction to a major assumption.
In a world where women have equal legal rights,
they find themselves in a battle
with culture,
with society,
with the roots
that have been growing below the surface for
days,
months,
years.
The leaves may look the same to everyone:
green in the summer,
change colors in the fall,
brown in the winter.
But appearance is deceiving.
The same way you scroll through a picture perfect grid on instagram,
The same way the magazine is so shiny you can almost touch the photoshop,
The same way you apply concealer under your eyes everyday to hide the fatigue and appear energized,
The same way we look at others through rose colored glasses,
the roots of this tree are hidden, but they run deep.
When I was 12, girls were wrapping their stomachs in cellophane before running practice.
Coach saw our baggy uniforms and thought we were cute and innocent,
but the only angels we wanted to be were the ones we saw on TV,
“Victoria secret style” skinny.
I was always the small kid, the skinny kid, the little one.
I was told repeatedly how I could run so fast because I was so small.
The less I had to carry, the quicker I could go….
What if I could just run fast……and that was all.
In a world where women have equal legal rights, why do we ask what did “he” say when we talk about authority?
Why do we confuse confidence with masculinity?
Muscles with a loss of being pretty?
These roots run too deep, the colors of the leaves are just a curated feed.