#MeToo, a poem for Women’s Rights by Talia Glick
Women’s History Month
Because when I was ten, I was taught not to walk alone at night, and that when the boys in class picked on me, it was because they liked me.
Because when I was fifteen, I was taught not to leave my drink alone, and that if a man hollered at me on the street, I should keep walking.
Because when I was twenty, I was taught not to tell anyone about what had happened to me, because people would blame me. That I was at fault for what I was wearing and how much I drank, and I was asking for it.
Because when I was thirty and my husband slapped me across the face, I didn’t tell anyone. I thought it wouldn’t happen again, and he still loved me, and I shouldn’t have said that.
Because when I was forty and my daughter was going off to college, I was buying her pepper spray while my friends with sons bought them condoms.
Because my life has been dictated by men, and they have controlled my actions since the day I was born. I have felt lesser, I have felt afraid, and I have felt violated. My sisters and friends and daughters feel as afraid as I do, and we share our fear the way we share our lipstick.
Because we walk in packs at night, go in pairs to the bathroom, and hold each other while we cry inside of the rape clinic.
Because when they say one in three women will be raped in her life, you see your life reduced to a statistic, and you know that one in three is only those who reported.
Because we have been criticized, scorned, and silenced, but we shouted until our throats were raw and and our eyes full of tears and they couldn’t ignore us anymore.
Related Reading
#MeToo- Sexual Assault in High School by Rebekah Harding
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