"My Short Shorts"
(A piece I wrote in 2010 - rather than scold our daughters on what (not) to wear, teach our sons not to rape)
My short shorts need no validation
My short shorts need no validation
That
they are hot,
Happenin’,
And
here to stay.
My
short shorts do not beg for it:
They’re
not asking you to take me to your place
Nor
hinting for you to follow me to mine.
My
short shorts pity your ignorance,
Thinking
you can assume
My
vulnerability
Malleability
Accessibility—
Fool,
you have no idea who you’re dealing with.
My
short shorts are a stand:
A
stand for independence,
Defiance,
Self-assurance,
Woman.
My
short shorts affirm my self-love:
Legs
tingling. Hot sun.
Thighs
caressing.
Kissing
breeze
Flowing
up two streams
Meeting
inside
All
they way inside
My
“cunt-try”.
My
short shorts don’t owe you a thing:
They
didn’t ask for comments
They
don’t want your attention,
So
STOP—
Stop
grabbing with hands
Stop
undressing with eyes
Stop
encroaching with words,
It’s
not “harmless”—it’s harassment.
My
short shorts do not excuse you;
My
bare legs do not entitle you,
What
I do or do not cover needs no validation from you and —
Neither. Do. I.
(Caveat: For those offended by the use of the word "cunt", please understand that the community with which I first shard this piece worked hard to reclaim the word. We did not agree that the penultimate insult for a woman should refer to the vagina, which for us was a symbol of utmost resilience and courage. Let us remember that it is not a word itself that is destructive but the way it is employed to dismiss or shame or silence. Within our group, it was used as a term of endearment.)
(Caveat: For those offended by the use of the word "cunt", please understand that the community with which I first shard this piece worked hard to reclaim the word. We did not agree that the penultimate insult for a woman should refer to the vagina, which for us was a symbol of utmost resilience and courage. Let us remember that it is not a word itself that is destructive but the way it is employed to dismiss or shame or silence. Within our group, it was used as a term of endearment.)
*snaps*
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