Female. 

A disgusting word. 

Am I not more than what the textbooks make my body out to be? 

Am I not effeminate enough to wander beyond more than my shape? 

You call us irrational. 

Unstable.

Dramatic.

Sensitive. 

Female. 

But it is not you who is considered your own weakness. 

You are not privileged enough to walk alone at night 

Without the fear of plundering under our will 

Or being lucky to one day sit in court to testify against a man 

Who openly turned his opportunity into our oppression. 

Yet you will never weep our tears. 

God forbid we throw away our razors. 

God forbid we cut our hair. 

God forbid we slouch, we grieve, or groan. 

For the wire of our bra is the bar of our freedom. 

You want us to live to depend on a man, 

Not a male. 

Treat us with the respect we know we deserve. 

Treat us so we are no longer fearful. 

So we are no longer unworthy. 

We are your mothers. 

Your daughters. 

Sisters.

If the sound of a woman fighting for power 

Makes you upset, 

Your problems reach farther 

Then your loss of self-respect. 

Or your loss to reflect. 

The word you are looking for 

Is woman. 

The word you are looking for 

Is pride. 

Determination. 

Spirit. 

Prestige. 

So how dare you merely call us 

Female.