Thank you for fueling my feminist fire
I just made it through all the Feminist Fire entries for the @teamgirlpowa poetry competition. If you somehow missed this awesome wordsmithing extravaganza, never fear! All the entries are resteemed in my feed. Take a scroll, read, upvote, show some love for writers who are choosing to be vulnerable not just through identifying with an unpopular label, but with women globally.
Being a woman challenges. There is no sweeping that under the rug. The collection of Feminist Fire poems exhibit a diverse array of experiences by and with women, from an ode to one's mother to recognition of female animal rape and enslavement. It's sad there is such a gamut to run, but these stories include rape, murder, survival and fear.
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Why "fire"? As @tessaragabrielle more eloquently stated, women are often silenced. I have been silenced. I am 36 years old and this is my first year choosing to speak up. For a time, I even recorded and shared my voice on dsound. That may seem simplistic to you, but I am a woman who was abused for having a vagina. A woman harmed repeatedly and by many for being a woman. As though I had a choice in the matter. As though I understood why my anatomy was objectionable.
I learned early to stay silent. To hold my fear and rage and sadness and every other emotion including joy in. It was okay to smile, but only when I was meant to be seen. Any large emotion meant I was hysterical, but how are we supposed to not have big responses when we are never taught to self-regulate, only self-silence?
A rift with my parents over femininity and my family's acceptance of it/expression of it grew my voice. Now they are silent (by their own choice) and I have shaken off the oppression of expectation from historical abusers. I am so proud to be part of a competition elevating the voice of feminism because it allows me to step into my own power. Special thanks to my co-judges @tessaragabrielle, @limabeing and @rachelhanson10. This is more than saying #MeToo (which I have done), this is asking what we are going to do about it.
Thank you to all the contributors. Happy reading!
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Excellent post friend I congratulate you I think that women should be respected and no less precious because they think that women can be less than men but it is not so I as a man dare to say that women can come out later in life than a man. A lot more than a man can arise because of it there are macho cultures that less value women and that must stop