I wrote a poem

[CrappyPoemasaurus]

Thinking about the young women caught up in the trans debate, particularly students, inspired me to write this mediocre poem.


For Young Women

The women you are fighting are the ones that went before you.
We're your mothers, grannies, aunties. We don't hate you, we adore you.

We were little girls who climbed up trees, wore trousers, made a mess.
Stereotypes forced on us caused us anger and distress.

We fought against our parents when they said what girls should be. We stood up for each other and we wanted to be free.

We raged against oppression, we were passionate and strong. We challenged inequality, we've fought it all along.

We see you shouting loudly now, we understand your pain. We love it that you care so much. We are just the same.

We stand further down the road, see things you can't yet see. We wish the world was different but it's not how it should be.

Female-bodied humans are subject to oppression.
It's down to our biology and not gender expression.

You hear what we are saying but interpret it as hate. We say, listen harder, we need nuance in this debate.

The women you are fighting are the ones who walk before you.
We speak up, put ourselves at risk: please know we do this for you.

[ItsNotNormalLove]

Absolutely brilliant poem, really love it!

[FemaleAndLearning]

Fantastic, my 13 year old daughter will love this x

[PrawnofthePatriarchy]

I really like it. Thank you!

[AnyOldPrion]

It’s great. It would sound even better out loud. Perhaps someone could create a video version.

[CrappyPoemasaurus]

How would a Poemosaurus go about twitting such a poem into the wild? It is too long to twit, right?

[teawamutu]

Screenshot it and tweet the picture?

And I love it too. Thank you.

[CrappyPoemasaurus]

mobile.twitter.com/poemosaurus/status/1448662571960057884

Tweet tweet. Thank you for the kind feedback. Do as you wish with this. (I await accusations of Extreme Bigotry.)

[ClaraMumsnet]

Hello, just letting you know we've changed the title at the OP's request.

[JellySaurus]

Good

[CircleofWillis]

@ClaraMumsnet

Hello, just letting you know we've changed the title at the OP's request.

What was the previous title?

[Lifeisforalimitedperiodonly]

Simply tremendous. I keep reading it.

[MildredsMussaurus]

@CircleofWillis
"I wrote a crappy poem"

Poemosaurus definitely socialised as female :)

[Poemosaurus]

I wrote another one. Not sure how many more I have in me, perhaps a lot! This is in response to a guardian article www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/10/how-do-we-talk-to-teens-about-sex-in-a-world-of-porn?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

(I won't keep spamming this board with them, but I'll put them on my twitter that I linked before, and I made an insta too, in case anyone wants to see any further mediocre feminist poetry.)


Generation Gap

Porn could be found
Up on the top shelf / On Page 3 /
Under a brother’s bed.

We were not keen
But were also not prudes
So pretended not to care.

As teens we developed sharp elbows, sharp retorts,
and carried sharp keys between our knuckles
on our way home.

___


You had just turned eleven
(tall and gangly, jeans and t-shirt)
the first time a full grown man
looked you up and down.

You were oblivious to him
And to the evil eye that I gave him.

Eleven
is currently the average age
for boys to start accessing
increasingly sadistic,
violent porn.*

You still hide your face
When people kiss on tv.


(*Remember, girls, porn can be empowering.)

[Redshoeblueshoe]

Excellent

[Leafstamp]

I love both of your poems OP! You’re very talented.

[VortexofBloggery]

Love it, well done!

[CuriousaboutSamphire]

I am just bumping this. It came up on another thread and I think it deserves a wider audience. Both the poem and the admonishment to value yourself

[DaisiesandButtercups]

I love these poems! Brilliant.

Thank you for the bump CuriousaboutSamphire!

[KingofQueens]

I think it will certainly appeal to teenage girls.

[PaleGreenGhost]

Oh wow I missed this. Great poem and so true.

[Helleofabore]

Brilliant poem!

[JoodyBlue]

I love seeing the issues articulated in this format @CrappyPoemasaurus and I think poetry can move people in ways that argument doesn't always, because it speaks to the emotional part of us. That part we have to downplay as critics of gender because we have to be so careful in what we say and how we say it. Everything has to be evidenced and backed up. We do do that. But this is a fantastic addition. And ps please share here, cos I don't do twitter and so need a link. I would hate to miss any more poems you write