Quit telling us to “get over it”

Quit telling us to “cover up a bit” 

Quit telling us we were “asking for it”

We never asked for cat calls and creeps

We never knew we had to cover up like freaks

We never wanted it and now we can’t speak?

Understand your misdeeds 

Before you make us bleed

From “Provocative” shoulders 

To the forbidden midriff

Is this how we ask for it?

By showing skin in any amount

We’re asking for abuse and harassment beyond count?

And when we go to get help

We’re met by meaningless, useless “Welps”

You keep telling me “Boys will be Boys”

So why can’t you understand that girls will be girls

Our arms, our shoulders, our stomachs are not the issue 

The issue is the adults that raise their kids 

To act wrong, to do wrong, to think wrong

Boys will be boys, but what that means has to change

We must teach our kids that girls are not objects

They are not there to be looked at, played with, or used

Girls will be girls, boys will be boys

Why can’t kids just be kids 

No matter the gender

Now as I grow older

You tell me it's not all men

But somehow it’s almost all women

Its a weight that we all have to shoulder

I have to carry tasers and sprays 

Just to make sure men stay back a ways

The late night walks

The subway rides home

Even with friends and trusted companions

No one ever asks for our opinions

There is no safe space 

During this time and in any place

Now you are telling me we don't have a choice

You have single handedly taken away our voice

They say their pro-life but what about our lives

What about the victims of rape and abuse

That have to raise a child they know they can’t love

What about the children

That are now being raised with mothers that hate them

Because they can only see HIS gaze

I am tired of being treated like I am not human

I am tired of being scared to turn any corner

I am tired of being hurt by the byproduct of your decisions

It is time for you to come to the right conclusion

It is time for you to hear us for more than just a murmur

It is time for you to listen to our conditions

For we are women