different shoulders
“ladies, make sure to cover up”
“oh, her dress was so short”
“she was asking for it”
“distracting me”
the strap was smaller than three fingers
a strip of my belly was seen
i got sent home
always “they were staring because the girls were not covering up”
never “the boys shouldn’t be staring”
“you come to school to learn
not show off your body”
we can’t focus
when you’re showing so much skin
too short and you’re a sl*t
too long and you’re a prude
why am i learning not to distract boys
when they should be learning not to sexualize me
i can’t wear tank top
but a guy can wear a muscle tee
are their shoulders different?
-m.n
2 Comments
Monisha Bommu
Thank you for sharing that poem. It really struck deep with me, because it has become a reality, not just me, but for everyone. This really embodies that really well.
September 21, 2022 at 5:46 pmSaisha Dangle
I really love the contrasting between what clothes guys and girls wear and the different perspectives. Recently, many schools have become more strict on unfair dress-codes and I think that this poem powerfully symbolizes the changes.
September 26, 2022 at 9:47 am