We are Women by Keeva Donoghue

We are women

Our voices must be powerful and loud

Or else our thoughts will become swallowed in the crowd

With minds and bodies no longer our own

Our freedoms and protections continue to remain unknown

We are women

Our pain is minimized and invalidated 

Credit is taken from the work we ourselves have created 

If our voices are raised, we are bitchy and bossy

We are only listened to if we are pretty and our lips are glossy 

We are women

Even as children we are sexualized and craved 

When we age, we must resemble children to be attractive, bare and shaved 

Embracing our sexuality is seen as a lack of self respect 

If we are attacked we are blamed as it is something we should expect 

We are women

The makeup we apply day by day

Covers up the blemishes determined to stay

The wires dig into our sides and our chests 

A constant pain and push that will not rest

We are women

There are those who genuinely despise us 

But we are shamed for our lack of trust 

There are those who think our existence brings nothing but shame

That our faults and violations leave us to blame

We are women

Who must fight twice as hard for the same recognition

And are expected to thrive in these unequal conditions

We are not allowed to win the race 

As we are only desirable when we are something to chase

We are women

Mothers and sisters and wives and friends 

But we are also more than simply a means to an end 

We are natural and brave and strong

To belittle and underestimate us is a mistake gravely wrong