'Female Villians' by Courtney Staib

Female Villains
Courtney Staib
 
Living the life of a woman is stamped with a double standard
there are two versions of her persona: the woman in dis-dress or
the bra-burning “man-hating” feminist
to men there is an
either-or mentality.
I went to an event
where feminist poets spoke about their book
reviews which were predominantly written by
men who would say words like
/ unapologetic /
what do we have to apologize for
/ raunchy /
why can’t we freely talk about our experiences
we are / caged in /
why can’t we be confident without being raunchy
why are our opinions a coffee table that men put their feet on--
our voices remain soiled.
Our lives are reviewed by the white man
in the back and he asked Emily how else she is going to
further her career by exploiting her sexuality
as if feminism is a movement to draw attention to our ever-growing
confidence rather than educating others on why
we have to carry lipstick mace in the first place
the room was filled with “man-hating” feminists who
let him voice his arrogance as he tried to make a room
filled with two hundred women feel weak
like the man who wrapped a hand-made choker around my
friend’s neck to show the power he had.
After the event I went to a bar where
I asked several men whether they would rather date
a woman who is powerful and confident or
a woman who is self-conscious and submissive
they all said that it depends on the looks.
Nearly every woman has been harassed on the street
has been groped in public
has almost been or has been raped
has wondered why her master’s degree is worth less than his associates
these examples are concealed in our purses because
we don’t want to be the ones shamed for being outspoken
we already are at a disadvantage
but until gender equality is achieved
women have to empty their purses and
release their dirty laundry for the world to see because
staying silent is an act of violence too.
 
Edited by Amy Owings