By Emily Corbett<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You look like a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
mess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what they\u2019ll say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCouldn\u2019t you have put in more effort today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCouldn\u2019t you have put in less?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s what they\u2019ll say and<\/p>\n\n\n\n
that\u2019s what I\u2019ll hear playing in my head<\/p>\n\n\n\n
over and over and over again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s what I\u2019ll hear as I struggle to keep my hands <\/p>\n\n\n\n
still<\/p>\n\n\n\n
as I fix my makeup in the mirror. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s what I\u2019ll hear as my eyes begin to<\/p>\n\n\n\n
fill<\/p>\n\n\n\n
while I tell myself<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll never be her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her has never been one person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her is many people, and as time goes on,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her perception of me worsens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her is cruel and unforgiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her is an unfair competitor, always winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her dictates the rules, her is the one who whispers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou must be a fool<\/p>\n\n\n\n
to think he\u2019d like you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her is a disguise, and when you peel back each layer,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You find that she is a he, not a fair player. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It has been him all along who sets the rule of the game, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is him who became <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reason for tears in the mirror,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Intentionally blurring your vision to prevent you from seeing <\/p>\n\n\n\n
clearer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forcing your mind to twist and for your hands to shake,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Making you question every inch of your skin, making your heart <\/p>\n\n\n\n
break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite what he has told you, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
you are not a mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wants you to remain unaware<\/p>\n\n\n\n
of the power that you posses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because once you become aware, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
to him the game is no longer fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rules crumble down, as he goes running,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
as his game now becomes nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author\u2019s note<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n With my poetry, I often like to focus in on female beauty and just femininity as a whole. These things are so incredibly subjective and complex that they don\u2019t seem to fit to just one definition. There\u2019s no one-size-fits-all definition of beauty and femininity. The only concrete definitions of what we should look like is one that has been built by the patriarchy since the beginning of time. I\u2019ve always viewed these so-called \u201crules\u201d and \u201cstandards\u201d set by the patriarchy as a game, as seen in my poem. The \u201chim\u201d in this poem serves as a representation of the patriarchy as a whole. It\u2019s a game with unfair rules that are constantly changing to make sure that women never have the advantage. As I\u2019ve grown up, I\u2019ve learned that you don\u2019t need to know these all of these rules to win. You just ignore them. If you don\u2019t acknowledge their existence, and play by the rules that you set, you will always win the game we\u2019ve been set up to lose since we were born.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"