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What happens when a woman is taught to suppress her voice, again and again? When will she learn to speak again?
Then…she was young, and starry-eyed
Brimming with enthusiastic ideas inside
That on the tip of her tongue were ready to dance
Yet seldom did, because they were denied the chance
Girls were meant to be seen, not heard
They were supposed to be careful about each word
That past their vocal cords made its way
Not that a girl should have had much to say..
So the outspoken girl that needed expression
Gradually faded, went into recession
She learnt to speak little, and less often
Especially withhold any strong opinion…
**
Now… she finds herself tongue-tied
Words within her appear to have dried
So even when injustice towards women she sees
She is silent, unable to protest audibly
Her lack of words is often misconstrued
As consent for things of which she has not approved
Unable to voice her concerns, she has continued to endure
Unkindness, cruelty, crimes, and more..
She laments her lack of a voice, but the impact
Of societal conditioning is far-reaching, as a fact
Over millenia, her free speech has been curtailed
Therefore to stand up for herself she has failed…
In the twenty-first century, as I pen these lines
I know I am still fortunate to speak my mind
It irks me that women are deprived of their voice,
So early that they forget they have a choice..
I dream of an utopian world
Where any woman can utter any word
Fearlessly, without any repercussion
Where she can take part in every discussion
First published at author’s blog
Image via Pexels
I am a woman, a physician, a mother and an aspiring writer rolled into one. I write about various aspects of my life, and my preferred form of writing is poetry (or rhyming verses). read more...
This post has published with none or minimal editorial intervention. Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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