Beyond the label
On July 5, 2024 by rubeenayasminsk
Image credit: indomercy2012
You designed the world, claimed yourselves supreme,
Dictated our lives, cast us in a lesser dream.
You made us think we are weak, incapable,
Played with our minds, made us dull and miserable.
This is not a new tale, a saga of uncountable centuries,
Rules laid down to bind, confined by endless boundaries.
Captured and concealed within four walls,
In your ego’s shadow, you played us like dolls.
You always treated us like puppets, pawns in your game,
You are the maestro, orchestrating everything in our name.
Maneuvering our every move with invisible strings,
Devious grandmaster, clipping our wings.
From the moment I opened my eyes, I inhaled patriarchy,
I drank your lies, fed on oppression’s dark legacy.
Trapped and smothered in the role you assigned,
In this world of yours, we’re just lesser mankind.
It’s ironic to count myself lucky,
Born where beliefs don’t label me yucky.
My heart goes out to those in lands where lives are devalued,
An organ dictates their existence, sniffed out in a cruel cycle continued.
You see me as a maid, a cook, a mere damsel,
Reduced to a trophy wife, a baby-making vessel.
Why am I reduced to eye candy, a pleasure toy,
And a nanny for man-children?
Shackled by the nanothread, no way to run.
Some of you throw the words such as, it’s you, not us,
Break the chain, break the cycle, bring the change, a must.
But the other you conditioned us to believe we are bound by limits,
Trapped in this learned helplessness you created, in myths.
Not all of you are tyrants, some are allies, some stand as good,
Some spectate, not enforce, indifferent where they stood.
Some fought for our rights, others just cheered,
Few with good intentions, but words sometimes veered.
If only that would suffice, I wish your voice would be heard,
But you’re a drop in the ocean, a soft voice in the chaos, a grain of sand in a desert.
A small spark did burn the prairie, yet failed to ignite a blaze,
One step forward at times, then ten steps back, taking big Ls on some days.
I wish for equality, I hope for equity,
Not seeking dominance, nor any superiority.
I envision a world where we all stand as equals,
With fairness and justice, among fellow peoples.
I agree, there are false prophets, termed pseudo by you and by we.
They are misled and they mislead, yet hear my plea:
We’re not all alike, we are sufferers, they’re advocates untrue,
They don’t represent the thousands of silent survivors; understand, you too.
Things are changing, now we’re included, we have our rights,
Thanks to Mary, Cady, Mott, and many unknown faces with their fights.
In an age where once flying cars were predicted, we settle for the bare minimum,
Changes needn’t flash, but at least outpace Bizarro’s or the turtle’s momentum.
Curie, Franklin, McClintock, just a few to name,
You were the change, the revolution, in your domain.
From Indira to Thatcher, at least one to check off,
But none to the land of dreams, where stripes and stars set off.
Douglass, Frederick, MLK, Gandhi, and Roy, allies true,
In the fight for rights, your voices rang through.
Couldn’t thank you enough, you were the sunshine and the fresh dew,
Your courage and vision, guiding us through.
Yearning for a world, where people share,
As partners, not soldiers in an opposing affair.
We’re not your enemies nor slaves, just fellow human,
Hoping this new world’s truth exceeds mere fiction.
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- Fifth stanza is about female infanticide
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- Learned helplessness is when someone or something gives up trying to change their situation, even if they have the ability to do so, because they’ve learned from past experiences that their efforts are futile. For example, an elephant tied with a small rope as a baby may never try to break free as an adult, even though it has the strength to do so, because it learned early on that escape is impossible.
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- 12th stanza, last line is reference to DC comics flash. Flash is the fastest man alive and bizarro flash is reverse of flash meaning he is the slowest person, so is the turtle man.
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- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Mary Wollstonecraft are the voice of women’s suffrage movement.
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- Fredrick Douglass – Civil rights activist. He actively supported women suffarage movement.
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- Frederick Pethick Lawrence is a british labor politician who campaigned for women rights. He published newspaper called vote for women.
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- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi supported and preached gender equality and women rights. HE supported many female politicians in Indian politics.
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- Raja Ram Mohan Roy was an Indian reformer who advocated to abolished sati and with the help of Lord William Bentinck sati was finally abolished in 1829.
Sati: a practice where a widow throw themselves into the husbands’ funeral pyre.
