Every Woman has a story
Of being told “not possible”
Yet breaking the “not” and making it possible
To stand victorious at the end!
Every woman has a story
Of being told about her duties
Even before she learns her rights,
That makes her guilty to pursue her dreams!
Every woman has a story
Of scavenging eyes and unwelcome touch
That is normalised as “natural instincts”,
But portrayed as “scarlet” if she exhibits them!
Every woman has a story
Of being betrayed of tiny promises
And being told it is “silly” to hold on to them,
By the “serious” people who own her life!
Every woman has a story
Of being measured against another
In color and texture and curves and hair,
To shatter her confidence and self worth!
Every woman has a story
Of being abandoned from the shelter of home
And trying to turn to someone she is not,
To fit a new house which should turn “home”!
Every woman has a story
Of trying to prove her grit and mettle
In a man’s world with man’s laws,
But still maintain the feminine within!
Every woman has a story
Of motherly instinct and hidden love
That’s mistaken as her weakness,
Until they know the wrath of her love!
Every woman has a story
Of survival and hidden pain and lost dreams
That makes her vulnerable yet strong,
To enable her to take "man"kind forward!
Every woman has a story
Of emerging out of her fragile body
And the invisible boundaries it create,
To walk away with her head held high!
Every man has a story too
That can always create a “whataboutery”
But my friend, I am not a “His”storian,
I am just a “Her”storian, and they call me a Feminist!
-Soumya Dharmarajan
