10 Poems That Remind Us Of What It Is To Be A Woman
By Caity Mae
Modern womanhood is hard to define, but one can argue it is defined by struggles. Struggles against impossible beauty standards and Photoshop. The struggle of either wanting kids or choosing not to have them and knowing that, no matter what you choose, an overwhelming majority of someone is going to think you’re wrong. Our bodies and our sexuality are a subject of controversy, caught in limbo between being revered as mysterious and beautiful and being renounced by society as unclean and an object, not our own.
But at the core of all that struggle, there is immense power. Women endure the pains of childbirth, the fear of assault, the climb towards greater career opportunities, and the constant back and forth of what it is to be a woman and they do so with grace and dignity and power. The mothers. The lovers. The executives. The free spirits. The warriors. We, as woman, are powerful. We are survivors. Womanhood is something to be proud of and these poems are a reminder of that truth:
1. Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egrQH2UTaWE&w=1280&h=720]
2. Dear Ursula by Melissa May
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLSnNSqs_CQ&w=1280&h=720]
3. Asking For It by Anna Binkovitz
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzvznuTNZDM&w=1280&h=720]
4. Thighs by Desiree Dallagiacomo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiTFZtThmEI&w=1280&h=720]
5. Skinny by Aisha Oxley
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T6m9t4jiAo&w=960&h=720]
6. The Period Poem by Dominique Christina
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vu2BsePvoI&w=1280&h=720]
7. The Virgin’s Lament by Talia Young
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGVOtjkGeek&w=1280&h=720]
8. Advice From Cosmo by Melissa Newman-Evans
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhOBN3D2gKs&w=1280&h=720]
9. Pretty by Katie Makkai
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6wJl37N9C0&w=960&h=720]
10. Shrinking Women by Lily Myers
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQucWXWXp3k&w=1280&h=720]
