She is a daughter, mother, sister
But why is she left out?
She is capable colleague, a hardworking employee, she is your CEO
But why is does she feel looked over?
She is a loving wife, a determined partner and all you ever looked for in a best friend
But why is she hurt?
Why so many stereotypes and bias?
Gender?
What is gender?
Is gender an identity?
Certainly, gender is not a choice.
But gender is shaped, moulded to young new minds,
Society telling children who to be and how to act
No matter man or woman, we are born into roles.
The woman, the one whose mind stands and pleads on her legs, bring about equality
But whose body reacts not out of her own accordance
Graceful, gentle, elegant, and FEMININE.
As society tells her, she is a woman, and that is her role.
Where she wishes to stomp, she stands on her tiptoes.
Where she wishes to thrash, she glides across the floor.
A puppet bound by the hands of society
Pushing to free herself, to change what being a woman means,
what (gender) equality means.
The man
What does that mean? Better put, what does that mean to society?
I am the example to others, and know how to do everything
I don’t feel things, or at least show them, because that is not what I do.
I am powerful and MANLY
But I am not one who should be played with like a puppet, much like the woman,
I do have feelings, but they cannot be expressed for society tells me I will be seen otherwise,
I don’t know everything even when I’m expected to,
I have my pride as a man, and am no one’s puppet, I too wish to change the meaning of “man”.
But strip us down, wash away our skin, we are bare, we are the same,
INSIDE
What makes us, us?
Is it our gender?
Is it society?
No, what makes us, what makes you, is ultimately your decision,
and that’s something, not even society, can take away from you.
It is time for us to walk hand in hand
It is time we embrace our differences
It is time we rise from discrimination
Its is time we celebrate each other and offer help to each other
It is time we create an equal world as it will be an enabled world