EMPOWER Malaysia organised a writing competition to encourage the wider public to "Break the Silence", for themselves & others. This is one of the top entries, written by Rawan Kassem.
As a woman, I’ve always been treated as second-best. Underestimated. Misunderstood. Never deserving of a seat at the table. With everything under your control, you don’t even have to punch me for me to feel pain.
You can just
Silence my voice
And do all you can
To erase my name.
In your eyes,
I am reduced to a pretty face.
A pair of breasts that is never the right shape or size, but you stare nonetheless. A pencil skirt that you judge by the inch.
A voice that is always too loud, even if all I let out is a whisper.
I am never the brains; in fact, I am anything but.
I’m a car.
A watermelon.
A lollipop.
A piece of jewelry.
A sock.
I’m a million objects you use to describe your twisted myths.
And finally, I know why.
It is because my words are too powerful for you to respect and/or comprehend. It is because my intelligence challenges your incompetence.
It is because you know to your core,
That your power
Comes from all the women
Who don’t realize theirs
Yet.
It is because my triumph wouldn’t only be for me.
It would be for all of us.
So here I am, yet another day,
Still standing.
Here I am, refusing to tone myself down to fit into your little box of misogyny. Here I am, not sacrificing parts of myself to make you feel comfortable. This world was made for me to indulge in
And I will not allow you to take that away for me.
An ocean is never tamed, even if the tides change.
The sun will never disappear from the sky, no matter what day it is. And similarly,
You can never keep me chained.
And so I will fight
Today,
Tomorrow,
And forever.