Flawless (Not My Work)

[Verse 2: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie]

We teach girls to shrink themselves

To make themselves smaller

We say to girls,

“You can have ambition

But not too much

You should aim to be successful

But not too successful

Otherwise you will threaten the man.”

Because I am female

I am expected to aspire to marriage

I am expected to make my life choices

Always keeping in mind that

Marriage is the most important

Now marriage can be a source of

Joy and love and mutual support

But why do we teach girls to aspire to marriage

And we don’t teach boys the same?

We raise girls to see each other as competitors

Not for jobs or for accomplishments

Which I think can be a good thing

But for the attention of men

We teach girls that they cannot be sexual beings

In the way that boys are

Feminist: the person who believes in the social

Political, and economic equality of the sexes