The following #POPCreators entry was submitted by Pia Maureen Ariate.
She tells POP! that she wrote this poem “out of rage and experience because it infuriates me to see women dragging other women down for shallow reasons.”
In the end, she hopes this poem will encourage more women to fight for equality and combat “internalized misogyny”.
“I hope we encourage all women to build solidarity against the macho feudal system. We should always support each other and avoid criticisms from one another. We must eliminate self-objectification, expressions of helplessness, and remarks about the [observance] of traditional gender roles. Together, we must build a community of strong and diverse females who vie for empowerment!” she explains.
Here is her poem entitled A shame of a woman:
A shame of a woman
Do you see yourself
In the image of your oppressors?
A sheer of madness
In self-objectification?
A ‘SHE’— who speaks ill
Of another woman
Bears nothing but pity
Idleness and self-loathing
Does her body offend you?
Does her voice intimidate you?
Does her choice hurt you?
Does her existence bother you?
I once saw you
Write words of empowerment
Yet your deeds
Speak of prejudice
The shrill cries of your lies
Prickles like a cut
Clenched in salt
How do you sleep at night?
You said–
You got hurt in the past?
Yet you maligned them,
Vilified us!
You may have fooled others
With your songs of hoax
But you can never fool
A “SHE” of rage and solidarity
Together we’ll rise
Against enablers like you
For our resilience is built on empathy
A word that is foreign to you.
POP! Creators/ Pia Maureen Ariate
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