Strong isn't Always Masculine

Strong isn't only masculine

Once upon a dream;

was a fairytale

Belle was a poor, young, immigrant 

Primarily raised in the land of opportunity

She had an American outlook on life

She spent her childhood watching Tyra Banks and Ellen Degeneres 

She understood what a woman was

She understood her value 

She knew she could be successful

She wanted to feel appreciated and respected as American women feel

She knew her future was bright

However, her household was not

Belle saw Baba beat Mama when the clothes weren't folded

Belle saw Mama at the bus stop with dark shades to cover Mama's blackened eye

Belle saw Mama on days where her eyebrow flapped down as the bone peaked through

Belle saw Mama when her voice silenced by the strike of tyranny

Belle even saw Mama when she cried at Baba's legs and begged him to leave the kids out of it

But Mama was patient 

She never loved a man arranged to her by family

She never left when his side

Mama saw Belle as the bright young girl she is

Mama stuck around for Belle

Belle was Mama's future

She was all she had

But Mama couldn't make it

And Belle couldn't take it

Belle left

She held herself to high standards and continued to push

But she always kept Mama's struggles as a guide

She went to school 

She worked

She educated herself 

She became the woman she wanted to be

Without a Beast