For You

There was this speech that I watched, its message quite clear, that for a boy to be a man, he must learn how to hear the voices of our women, of our young girls and young boys.  He must overcome the preconceived notion that women are all toys.  In this game we call life, he must learn how to play fairly.  He must dispel all the anger and all the actions that are unmannerly.  He must understand that obsession is not an enamored affection.  It is a connection projecting great imperfections.  It is the world that we live in that because of “rejection” a boy can murder 6 people and still earn protection.  These imperfections should not be encouraged.  They ravage the minds of our young girls and our boys.  For a boy to be a man, he must learn how to play and must not be scared of being called gay.  This has become the biggest insult but why is this so?  Is it because of these men who we call pros? The basketball, football, and baseball stars on our TV, these men who throw out insults at someone for simply laughing with glee.  It doesn’t make sense to me, a young girl of 17, why we hate, why they rape, and why we can’t set this straight.  I wish I knew how and I plan to learn, how to show them, how to tell them that its this gender’s turn.  To be smart, to be successful, to get the respect that we’ve earned.  I can’t sit down and wait for this day to occur.  I must make it myself out of the feelings that churn, in the pit of my gut, every time they say slut, then, when I turn around they laugh and say “What?”.  I can’t continue to take this vituperation.  I have tried to dispel it, but they don’t like the girl who complains about sexists.  They berate me when I’m loud, they judge when I’m quiet.  They all expect me to go start a riot, and maybe I will; its all this town needs; for someone to educate; for one person to lead.  Their judgment hasn’t ceased as I have grown older, but over the course of 4 years I’ve learned to grab hold of the opportunities they present when they ask “why”? I have told them many stories of hushed battle cries, of the women who are lost or muted or guarded, of the men who have forgotten, impeded, and discarded.  I have not changed my opinion, nor will I ever.  I plan to succeed in all these endeavors.  I’ve challenged these imperfections with my head held high, they always ask and I always know why: for the women who cannot.  For the men who can.  For the people who say that it won’t help in the end.  I’ll stick with my choices, I need to give them voices.  I’ll never say that this was all pointless.  I’ve worked for their acceptance, I’ve challenged their beliefs, and although they’ve yelled I haven't ceased.  I know my power and it is unlimited; with a good education I can make a difference.  I have faced people’s judgment and their bigotry and malcontent.  I know that my actions have and will create dissent, but these ideals i've adopted have given me my purpose.  They have shown me my platform and toughened my epidermis.  This challenge I face is neverending and essential.  It’s neglect and transgression will destroy our potential, as women, as children and as men, as the people who create wars again and again.  In the end I will fight and I’ll ask them to join me, not because I am a man hater but for the inevitable guarantee that if we all stand up and fight we can make a difference.  We can turn the world around and say ‘good riddance,’ to all the indifference, this instance, this moment we can create brilliance.  Close the distance between the knowledge and the ignorance.  Dispel the venom and belligerence.  Then and only then can we grasp our deliverance.