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What is it you see in a woman?
Maybe it’s her curves
These lines we’ve been trying
To iron out
Through culture
For centuries
Equal Means Equal
But we’re not equal 
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This isn’t a poem about why I’m a feminist
Or how great it is that I’m a guy
Or what it’s like in my experience
This
This is a poem
About my wife …
The fact that even after all this time …
She’s not equal to me
She starts out getting paid less than me for the same job
How can she ever get ahead?
She is not protected by our Constitution
Her freedom and equality
Can be altered or repealed
In a day
Women’s rights are human rights
I read a story about a woman in another country fighting for her right to know her own body to know how to orgasm
Men didn’t learn about their wives bodies and they really didn’t care whether they ever had pleasure or not.
It’s not too far different here
We’ve come all this way
And we think we know a lot
But we really only know
A lot about what our culture
Believes about things
Just in the 90s we recognized marital rape as rape
And yes- we don’t consider women as property on our papers anymore
But we still want them to be homemakers
Or daughters and mothers
Trophy wives
Making our sons look good
A child has to be raped before it can have control of its own body
This is decided by business men in Washington
Contraceptives shouldn’t be covered by insurance because women shouldn’t enjoy sex
If they do have sex they should get pregnant
Forced birth
This is decided by men in Washington
When she is raped
They get off free
Because boys will be boys
And they can run with a football
And they still have a whole life to live-let’s not ruin it
Forget that her body was violated
Her safe space
Her mind
Her temple
The years of nightmares
I can sue over spilled coffee
But women can be raped and no one bats an eye….
We have a problem
When we condemn women for reading works of fiction
That have fake content
And put men in power who are real
And damaging
And can alter their lives,safety and experience in society
I will say again
I want a world
Where my wife can live
With peace of mind
I want her to be safe
I want her to be as free as me
To be able to reach for whatever she dreams
Women’s rights are human rights
Why are we still fighting this battle?
Maybe we’re just trying to iron out the curves
I think I want to write about you
I think I can forget all the rest
I’m sorry
I’m sorry we didn’t fight harder
I’m sorry we’re still fighting for this
We’ve come too far to go backwards
I want – when I’m gone – for you to be able to live well.
And if we should have a daughter
I want her to be able to do all the same things our son would do. Without question. Even in her mothers high heels.
-Ethan
