Vrouwen kun je niet vaak genoeg vieren. Zeker in tijden waarin Grab ’em by the pussy ingeburgerd is dankzij een president en 1 op de 3 vrouwen in haar leven nog steeds met seksueel of fysiek geweld te maken krijgt.
Videomaker Xena Maria Evers en dichter Yakari Gabriel sloegen de handen ineen en maakten een ontroerende ode aan een vrouw. Een vrouw, van alle leeftijden en alle afkomsten en omdat dé vrouw simpelweg niet bestaat.
Met de video willen Evers en Gabriel laten zien dat hoewel vrouwen nog vaak met allerlei keurslijven te maken krijgen, er gelukkig ontzettend veel te vieren valt. Authenticiteit en diversiteit bijvoorbeeld. Happy Women’s Day!
Lees hieronder de hele tekst van het gedicht:
Poem international women’s day
It all starts when they say “It’s a girl”
They give you pink, give you glitter,
give you tutu’s and tiara’s
and the idea that you should be soft.
They raise you, between lines you don’t see
Until you attempt to step outside of them.
at 5 you are told that you can’t like
cars and guns otherwise you’ll shift
from girl to tomboy,
In a split second
at 13 your body is a surprise,
something you are slowly discovering
Something they tell you to hide
at 16 it is a playground,
a place where boys come to learn skill to later use it on other girls.
at 21 you’re free to name your body whatever you please.
So by all means do, it’s yours.
The world will tell you differently but it belongs to you.
if only for this lifetime.
Woman you are called one too many things
before you know your own name
You’re going to run yourself dry
If you only seek to be called beautiful,
Because what is beauty but a fleeting liability?
Something you can lean on for a little while
But will fail to feed you when your soul is starving
Fulfillment isn’t always tangible
By 30 you should already have
A child, if not you’re a question mark
By 40 you begin to fade in the eyes of many
By 50 you’re a book on a shelf
But you must know,
That you’re glory
That you’re the how and the why
That God is said to be a man
But it’s you that gave birth to him
So love yourself, in spite of it all
Because self love is the only one that opens
All the doors they say you must close.
