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Open Poetry #27
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How Sad To Be A Woman
| Open Poetry #27 |
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How Sad To Be A Woman |
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Honeybee Member Ascendant
since 1999-12-26
Posts 5372Ontario, CANADA 
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How Sad To Be A Woman Walk within my silence taste the frustration and regret lurking on the tip of my tongue yet never spoken aloud. Look into my eyes, distort and you will see that I am confusion, one of many from a mass delusion, brainwashed to weep that there’s no worth simply because I am woman. Be thin, be curvy, be beautiful, be healthy, be yourself, be sexy, accept your flaws, but, be perfect. And, so it goes that we all become the victims of society's conflicting signals. This is the day of credit cards that are maxxed out to buy the latest mask paint, spiked heels and rubber breasts. It matters not of age, race or time there’s diet pills, fads and gimmick drinks to be had through the chaos of exercise 'til you drop. And women go on as if routine holding an unattainable someday, slowly desecrating self-esteem. Even I wear a smile in all its frailty knowing that I am their object, experiment, their disapproval and puppet. How sad, that I have the scissors yet not the will to cut the strings. How tragic that life has become a coveted dream of anorexia, that clothing should hang off skin with the same finesse as a wire hanger. Such a loss that the real of me must flush down the toilet along with the food I shouldn't have eaten in fear that one pound gained will make them lust me less. So, I’ll place my bikini in the 'cellulite' corner of the drawer and my little red dress shall hang it's head with shame in the 'lose ten pounds' section of the closet. For, it seems that beauty is an exclusive club to which we apply for membership, year after year, although none of us actually expect to get in. So, I’m not gonna eat today, I'm not gonna eat tomorrow, a week from now...who knows? I’ll be closer to supermodel so that he or maybe he or they will love me, finally, for who I am, as only they want me to be. And one day, I will die with a wisdom that's come too late, wondering if the last rice cake was really worth it. How sad that even as I write these words I don't believe a single thing I've said because I'm still trying to find myself amidst the dominoes of women falling into Hollywood's bin of never good enough. By Melissa Long-Monette |
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| © Copyright 2003 Melissa P. Long-Monette - All Rights Reserved | |||
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Aenimal Member Rara Avis
since 2002-11-18
Posts 7350the ass-end of space |
amidst the dominoes of women falling into Hollywood's bin of never good enough. fantastic all the way through but the closing lines just drive it home. Great work m |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Being healthy, mentally and physically, and knowing that fads are fads... knowing Yourself... is what's in...  But how sad it is as you said that some women will never know anything but hype. Well done, Melybee! |
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scorpio Member Ascendant
since 2002-10-02
Posts 5178right...there |
Powerful and thought-provoking believe in what your heart feels... |
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Enchantress Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113Canada eh. |
Melissa, such a powerful write..reached right in and grabbed me... I do hope this is not you...I really do. ~Be well....Heart hugs, Nancy~ ~The breeze that kissed you on the face, |
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Bill Charles Member Patricius
since 2000-07-11
Posts 10619highways, & byways, for now |
Melissa - one is who they is I believe. It took me a long, long time to finally see this, and now it's ok, no matter how I look, or what I do, it's ok, and you're ok... BC |
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passing shadows Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577displaced |
nothing but the truth |
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VOE Member
since 2003-07-10
Posts 119From the land of Camelot |
How well you put the dilemma that all modern age women feel, no matter what their age! It's ok for some to say: 'Just be yourself', but in reality, society tells us what our 'self' has to be in order to function. It isn't that easy, but I guess the secret is to just not listen. What a great write this is...gave me a lot to think about!! ~V~ I speak from the Voice Of Experience |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
quote: SNIP! SNIP! SNIP! there...it's easier than you might think, just go for it... (although it took me over 40 years to even FIND those scissors) An excellent right-on write, sweet Honeybee! I'm keeping a copy.  |
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garysgirl 
since 2002-09-29
Posts 19237Florida, USA |
How sad that even as I write these words I don't believe a single thing I've said because I'm still trying to find myself amidst the dominoes of women falling into Hollywood's bin of never good enough Melissa, what a powerful write!! I certainly hope that this isn't you, though. This things can kill you emotionally.....Eating disorders can kill you physically as well. I hope it nots you, Sweetie.  Hugs  Ethel |
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cusick Senior Member
since 2003-07-27
Posts 668 |
Hello I'm new to this forum and wonder if I am in the right place after reading your poem, it is so beautiful. Maggie |
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Seymour Tabin Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720Tamarac Fla |
My dear Melissa, I don't think that anyone ever catches up to the dream. But if I were fifty years younger I would look your way.   |
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SharaRose Member Elite
since 2003-07-19
Posts 2501Somewhere out there~ |
It's sad it's all about image, image, image. Four years ago I had a weight problem, but not nearly as bad as I do now, BUT my aspirations, dreams, hopes, and goals have not changed. I am still the same within, I just have more flesh than I did. So what changed? Not my aspirations, not my dreams, or my goals...just the outer shell is all. Yet I am not seen the same, and never taken seriously by the ones that see *image* image* image.* Nothing has changed, but the outside. If I lose lots of weight I will be able to get that job, or when I speak I will be taken seriously, or should I say this--- be given the *impression* I am being taken seriously so the male can take a closer look. Not that I would allow that, I am married, but that's the way it is. A personna, or a pretense by hiring males. This is the experience I have had. I had the same skill to offer in a job only thing is I was heavier than the other person. You are right...society dictates what we are even all the way down to our being able to have an income coming in. Sad, but True! As a disclaimer--- I am not saying *ALL* men are this way, but in my lifetime that's been the way it has turned out to be. There is no way you can put any one group into a blanket category so please don't think I think this of all men, because I know better. I had a grandfather that saw all people as equal, and what a delightful man he was!!!!! A pure delight, and he was male.  SharaRose @-->-- Of sound, and speech let all lift the hearer! |
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El_Campeador Senior Member
since 2003-01-29
Posts 761Ohio, USA |
Melissa, don't listen to all those lies. You are a wonderful person, and we here all love you and your poetry. You are a special and unique person, and don't have to be the perfect model to find a place in the world. “We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we can find in our travels is an honest friend.” –Robert Louis Stevenson |
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Wind
since 2002-10-12
Posts 2981 |
"Pay your surgeon very well To break the spell of aging Celebrity skin is this your chin Or is that war your waging" reminded me of the song californication...sad, and very true. thanks for posting this |
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Earth Angel Member Empyrean
since 2002-08-27
Posts 40215Realms of Light |
You have a gift--not only of writing poetry, but of BEING poetry. You have shone a light on the dark side of being a woman in today's millimetre-perfect society. I had bought into all of that stuff when I was younger, but not anymore. I modeled for a few years and I struggled with my weight. Nowadays, I carry extra weight, but I actually think I look better--and I do!--to those who matter to me. I fill myself with nourishing food until I am satisfied--and I am soooo much healthier for it! You, Dear Melissa, are beautiful inside--and out!  This was an exceptional write and it is a  Loving, healing hugs, Linda |
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Ratleader
since 2003-01-23
Posts 7026Visiting Earth on a Guest Pass |
"Be thin, be curvy, be beautiful, be healthy, be yourself, be sexy, accept your flaws, but, be perfect. And, so it goes" Just tools, nothing that defines you. Tools you can use or not, as you choose -- though you personally would have to work a bit, to avoid some of them..... "I’ll be closer to supermodel so that he or maybe he or they will love me, finally, for who I am, as only they want me to be." I'm in love for life with a woman who has never approached or or dreamed of being that kind of beauty....yet I fell hard on the first day I saw her, and I'll love her through life and beyond -- not because of her looks, but because of her self. I think you've found yourself already -- in spite of being gorgeous (or maybe because of it), you know the beauty stuff is basically baloney. I can't think of a better way to look at things. .....and look at how you drew me and the rest of these folks into the subject matter, your writing so transparent that it isn't seen as writing, but as the message. That's gorgeous too. ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸¸¸ºº> ~~(¸¸ ¸¸ºº> ~~~(¸¸ER¸¸ºº> ______________Ratleader______________ [This message has been edited by Ratleader (07-27-2003 11:46 PM).] |
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suthern
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723Louisiana |
This is sadly superb... so much truth in it... the chords of knowing resonate deeply. It's bitter truth that so many judge us by our appearance... and had rather have photo op "perfection" on their arm even if the personality and intelligence in the package are zilch. But they just make those who see the whole person and find the beauty within even more rare... and more appreciated when they're finally found. *S* Excellent write! *S* |
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arthur Senior Member
since 2001-08-14
Posts 678england |
none of us know who we are arthur |
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