Unseen
written By Sofia Feigelstock
To be looked at
Not seen
To be wedded to
Not Loved
To be kept
Not wanted
Struggle quietly
Suffer silently
Mangled and mute
Always “what was she wearing?”
Never “did she consent?”
Always “overreacting”
Never “reacting”
For misogyny is the war that’s never won
Ideals forced down throats
To be held up by a woman
And take credit
To be successful because of a woman
And take credit
To be respected because of a woman
And take credit while she’s drowned
Thrown to the ocean deaths
Told to swim with her limbs tied
Told to sing with her mouthed taped
Told to dream with her hopes shackled
Squished and squashed under a man’s throne
For outrunning them is not possible
Not with weights in your pockets
So, we sit pretty
Proper in our seats
Dreaming of recognition
we dare not plead
wishing for equality
We dare not hope
For we are to look at
But never be seen
Written from a picture -
https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/multimedia/2018/3/photo-gender-equality-through-cartoonists-eyes
the image composed by Marilena Nardi
