Have a Little Respect




106. Real Estate

God made us women with plenty of curb appeal

With windows and angles in all the right places.

So Adam would say, “Yowza! I want this one!”

But God didn’t stop there.

God gave us women more than just curb appeal,

Nice closet space and an amazing view.

He poured us a deep foundation with plenty of steel,

And extra insulation so we could keep our men and babies warm.

God gave us rooms within rooms of moods and questions and thoughts.

He gave us the power to nurture, to protect, to guard our families,

and even civilization as we know it against the cold.

The Master Architect created us in his image to have function, form, and much, much more.



Here is why I wrote this poem:

Respect is extremely important to me. I may be a cute young woman, but I don't want people to think that about me first and foremost.

I have been teaching high school for five years now, and during my college years, I travelled extensively. I may not be a mother yet, so I don't claim to know anything about children, but that doesn't make me completely ignorant. If you've never taught high school you might not know that 70% of teachers don't make it past the first five years. Getting to this point is difficult.

That's why I get a little rankled when people treat me like I'm dumb just because I'm young or female. Sometimes I think I have a sign on my head that says, "Please Tell Me What to Do," because older men I barely know love to boss me around. Sometimes older women, too.

I guess they just look at me, and think I'm like their kid, and don't know a thing. It bugs me.

But it's understandable- I mean, they're like 60 years old than I am, maybe they do know more than I do.

But what's NOT understandable is the media treating women like nothing more than bodies.

I guess I've been fairly sheltered these past few years in my little mountain community without billboards or television. My weekend in San Francisco was very cool, but I was continually shocked by how all the billboards and all the magazines and TV shows reduce women to nothing more than glorified sex toys. Now I'm not blaming the men here. I love the men, they're great. I think women are behind this as well. Why? Money.

An actual slogan plastered all over the city: "All Asses were Not Created Equal."



Billboards like this make me just want to wear a burka.

I mean, hey, we're women- we keep society going. Without the mothers and the wives and the girlfriends and the sisters- the world falls apart. Women are the glue that holds families together. The men NEED us. Adam wasn't complete in the garden of Eden without Eve. He lived in paradise and walked in a perfect relationship with GOD, but without Eve- he was still lonely.That's how important we are.

I am happy to say that my husband treats me with a great deal of respect, as do most of the men and women in my family and the people that know me well. It only takes my students about eight weeks to realize that I am force to be reckoned with, and though my bosses started out treating me like a dumb young thing, after five years, they have grown to respect me.

The above poem is actually the third revision about the same idea. The first two were just rants, and I liked this one because it's positive.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

  1. Well done you! You are doing great!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This poem is lovely!

    I too find women's inhumanity toward other women most appalling and degrading. The thing I see around town that drives me bonkers is when women are driving vehicles around with naked women decals on them- I want to rear-end these women for perpetuating negative female stereotypes and setting us back. We call men jerks, and then we encourage them in their bad behavior? NO. I humbly submit that this SUCKS.

    But your poem does not, it's lovely:).
    And I respect you, even if you look 16. You should get an office with lots of diplomas and degrees and certificates on the wall. It helps with that whole prestige thing. It doesn't even really matter what the certificates say, people will believe you know what you are talking about. Business cards and name badges also help.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Sandy this is great and should be in the newspaper for all to read. The thing that just shocks me is when a women has a bumper sticker that refers to herself as a female dog. I just cannot believe that a women would be so derogatory of herself. Keep your outrage and maybe your generation will get it right.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Don't take this the wrong way but maybe the US still has a way to go on young womens rights. I watched a documentary last night about the president of Hooters, he went undercover as a waiter in his 'restaurants' and was shocked with what he discovered.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ryan,
    some places in the US are great, others are not. We are such a big country, it's hard to say. Until women all over the world start acting in such a way that requires respect, we won't get it. I would be interested to watch that documentary.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amazes me how women are still exploited and many don't realize it. Like those who eat at Hooters. By supporting the exploitation, it is difficult to get past treating women as second hand and incapable contributors.

    ReplyDelete

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