Contradictions

Learning, exploring, growing,Running across the grass until you fall.
Sitting with one leg up at the dinner table.
Messy braids that haven't been touched in days
Crooked teeth,
Running through the sprinkler with your clothes on,
Sunscreen everywhere,
Silly hats and fuzzy mittens,
Sandy feet grounded in the earth,
Questioning the color of the sky,
Climbing to the tops of trees,
Holding your fork with your left hand,
Science kits,
Untouched by society.
– Girlhood

Why is it that I now cannot roll down hills?
Am I acting like a child?
Why must I sit properly at the table?
Am I not being lady-like?
Why must I wash and brush my hair, fill it with product, heat it dry,
burning the innocence out of each strand?
Does my hair not look good enough for you?
Why must my teeth be aligned and whitened?
Does their dissymmetry frighten you?
Why must I keep my feet on the floor, and not let them climb?
I'm being tied down.
Why must I cover my shoulders and my chest?
I'm being sculpted.
Am I not the same woman who once was that girl?
Society is killing me.
– Womanhood