i have always been alone

i have always been told that i’m not allowed to relax

i don’t like the way i look

i don’t like that i have to care what people look like

i am not allowed to eat

i am not allowed to struggle

i am not allowed to have acne on my face

i am not allowed to say that someone could do better

i can’t act like i’m pretty

i can’t call you pretty

you don’t look at me

i can’t look at you without someone getting mad

you ignore me

i can’t talk to you without being judged

you don’t care

i’m not allowed to care

i put in all this effort and you don’t look at me

if i look at you people will judge me

do you have a problem with the way i look

no, you’re beautiful

then why don’t you look at me

Because if i do you’ll get offended

oh

yeah

will you tell our daughter she’s beautiful

no

why

because people will judge me before hearing me out

will you care about our son

no

why

because society told me that boys are horrible

society told me that i couldn’t feel pain

it told me that i should feel pain

men don’t have insurcurties

women don’t deserve the cruelty of men

i’m not pretty enough

i’m not sensitive enough

can we be friends?

no

why?

because i don’t trust you to treat me with kindness

and you’re treating me with kindness? is this respect?

do you respect me?

yes! because you are strong and beatiful and funny i don’t care how thin you are, i just want you to care about me.

oh

Society says that we should hate each other

the question is whether or not you’re going to listen

we all matter, we all care, whether you are a man or a woman

is sexism a problem, yes

are people creeps sometimes, yes

but is it okay to judge an entire group of people for the actions of a few?