Womanly (Chinyere's Response)

I am a female
2 breasts
2 ovaries
A cervix
A vagina
A period
And 2 X chromosomes attest to that.

I am a woman
My maturity
My mother
My father
My friends
My home
My life
And my struggles attest to that.

I am a woman
I am a person
I am a human
I am not a doormat
I am not a child

If you want someone to control
Go find a child
That child has come from a woman though
So both women and children
Should be respected
There are no boys without women
There are no men without women.

Oh the hypocrisy
That you sir
Want to take from me
Yet I give to you freely
And would give more if only you ask
Ask humbly
Ask gently
Ask quietly.

Oh the irony
That you john
Want to disrespect me
Yet you brought me here
Yet you left me here
Yet you made me think
That disrespecting and cheapening
My temple is the only way
To survive

Oh the audacity
That you boy
Want to denigrate me
Yet you came from me
Your mother is a woman
Like me
She birthed you and gave you life
Like I will birth and give life
She was once my age
And I will soon be hers
Boy, do you love her?
Do you love your mother?
Would you let any male talk to her
As you talk to me?

Oh the absurdity
That you politician
Want to choose for me
Want to take away my choice
Want me to cede what little control I have
My consent was taken from me
My peace was taken from me
By some random male
Or maybe even someone I know
Now I am with child
All the while
You politician
Want to choose life for this child
When I didn't choose his or her conception
You proclaim the father's rights
What about my rights?
What about my right not to be raped?
What about my right to have closure?
What about my right to have a child without being reminded of their horrible conception?

I am womanly
To be respected
To be understood
To be loved
From my very essence
To my body
So I proclaim this
I assert this
In spite of these
So called men
Who try to
Usurp
And deny
My womanness.