My Body My Choice: | Teen Ink

My Body My Choice:

September 10, 2021
By CheyenneC GOLD, Vero Beach, Florida
CheyenneC GOLD, Vero Beach, Florida
14 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving ways.


Am I not a woman?

If I decide to not brush my hair, Does that make me lazy?

If I show my shoulders does it distract your eyes?

When I show my stomach does it force your stare?

If my shorts are not fingertip length does that make me a harlot?


The skin I can not shed, The body I was given.

You ask me to cover up,

That my body is too distracting,

But is not wrong to turn me into nothing more than a distraction or an object?

If I put on makeup does that mean I hate my natural self?


Would you prefer I sit still and silent?

Or weak and impressionable?

If I do not bite my tongue then I am aggressive, intolerable, and arrogant.

Am I not a woman?

A woman in America, Free to make my own decisions?


Am I not a woman?


The author's comments:

My school and society judge you based on what you wear say and do but a guy can wear tank tops and I cannot. A guy can have non-fingertip length shorts but I cannot. If he speaks his mind he gets a pat on the back and I receive disdain and punishment. How much sense does this culture make? support your fellow women in the fight against unequal dress codes.


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This article has 1 comment.


Lydiaq ELITE said...
on Sep. 25 2021 at 10:36 pm
Lydiaq ELITE, Somonauk, Illinois
179 articles 54 photos 1026 comments

Favorite Quote:
The universe must be a teenage girl. So much darkness, so many stars.<br /> --me

Yes, this is a pressing and depressing issue presented in a clear powerful voice.