hunger

how you treat a woman should
never be based on her proximity to
another’s humanity.

perhaps she is someone’s

daughter.mother.sister.wife.

(perhaps even yours)

but first, and always,
she should be…

…is

her own.

so many girls are brought up hungry to receive
the reverence relations to men claim to offer,

so many girls grow into women starved
of their own humanity.

— —

I wrote this piece reflecting on how often men are told that they should respect or honor women because “she could be your sister/mom/woman family member”. Fuck that. You should treat women with respect because they are human beings, not because of their proximity to malehood -_-