Here is a powerful spoken word piece of work from Rebecca. A moving and sobering message for us all.
13 Years Old
If I distract you, I’m asking for it,
If you touch me, you can’t control it,
My shorts too short, my dress too tight,
A boy in a tank top, well that’s alright!
When I was thirteen I was told to watch out,
When I walk down the street I’m vulnerable like a mouse,
When you were thirteen you were roaming around,
Your minds oblivious to what surround.
Your makeup is patchy, stop trying so hard,
All the good compliments, you discard,
Because bad ones matter,
And that’s what’s hard.
Not even a day old and told to wear pink,
Compared to a boy, im referred to as weak,
My future as a girl is so bleak.
Can’t even walk in a skirt down the street.
Don’t talk alot like you have worth,
Wanna be a lady, please don’t curse,
And fix your hair while we’re at it,
You look like a tired, bad addict
Yes an addict to words that put me down,
Asking myself, ‘What’s my worth?’ as I frown.
People say ‘You’re a beautiful woman’
But are my looks really just what’s important,
My privacy taken when I go to the toilet,
When I take my bag, yes they know it,
The boys in my class saying ‘It’s that time of the month’
The degrading and humiliation because of what my body does.
Don’t tell me that I look tired,
Don’t tell me, oh your weight is higher,
As I stand on the scales, numbers going up each night,
The smile on my face lost in sight.
For every one, I’m an eighty,
Twenty off in what they pay me,
Do I matter at all, no, maybe?
Because for every one, I’m an eighty,
Twenty off in what they pay me,
In respect, in privacy, in equality too,
I just want a man to know what a woman goes through.
If I’m distracting, cover your eyes,
Boys in my class, I am not a prize,
To be won, especially by people I despise,
But a girl in a tank top, that should be alright.
