“Patriarchy is thus, by definition, sexist, which means it promotes the belief that women are innately inferior to men” (Tyson 81).
Much Madness is divinest Sense - (620)
Much Madness is divinest Sense -
To a discerning Eye -
Much Sense - the starkest Madness -
’Tis the Majority
In this, as all, prevail -
Assent - and you are sane -
Demur - you’re straightway dangerous -
And handled with a Chain -
Emily Dickinson's poem reveals to us the strict guidelines of society and how you are treated if you don't fit in. Society is obsessed with categorizing everyone and boxing us in gender roles. To break free of these chains means to go against the rules of our culture. Society labels these people as "weird," "different," or even "dangerous."
Be a Lady. Be a Man.
By Holly Smith
Originally published in S/tick Literary Journal
Society makes the mistake
of expecting everyone within a gender
to think and act the same.
Girls are raised and trained to live to please men.
All of the studies online are about what men “really want.”
So that we can try to change ourselves
to mirror exactly what a guy wants.
Because they all want the same thing, right?
To live a life for any other human being.
To be somebody just to attract a male.
So be angry.
Be angry about what we expect out of women and men.
The boxes. The guidelines.
And if you don’t stay in the lines you’re not doing your job.
You’re never going to find a lover.
You’re never going to find a partner;
if you don’t look act, look, talk, think
exactly as you’re supposed to.
of expecting everyone within a gender
to think and act the same.
Girls are raised and trained to live to please men.
All of the studies online are about what men “really want.”
So that we can try to change ourselves
to mirror exactly what a guy wants.
Because they all want the same thing, right?
To live a life for any other human being.
To be somebody just to attract a male.
So be angry.
Be angry about what we expect out of women and men.
The boxes. The guidelines.
And if you don’t stay in the lines you’re not doing your job.
You’re never going to find a lover.
You’re never going to find a partner;
if you don’t look act, look, talk, think
exactly as you’re supposed to.
I realize I think like a man.
Or rather, what a man is supposed to think like.
Left brain, sex.
Try to solve everyone’s problems.
I do not make conscious attempts
to act like a lady.
I make hard decisions
to be myself.
Free of ideals for my gender
placed on me by society—
by my family.
I try to free my mind.
Rewrite the thoughts I have
been trained to think.
Trained to repeat.
Though not many stopped to ask why
and most would answer.
“Because that’s just how it is.”
Are you satisfied with that
absurdly passive thought process?
It’s not enough.
Or rather, what a man is supposed to think like.
Left brain, sex.
Try to solve everyone’s problems.
I do not make conscious attempts
to act like a lady.
I make hard decisions
to be myself.
Free of ideals for my gender
placed on me by society—
by my family.
I try to free my mind.
Rewrite the thoughts I have
been trained to think.
Trained to repeat.
Though not many stopped to ask why
and most would answer.
“Because that’s just how it is.”
Are you satisfied with that
absurdly passive thought process?
It’s not enough.
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