CW: Roe v Wade-related, abortion, language
I remember when the
ER doctor came into my
hospital room,
I remember him distinctly,
because he made it clear
that I was an inconvenience.
“We can call the SANE nurse”,
he said, “but
she won’t be here for hours.”
His eyes,
his tone,
asked me to just leave,
asked me to just give up,
asked me to not be a further burden.
My rape, his burden,
clearly.
My shock, my pain,
too messy for him.
How dare I.
Clearly, I should just
put on the red robe,
be glad that a man
deemed a fat virgin fuckable –
it does not matter if she didn’t want it.
Can’t you just
smile?
Can’t you just
relax? It wasn’t that
serious.
When I open my mouth
it will not be a
smile, sir, that
is the baring of teeth.
To the next man to touch me without permission,
let it be known…
it is not that kind of
butterfly
I will be putting in your stomach.
To the next man to touch policy,
let it be known…
I am not the only kind of woman
who needs Roe vs Wade.
Forced motherhood is not
fruit to be considered a blessing.
We are coming for you.
The whole pack, rising
like wolves,
baring teeth, such a pretty
sight.
Cat Woodbury is a 25 year old poet living in Charlotte, NC. When she is not writing poems, she is avidly reading young adult fantasy novels, listening to pop punk, or crying about raccoons and how cute they are. She tweets from @quokka_flocka
Author’s note: One thing that I often think about is how we as a society treat and talk about sex and sexuality. There are many systemic issues revolving around this, from rape culture, to the toxic idea of the “friend zone”, etc. But, one issue I never considered before was the baseball metaphors often used for sex, and how they can contribute to unhealthy views. I found the following TED talk to be very interesting.
The “baseball model is incredibly problematic. It’s sexist. It’s heterosexist. It’s competitive. It’s goal-directed. And it can’t result in healthy sexuality developing in young people or in adults. So we need a new model. I’m here today to offer you that new model. And it’s based on pizza”
