Not that I have anything against these commemorative days of this and that. I’m sure that, somewhere along the line, increased media attention raises awareness, and makes at least a few people think differently, at least for a little while. But as International Women’s Day approaches on 8 March, I’ve been flipping through the Rape volume of Agenda’s Gender Based Violence Trilogy – Issue 74, 2007. The poem below really stood out for me. How far do our efforts at advocacy and information really go? How do we better ensure that our media campaigns and good intentions can effectively encounter day to day experiences and exposure that tell a very different story. Otherwise, what will our boys – and girls – grow up to think, say and do?

The nice bits

4 15 years old girls walk by in a restaurant
hair scrapped and plastered
smooth, upright bodies
not a kink or a wrinkle
giggle driven with flushed cheeks
little girlhoods sprouting breasts

‘ooh 15 year olds’ says a table sitting says 47 year old male
‘nah they have nice bits but nothing upstairs’ says father 49
pupils slither along the neck line
‘good to look at though’
middle age spread with white teeth chortling

7 year old son looks and laughs
collapses into a cell phone
wide eyes flickering left right left
and I wonder
what will he be?

- Jane Caroline

This entry was posted on March 7th, 2008 at 9:49 am by Amanda Atwood and is filed under Women's issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.