armor, and the lack thereof

Men are the societal default

Because men came first, because

Eve came from Adam’s rib, because

Adam came first.

And so men must come first, because

Flat-chest short-hair

Is androgynous, because

“Tomboys” are praised for not being like other girls because

“Other girls” are shallow and we must

Never be like those girls because

Masculine is always better and

When even females aren’t allowed to be feminine,

What is feminine?

Tomboys are praised for being “unique” while the

Lucygirls of the world

The little boys in dresses

The men in makeup

The queens, out for the night at a bar, never made it home

They are beaten down

Beaten up

Told “you’re not enough,” told

“You’re too much”

Too much for this world to handle, this

Narrow-minded world that

We will never admit is

Narrow-minded.

And so the

Shallow girls look in the mirror and

Put on their lipstick and

Brave the world in their armor.

Put on blush like a sword put on

Eyeliner like a shield and

Protect yourself from ugliness don’t be

Not enough,

While the unique girls insist

“We are not like them” and

Put on their jeans.

Put on shirts-long-enough-to-cover-your-stomach like

A different kind of armor and

Protect yourself from being seen.

Don’t be too open don’t be

Too feminine don’t be

The horror story meant to teach don’t be

The example in the article titled What to Do to Avoid Rape don’t be

Too much.

Meanwhile the queens put on their makeup

Put on their clinking jewelry,

Their armor catches the enemy off-guard long enough to

Maybe-escape because

They weren’t expecting this.

Put on your dress like

Fight back stand out rebel by succeeding and

Don your wig like

You never saw this coming.

But

There is no armor that’s safe there is no

Shield that guards no

Sword that protects.

The only armor here is

Cis men in t-shirts and pants, they don’t need any

Armor.

You don’t need any armor.