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AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL WOMEN

For every time you've scrunched up your nose at the length of somebody's skirt

For every rude word for "vagina" that you've claimed another woman to be

For every time you've scoffed at girls that like to get their hair done or paint their nails

You're committing woman-on-woman hate

Taylor Swift: as catchy as your songs are, they shame girls for 

Wearing short skirts and being sexually active,

All because they "stole" your boyfriend-- he was never your property

I was raised on songs about how other women are the enemy

When your boyfriend cheats on you, why is the Other Woman the first person you blame?

Why do you stay with him, when he doesn't deserve your company?

Songs about keeping those pesky sluts away from your boyfriends...

And barely any about keeping your boyfriends away from those pesky sluts?

When I was younger, my sister played softball, and I did ballet

And at the end of the day, we'd both get into the car,

Sweaty and exhausted, killing for a bottle of water and a shower

But all my sister's friends used to tease that I was such a "princess"

As if femininity is something to be embarrassed about

As if ballet dancing makes any girl less tough than the ones that roll around in the mud

Wearing pink doesn't make you any less of a feminist--

Wearing clothes from the men's section doesn't make you any more of one

To the girls that say they're not feminists:

You're okay with being told to swallow your ambitions to stay home and make pies, 

You're okay with stripping your fellow women of their right to fight crimes and discover vaccines

You're okay with being a lesser being, just because of your breasts and ovaries

But, do you want to be taken seriously in a courtroom?

Do you want to be paid the same amount of money for the same job,

As a man... as anybody?

Do you want somebody to be able to dictate what you're allowed to do with your body?

If you're comfortable handing over your future 

To a rich white guy that thinks you're around simply for his benefit

Then, by all means, stick to your non-feminist ideals

And the rest of us will slap on our leather and steel armor and fight

Feminist don't hate men, feminists aren't all lesbians

But if you hate men and love girls-- by all means, live your life

There is no job requirement for being a feminist

Apart from the longing for an equality among humans

You don't need a vagina or a shorter haircut

There's no need to kiss other girls, or dump your boyfriend

You don't have to grow up to be a doctor or a soldier-- you can be a stay at home parent

But you need to want to prop the doors of opportunity open for everyone

There is no feminist handbook that says you need to think men are useless

Your nails don't have to go unpainted, your hair unstyled

There is a simple definition of feminism, friends:

And it is not to raise women above men, but to level us to the equal ground we already stand on

So, next time you listen to "Stupid Girls" by P!nk

And laugh about how dumb girls with larger breasts and blonde hair are

Girls that don't play sports, girls that don't want to be the next president

Remember that woman-on-woman hate is the opposite of the feminists' goal

When girls are being told not to wear tank tops to school

As to not distract their straight male peers,

It not only implies that the female anatomy is something to be hidden

But that the male student's education is more important than the female

The goal is not yet in reach, when girls are being sexually assaulted 

And instead of being comforted, 

Are first asked what they were wearing and how much they drank

Because "boys will be boys" and girls had better watch out

I am not waiting around to take orders from a man

On how he likes his steak prepared or which tie he wants me to press

I will do whatever I feel like, with or without a husband

And I will hope that whichever path I choose, there are ways for me to reach my goals

Because as much as I love boys,

I love myself more, and refuse to let my fire get stomped out

To make room for more "male authority figures"

Ready to swoop in with their testosterone and snatch away my momentum