I refuse to be the mother of a daughter
Who spends her whole life believing
She isn’t enough
to let my daughter be brought up in a world that believes
She is only something
When she has a wedding ring
Once she has found a man to complete her
That she is a half
until he makes her whole
And implicitly tells her
Until that day when he weds her and beds her
She isn’t enough
No! my daughter will be filled with self esteem
And not the kind you find in those magazines
She will recognize her inner strength and beauty
Like the curves of her body
Each one beautiful and perfect
And she will know how to use them
Because Gd has blessed her
Blessed her with skills and talents
That will one day make her a good wife
But that does not define her worth in life
Because she is more than just the S in front of he
She
She is somebody
But not just the sum
of the parts of her body
I refuse to let her spend her whole life seeking
Thinking that she is only worth what he can see
Waiting for a man to make her enough
No you beautiful girl, you just you
You are enough!
There is too much that you can and have to do
To just be… dating
Really? That’s what you DO
Every woman has someone they need to be
We are not human doings
we are human beings
And yes part of that is to be on a team
But it’s not to be wholly defined by this thing
That my culture determines a women to be
Because what if Gd decides she has to wait
Have you sat to contemplate?
What happens when she’s left “unwhole”
For longer than the girls she knows
Then what?
What is she set to think?
You want her to feel incomplete?
Because she isn’t
No!
I will be the mother of a daughter who knows
She is enough
And not because feminism and careers “make us”
But because I believe in self esteem
And women who are somebody
Not based on just what men can see
But based on the fact they have self love
And the fact they know they are
Enough.
