I guess it's normal now / The story of a girl

by EMILY RUTH PEW

May 26, 2014

This is a story about important things.

At least, I think they're important,
but they're seen as normal, as something that every girl goes through.
I'm not talking about puberty;
I'm talking about the girls whose fathers didn't care enough to stay.

I'm talking about the girls who are too fat.
I guess that's normal now.

I'm talking about every father who's ever told a daughter
not to walk home, to wait for him.

I;m talking about every girl who remembers it vividly all over again
when she hears her phone ring
remembers how she couldn't get to it
because she was busy being stolen.

I guess that's normal now.

I'm talking about the daily walk through the halls
how some of us wish people would stop looking at us
how some of us wish people would start.

I'm talking about how girls are less loved for who they are
and more loved for what they are.

I guess it's normal now.

I'm talking about how girls who refuse
are called goody-goodies.
And girls who say yes
are called easy.

I guess I'm writing this to talk about the ways we can't win,
or to talk about the sound of my little sister singing "Frozen" to herself
or how I'm more afraid for her future with her beautiful eyes and her soft hair
and her pretty little freckles
and how thin she is

I guess I'm writing this to say that I'm sick of the excuse "Boys will be boys"

I guess I'm writing this to remind people that girls like stuff
I like to write
she likes to read
she likes to speak
she likes

astronomy.


She likes to look at the stars.


But
I guess it's normal now to think
that we like boys.
And that's all.

I might be writing this for transition from October to April,
From feeling ugly to scared
and trapped by a boy who didn't know the difference between a toaster and myself
to feeling glorious, gorgeous
as I emerged from a car
and was presented proudly at Prom next to one of my best friends.

This is for the girls who deserve flowers
and haven't felt how it feels to have someone be totally crazy about you.

This is for the girls who "can't even fathom the thought of a boy loving her for who she is
and not for how good she tastes", eloquently put my Charles Darnell

This is for the girls who deserve flowers
and get slapped on the butt.
This is for the girls who get blamed for date-rape
and get taught not to take drinks from boys,
when really more boys should be taught not to drug people
and rape people.

But I guess it's normal now.

This is for the boys who are suffering because
too many of them have been rotten enough
to prevent girls seeking any kind of taste again.

This is for the good boys who have learned
that women are glorious, wonderful, pain-in-the-butt beauties
Who know their girlfriend's favorite super hero
and favorite color.
Here's for the boys who feel like crap when they're taking a night walk
and they pass a girl
and the girl tenses up
or crosses the street.

I guess that's normal now

but it doesn't mean it's right.