One or The Other

A sociological poem, kind of a man vs woman. Bound to stir up arguments

One or The Other

 

Years ago

Before any of us were born

There were norms and rules

Genders and expectations

 

My whole life was planned out

Before I even opened my eyes

To the colors of reality

Before I set my tiny foot on the ground

And started moving forward

 

Females were born

And were embarking on male territory

The rules that bound them

That constrained them

Were built by men

For they had all the power

And women did not

 

Men were seen as the One

As the Absolute

But classifying yourself as the One

You’d have to specify

Of the other

And women

Poor women

They were seen as the Other

 

Women were lacking of something

A penis, strength, reason

Women were functions

Reproduction

Objects

Just sexual beings

 

What women would gain

They would gain only

What men would grant

Not gaining much at all

 

No history, no past, no religion

So entangled with men

One can’t part the genders

 

And born into the gender of a woman

Gender being socially defined

The expectations put onto women

Submit to men

No more, no less

 

For men were in charge

But men respected women

Yes, they did

But not enough to give them power

To acknowledge their intelligence

 

I set my small

Feminine

Female

Foot on the ground

Not as an inferior gender

Not as a submissive sexual human being

But as someone whose intelligence

Can match and maybe surpass

The absolute

 

I lack a penis, but men lack a vagina

Men lack breasts

 

Female is the default gender

But back then

Who would have guessed

Males become males

After they were originally female

So I do not lack anything

That man didn’t lack

 

We are labelled the Other

To go against the One

But we’re going against each other

Because we were all once

The Other

Author's Note

Few of you know, right now I'm majoring in Sociology. I have taken over 7 sociology classes, 5 psychology classes, and 2 Anthropology classes in the past 4 years.

The idea for this poem came from an article I read for my Sociology University class. The article is by Simone de Beauvoir and it's called The Second Sex. I listed some of her statements in the poem.

If you don't agree with something said, then please let me know. :P

It's the first poem I write that's of this topic/nature. The article riled up something in me, and I thought I'd write about it. I was going to write a blog, BUT I write poetry, not blogs :P

Enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Reviews

[Baby Ricochet]

The prophet mohamad. His first wife had a huge influence on him and the shaping of Islam. You'd be surprised how much influence an iraqi woman could weild behind the scenes. Iraqi woman were smart like that. They had to be. The men were by and large lazy. Anyway, that's what this piece brought to my mind.

[Destinyxi]

That's interesting. Though there were much more men of influence and power in the past. Thanks for reviewing Baby :)

[Leigh]

You have stirred up a lot of thoughts and arguements in this, I really liked the way it is written and have tried to write similar poems

[John Stussy]

I laugh at some of the ideologies of ancient sociology. Penises make us stronger? Yeah, right. We're easy to manipulate because of the damned things. >.> This was a great poem to read, and awesome to see you use your voice, already proven as undeniably powerful, used to make an unshakable stand on a social issue. From what I've seen, men might have more brawn, but throughout history, women display absurd amounts of cunning. Brain over brawn, I'd say lasses take the win. Great poem.

[Inda]

Wow very powerful stuff and also very true, we all had vagina's at one point and the funny thing is a lot of the ones that don't have it when they are born spend most of their lives trying to get it. But, really in all seriousness, I enjoyed it and I think all women who read this would enjoy it too.

[Sourav]

I liked the concept and overall it's nicely written.

[Steven]

Nicely written, history and poetry together is always a great combination.

[Destinyxi]

thank you :D

[Christopher Booyakasha]

that was really really good!

[Destinyxi]

Thank you :)

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

Well it's a good concept behind the piece, I would like you to create one that enobles women though re the amazing grace of motherhood and all that women have that men don't, in a certain light feminism seems to be fighting as if women wanted to be like men, which really isn't that true from what I've seen.

Are the genders fulfilled by different things perhaps? A lot of women in high powered positions find this out at 35 or 40...

It's a GREAT topic though and def worthy of further exploration...but I'd love to see a new spin on it. (this is just honestly what I think)

[Destinyxi]

Thanks for your review :) I'll see what I can do

[Michael Kevin Spencer]

woot! My montreal pal.

[Frieda P]

You want to know who the stronger sex is, just go ino a labor and delivery room and watch the husband pass out while the mom is giving birth ;)

[Destinyxi]

haha, true

[Ees]

I always thought that women had more power all along. Not in terms of jobs or authority, but have you ever seen a house that wasn't run by the woman? Sure, she may have let the man think that he ran some of the show, but in general it was the lady who called the shots and of course did the most important thing in the world: raise her kids. By raising her kids she shapes the entire future... That is where I always felt like the power really was. But I the only people I have ever heard echo that opinion are my mother, my grandmother and my favorite old guy customer at the bar. (Who said that his mother always questioned women's lib, asking what was wrong with those women wanting to give it all up?)
But I of course come from an Irish American background and as far back as I can trace it, those women were always intelligent and partners... My great-grandmother was college educated and worked in a lawyers office until 1926 when my grandmother was born... My grandmother worked didn't work, she raised six kids and I know that she was powerful. My mother didn't work either, because she didn't want anybody else to raise me. There seems to be this great concept of women's oppression, and I am sure that it did exist, but in a lot of ways men and women lived happily as puzzle pieces fulfilling different roles but fitting together. I think that it is dangerous to try to be a man. I am not a man. There needs to always be a balance and that isn't done by competing for the same role in the world.

So in some ways we do agree, because you and I both know that men and women are part of one. As I like to say, different, but not one is better than the other, puzzle pieces that just fit together...

I am glad that you decided to write a poem rather than a blog. I think that this is most like the best way for you to get your point across.

Here's to getting riled up. I know I do!
Great job.
I love that you used something from an article in a sociology class to create poetry and find an adequate way to respond.

[Destinyxi]

wooo long review :P

Thanks Ees. The role of a mother/child raiser is a difficult one. My mom juggles two jobs and raising three daughters :)

Thanks for your review!

[Ees]

It is my belief that the changes in our society made it so that mothers have to work to be able to support their families, but they shouldn't have to.

sorry about my lengthy response. Sometimes I just can't help it!

[B-poet]

Complex and profound. I love these type of poems. They make you want to think about the when's, where's, how's, and why's for the condition of our present day society. Great job. An intriguing read. :)

[Destinyxi]

Thank you very much Bpoet :D