Boney adolescent knees propped up against the vanity,
Finger-painting lines of shadow,
- Forest greens, flamingo pinks,
Pucker practice, batted lashes, glitter, glossy, shining brightly,
Hair and clothes wrapped up so tightly,
-Beauty, flaunt it well,
Womanhood bewitching, baby cast your spell.
Higher heels and shorter bottoms, rainbow painted finger-tips,
Diet fads and low self-concept, leaking through those switching hips.
Magazines are marked for wisdom, TV tells her how to think,
Cute and tiny, always smiling, this is what a woman should be.
Growing older, brokenhearted,
Self-worth shares the scale with men,
Painful strides approaching balance,
Independence lost again.
Mock the model on the cover,
Reassess your beauty too,
Pucker up and keep on smiling,
That’s what stronger women do.
Now her daughter, pillow propped to make her mother in the mirror,
Mini-skirts and platform sneakers strewn about the bedroom floor,
Dabbing through countless containers, dinner eaten like a bird
Trying to make herself a woman, copy cat of all observed.
Puckered lips and hips sway lightly,
Dreaming of the men she’ll meet,
Wife and mother in the future,
What she thinks a woman should be.
It’s up to you to teach her all a woman could be.