My Body Does Not Belong to Me

Jessica Staats
School of Human Services


******
Note: The following poem contains sensitive content which you may find emotionally challenging. If you are in need of emotional support at any time, call 988 for the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also seek mental health support from Togetherall.
https://guides.rasmussen.edu/studentexperience/well-being/togetherall
******

This day, this age, you say I’m enraged.
Too emotional, too afraid, just relax, you’ll be okay.
Have a drink but don’t get drunk.
Look pretty but when you do, you were asking for the unwanted attention forced upon you.
I want to relax; I want to be free, but I know-
My body does not belong to me, I have no say.
My freedoms were stripped in this day, in this age.
Men in a court room making decisions on women’s bodies they often degrade.
Will justice prevail or will they be more worried about his future at Yale?
You’d be enraged too, emotional, afraid-
Because unwelcome touches are not a crime, depending on what I was wearing that day.
My body does not belong to me and I’m not okay.