RISE UP

 

“Life shrinks or expands

in proportion with one’s courage.”

 

~ Anaïs Nin ~

 

Digitally enhanced image created from an original photo of street art by Gregos taken in Paris in May 2017.

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© 2019 nightpoet all rights reserved

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ÉGALITÉ

 

“Feminism is equality:

politically; culturally; socially; economically.

That’s it, that simple.”

 

~ Emma Watson ~

 

Digitally enhanced image created from an original photo taken in Paris in June 2018.

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© 2018 nightpoet all rights reserved

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BRAINWASHED

 

“If she were my daughter I’d…”

~ Frank Zappa ~

 

I have been a staunch supporter of women’s liberation since the 1960’s. When I see images like the one beneath my poem, my blood boils. Sure, go ahead and ask these women if they are happy, and you will get yes for an answer. Why? Because they have been brainwashed and subjugated since birth, they have been trained and indoctrinated to believe that this is their place in society, that they can be nothing more than subservient in life. The patriarchal cultures that impose this kind of gender slavery reek of and drip with male dominated fascism. Total control over what people can believe, what they can think, what they can wear and how they are supposed to behave. And most of that control is forced upon women. I don’t give a shit what you choose to believe, what you want to wear or how you see your role as a member of society, but everyone has a basic human right to make those decisions of their own free will. A country, a society or a religion that forces people to comply with limits on their freedom, and then goes so far as to kill those individuals who refuse to adhere to such absurdity, is simply not civilized and has no place in the modern world. There is no political system, no religion, no philosophy that has the right to violate basic human dignity. It is simply not acceptable. Women living under these repressive societies need to liberate themselves, need to rise up against male domination and forced subjugation. But if you have never tasted the fruits of liberation, how can you know what you have been denied? The struggle will continue to be long and hard. It has been going on for centuries. And it will always need the support of those of us who have the freedom and motivation to speak out against the repression, those of us who have tasted of the fruits and see the need for all people to have that same opportunity, without the threat of repression, bodily harm or extermination. If we do not stand up against the oppression, then what value will our lives ever have…?

 

Photo taken in August 2015.

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© 2015 nightpoet all rights reserved

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