# Boy or Girl?

Author: ShingetsuMoon
Tags: Boy, Gender, Girl, Poem, Poetry, feminine, masculine

#25 of National Poetry Writing Month

Poem number 25 for National Poetry Month

* * *

I've always envied  
those who felt at home  
in their own bodies.

Those who were proud  
of themselves and had  
no doubts that they were  
exactly who they were  
supposed to be.

Those who had no doubts  
about where they stood  
when it came to the line  
dividing the boys from  
the girls.

I never wanted to be a boy  
but I never felt like one of  
the girls.

Why don't you like dolls?  
You should wear dresses more.  
Why do you always put her in  
boy's clothes?

Why doesn't she have more   
girl friends? Why is she  
always with boys?

I stayed with the boys because  
I just had more in common  
with them.

No matter how hard I tried  
I always felt out of place  
around other girls.

Like I was wearing an  
identify that didn't quite  
fit right no matter how  
much I moved it around.

Girls like dolls not cars.  
Girls like dresses not jeans.  
Girls like like pink, not blue.  
Girls like dressing up not  
playing with dinosaurs and  
action figures.

My parents didn't care if   
they had a daughter who  
preferred Jurassic Park over  
Barbie so why should anyone  
else?

Why did I?

If I tried to be myself they  
criticized me for my interests.  
If I tried to be more feminine  
they could only talk about how  
it was about time I acted like   
a "real" little girl.

Why was I made to feel as  
 if any interest in the masculine   
was a betrayal of the feminine   
side I was supposed embrace?

Why do we live in a society  
that seeks to place such harsh   
dividing lines between us?

Boy or girl?  
Girl or boy?

Ask five people and you'll get  
ten different answers. Why   
can't we all just be who we are?

Why can't we seek to understand  
each other first instead of just  
forcing them to fit into boxes we  
alone feel comfortable with?

I never wanted to be a boy.  
Not then and not now.  
But that wasn't something  
others could understand.

I don't want to be anything.  
I just want to be myself.

I will not hang my head in  
shame because I do not  
fit your stereotypes of what   
a woman is supposed to be.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/rnaG3pXe
Part of the series National Poetry Writing Month
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