How dare you!
How dare you say you’re enough
How dare you be content,
With those small tits you call breasts,
Or those bony legs,
Or those stretch-marked thighs,
Those sunken cheeks,
Not to talk of that bulging flap of flesh you call tummy,
Just how dare you!
How dare you show those elephant thighs unashamedly,
How dare you widen those cracked lips in a smile.
How dare you even think of showing your teeth so crooked?
No wait;
How dare you love yourself,
Before we’ve given you permission to do so;
The world says.

How dare you woman!
How dare you be content with your life as it is
How dare you behave as though you do not need a man
How dare you be independent and self sufficient
How dare you be single;
Yet not the least unhappy
How dare you be confident, or speak for yourself
How dare you own your voice,
And dare let it be heard!

How dare you dare to be different;
To try and set yourself apart,
Or carve your own path,
Which may be different from what we’ve mapped out for you,
Before you were even born,
And could even think of making your own decisions
It’s the roadmap everyone follows,
No one questions it
So how dare you do otherwise!

How dare you dream!
How dare you chase your dreams
Or build castles in the air,
And call it “dreaming big”
How dare you think you can be any better
Than your peers
How dare you try to shape your own future,
Mould it, or twist it into any form,
Different from what we’ve laid down for you
How dare you challenge the status quo
How dare you ask questions that need not be asked
How dare you question us; society,
Or undermine our authority.
As though you know any better than those who came before you
As though you can really change anything
How dare you try to do better!

In a world that teaches us that it’s okay to be ourselves, sometimes being one’s true, authentic self can be a revolutionary act.