When I was younger

My mother

Told me not to go outside after dark
When I told her I wanted to go to the park

When my brother
Was younger
She let him go whenever he wanted to leave
And told me to stop being so naive

When I asked her why?
She said that it was different because he was a guy
So I looked at her with tears in my eyes
And said why is that different? Why does that matter? Why?

She told me that guys sometimes hurt young girls when no one can see
So I thought to myself, why should something someone else does restrict me?

When did it become ok?

For the right of our freedom to be taken away.

When I was younger and on the subway
A man followed me out
When I told my mother all she could say
Was that its normal and didn’t want it to be something we talk about

When did it become ok?
To defy the law against stalking and get away?

When I was younger
I was walking down the sidewalk with many others
Someone yelled something profane at me as I walked by
Like it was a compliment, in their eyes
When I told my mother,
All she would say was it was just another
Normal thing
And to stop getting worked up over nothing

But, now that I’m older
I realize that I do not have to agree with her
That it is not ok
To take someone’s rights and throw them away

It is better than it used to be
But, we are still crawling out from under the debree

All you have to do is believe that it is wrong
And  before long

They will agree
We can change the way people think, you and me