Dreams | Teen Ink

Dreams

March 8, 2016
By Jstar97 GOLD, Round Lake, Illinois
Jstar97 GOLD, Round Lake, Illinois
18 articles 1 photo 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Even the darkest nights will end and the sun will rise" - Les Miserables


You dream.
You "dream" of having the perfect body.
You "dream" of your eyeliner being even.
You "dream" of finding "Mr. Right".
You "dream" of a face clear of acne,
Of being beautiful enough,
Of being funny enough,
Of being skinny enough.
Us girls?
We dream.


But these ones are all generalizations,
Of course.
Dreams fed on stereotypes.
Whether we actually dream these kinds of things
Or not,
They're just surface-level dreams.
Deep-down,
We dream
Different dreams;
We long for different things.
Deep down,

You dream of being
GREAT.

 

We dream of being doctors who treat cancer,
Of being the scientists who cure it.
We dream of being astronauts,
Police-women,
Firefighters,
Professional chefs,
Football players,
Engineers,
Surgeons!

 

So....
What stops us?


Why do we seem to dwell on the surface-level "dreams?
Why do you tell yourself that being GREAT
Is less possible than clear skin?

 

Who
Says
You
Can't?

 

Who makes you out to be weak?
To be whiny?
To be shallow?

Who says that us girls
Dream only of having the "ideal" body?
So as to...
What?
Get a man?

Who says that our
Futures
Are built upon the ideals
Of men?

 

The things that society says are beautiful:
The high cheekbones,
Long hair,
Flat stomach,
Thigh gap,
Long eyelashes.
The lack of muscle on our
Arms and legs,
No meat on our bones.

 

Society believes we need these things
So a guy will find us
Attractive.
So we can have a family
And be a housewife.

 

Why can't we define
OURSELVES?
Why can't we base our lives off of
Ourselves?
Off our own ideals?

 

Why can't our goals,
Our desires,
Our wishes
Be based on our own successes?

 

You're living in a man's world, honey.

 

We're living in a man's world
Where it's more realistic
To dream of fitting a mold,
Where it's more realistic to be
Ordinary.

 

They want you to be inferior.
They want you to be ordinary.

 

But you're NOT.

 

You don't have to be.

 

You go out there and
show them
That it's
YOUR world,
That you are, in fact,


Extraordinary.

 

You go out and show them
That you're MORE than mediocre.

 

You're smart.

You're driven.

 

And you have just what it takes
To make the world
Believe in
You
And your
Dreams.


The author's comments:

I think this one is pretty self-explanatory, haha! When I wrote it, I was empowered by my 7-year-old sister's future goals of simultaneously being a ballet instructor, Broadway star, and scientist who cures every currently-incurable illness she can think of. That sounds like a busy life, but I mean... Who's going to stop her? :)


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