Tag: feminism

The False Promise of the Damsel in Distress

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The False Promise of the Damsel in Distress
by Valerie Parente

I don’t think enough girls were taught the difference
between being in love and being obsessed,
so many stories of womanhood
were really stories of sickness,
that to attract a man
you have to be a damsel in distress,
that happily ever after was the goal
and your journey before was meaningless.

They taught us that pity
means he endlessly cares
and that negative attention
means love is in the air.
They said there has to be an obstacle
you can only overcome with him there,
that your accomplishments are null
unless a prince witnessed the despair.

So here’s to the girls
who broke their own hearts
taking on the damsel archetype
before adulthood could even start.
We are not ruined beyond repair,
we’re just a little scarred;
may we raise our daughters
as we raise our bars.

– Valerie Parente (3-28-2025)

Medusa Had It Right

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Medusa Had It Right by Valerie Parente

Medusa had it right
when she turned that man to stone.
Female wrath doesn’t just happen
it gets provoked.
If you dare look at her
when she does not condone
don’t act surprised
by the rage she holds
because the male gaze
only benefits one role
and it’s not the women
it pretends to boast.

– Valerie Parente (3-7-2025)

Censor/Exploit/Repeat

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Censor/Exploit/Repeat by Valerie Parente

Censor her
for her femininity
like it makes sense to be
offended by another’s anatomy
unless there’s something
a little monetary
that can be derived
from her liberty
‘cause if it’s just for her
she can’t do it for free
but if it’s for the rest
now she’s a commodity
just another product
of a voyeuristic society
wanting to strip choice
from the ones with the bodies
that we exploit
then ask for modesty.

It’s all so
arbitrary
dictated by when men do and don’t
want to see
confidence
or insecurity
and therein lies
the ultimate absurdity
one day censoring, one one day profiting from
female agency.

– Valerie Parente (3-7-2025)

Shape Shifter

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Shape Shifter by Valerie Parente

Have you ever heard
of the Shape Shifter?
She changes form
to fit her mister.

Shape Shifters are not born
they are girls once raised
by those who were supposed to
show them praise.

No one protected her
or taught her to question
why man’s needs come first
and hers come second.

Here lies red dotted lines
and the pen is his
it’s a calculated path
so she does not trip.

The Shape Shifter has no passion
just sheer dread
that she’ll have to confront
the girl in her head.

And if you asked her
who she really is
she wouldn’t have an answer
aside from “someone’s Mrs.”

Goddess

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Goddess by Valerie Parente

We call it the will of God
though women bear that cross
for it is them who represent
the concept of consequence
and if the world was honest
we’d say it came from a Goddess.
Therein lies, a tale as old as time;
how it is man who crucifies
the ones who wholeheartedly know
the magnificent power that they hold.

– Valerie Parente (9-28-2024)

Free In My Own Skin

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Free In My Own Skin by Valerie Parente

If there were no men I’d be naked all of the time.
If there was no threat I’d be making my own highs.
If there was no sex I’d be vacant in my mind.
And I am compelled to be a sin in their eyes.

I don’t do provocative for them, I do it for me
because being feminine makes me feel free
and the fact that that’s a danger to society
is nothing short of chauvinism at its peak.

– Valerie Parente (7-11-2024)

Danger to Society

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Danger to Society by Valerie Parente

They say that my anatomy
is a danger to society
when it comes to expressing
all that’s inside of me.

Yet I’m not too dangerous
for you to profit off of it
for you to get off with it
do whatever you want with it
but I need to be cautious with it.

You censor my canvas
and give yourself the advantage
with arbitrary rules and guidelines
while I’m just collateral damage.

But if you ask me
you’re the real danger to society
because you take what isn’t yours
then make it my responsibility.

– Valerie Parente (5-15-2024)

Rude Awakening

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Rude Awakening by Valerie Parente

I should have known you were a total creep
when you declared “you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me”
and we had only been talking for one day that week
when you tried to parade around my anatomy.

Truthfully, I knew something was awry
though I told myself I’m just not used to nice guys
but nice isn’t profuse compliments one, two, twenty times
nice is giving a girl a chance to make up her own mind.

There is such profound violation
in having my time knowingly wasted
and I am far from complacent
to your attempts at emotional manipulation.

Damn right, I take it personally
that you had the nerve to try to corner me
but it took five seconds for me to formally
recognize you only act on insecurity.

My gut told me you were too good to be true
and at the time I didn’t want to be shrewd
but I hope your awakening is quite rude
because I don’t take kindly to being fooled.

This was a very rude awakening of mine;
a lesson that you can’t manifest a “dream guy”
because dreams are meant for closed eyes
and a girl needs to be awake at all times.

– Valerie Parente (5-3-2024)

Succubus

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Succubus by Valerie Parente

Milky eyes rolled
in the back of her head
they accuse the succubus
of stealing dreams from the men.

She’s only as good
as when they want to be around her
as if her morality
is tied to their arousal.

He can touch her
but she can’t touch him
just like she can lose her value
but he can only win.

Her pleasure, her lust,
a malevolence in itself
while he’s in high heaven
she’s going straight to hell.

They call her a succubus
because she likes to be exposed
that’s why they justify
putting a knife to her throat.

But they don’t know
she’ll stroke the knife with her tongue
because she taught herself
to like the taste of blood.

WOMAN

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WOMAN by Valerie Parente

What is it about the female body
that makes you squirm
and throw a censor
over what should be the norm?
Because we’ve been taught to hide
veil
block
deny
then they wonder why
we harbor shame inside.

There is nothing inherently wrong
with simply existing
but to exist in the physical form
we must ask for permission.
Our body has the power
to wreak havoc on earth
and they made us believe
that is a curse
but it’s actually a gift
that in doing nothing we cause a stir
it is actually a gift
to be a WOMAN in this world.

– Valerie Parente (10-4-2023)