I wish that women were people.

I wish that no girl will ever again be limited by the norms of our society.
That no girl will be told that she cannot, that she must not.
That her dreams, her personality are inappropriate or wrong.
That colours are not gendered and that she can wear green, blue or yellow as she pleases.

I wish that teenage girls learn to love themselves.
Learn that they are not inferior. That loosing weight,
looking skinny and pretty are not the goals they should starve themselves to reach. That boys are stupid and they don't have to put up with their ****.
That the men who hoot after them, catcall them are creeps unworthy of their attention. That being pressured into stripping on Skype by older men can be reported and that mom in most cases do understand what they're going through.

I wish that young adult women never had to feel pressure to be feminine.
That they never feel forced to shave, to let their hair grow, to wear make-up.
That they never have to force themselves into heels that hurt their feet and learn  to spit in the leering faces of men, to say '*******' without fear of being assaulted and knowing full well how to make a man regret putting his gross, entitled hands on them.

I wish that mothers never had to fear for their daughters.
I wish that mothers never had to hold and comfort their baby girls after nightmare parties with monsters masquerading as boys.
I wish that women did not have to live in fear.
I wish we did not have to watch our bodies used as props, sold like pieces of meat at the butcher.
I wish we did not have to fight for the right to own our bodies.
I wish that women knew that 'No' is a complete sentence and needs no justification.

I wish that women knew their worth.

I wish that women knew they were people.

There was a time before the claws of insecurity
and self-hatred sank its talons into my skin
It was sunshine, warm hugs and the sound of stories being read aloud
I never wondered about my looks
It never mattered
There was never an inkling that my worth was measured in beauty

Girls and women starve themselves to fit the moulds of artifical female bodies
as if it is them and their bodies that are wrong and misfigured.
When in actuality, it is the toxic ideals of our global society that are aberrant and rotten to the core.

how are they to save themselves from the demons of their own mind
*how are you going to save us from them when you were the ones who put them there?