She is playing with fossils and Lego figures
But is then made to play with dolls to convince
The other kids that
She is not a lesbian.
She is 7.
She is forced to pay tax on tampons
Because they are not as essential as,
Say,
Jaffa Cakes.
She is 12.
Now of age, she is promised to the son of a family friend.
Traded like cattle or a crop, but should be grateful that she is wanted.
She is 13.
She is sending nudes to an older boy
Because she has been told that that is the only way
Of showing love and commitment.
She is 14.
She wears a fake wedding band in public
To stop strangers asking her out.
She needs evidence, because her word isn’t enough
She is 15.
She is picking her A Levels
but shies away from Tech, Computing and Physics
because she thinks girls are not taken seriously in those fields.
She is 16.
She learns that strangers shouting and whistling from a van or scaffold
Is a compliment and she should be grateful for the attention.
She is 17.
She is called either ‘one of the lads’ or a ‘****’ for having more male friends than female.
When the word they were looking for is ‘friend’.
She is 18.
She uses earphones as armour
Against men in the gym who insist
On interrupting her session, to show her how to lift the weights ‘properly’.
She is 19.
She is required to wear makeup and heels to work
Because they are the basis of a hard-working employee.
She is 21.
She easily confuses male kind-heartedness with seduction
Because meeting friendly men without an agenda is so unfamiliar to her.
She is 22.
She is asked about family-planning by her employers. She fears that if she speaks out about the discrimination, her contract will be terminated.
She is 23.
She is told the gender pay gap is a myth
When she knows that her male colleagues are paid more for the same work.
She decides to remain quiet.
She is 26.
She is called ‘bossy’ and ‘sassy’
When leading a small team with confidence.
She now notices that those words are specially reserved for women.
She is 28.
She is unmarried and therefore the family joke.
The sponge that has no choice but to absorb
All the comments on her character.
She is 35.
She finds herself pregnant and is unsure whether there will be a job for her if she goes through with the pregnancy.
She is 36.
She decides to become a stay-at-home mother in order to not miss her baby’s growth.
She is called ‘lazy’, ‘backwards’ and ‘a disgrace to feminism’.
She is 37.
She goes back to work and now replaces her partner as the main breadwinner.
She is now a threat to male egos everywhere.
She is 39.
She is overqualified for the job role
But females over a certain age are neither commercially or aesthetically desirable in this industry.
She is 42.
The timeline ends here because
She is tired
After finally realising that
A woman dies soon after she is born.
SHE IS SOMEONE’s daughter
SHE IS SOMEONE’s mother
SHE IS SOMEONE’s sister
SHE IS SOMEONE's grandmother
SHE IS SOMEONE’s girlfriend
SHE IS SOMEONE’s wife
SHE IS. SOMEONE.