Atlanta Teen Voices / all

Men’s Weakness – An original poem

by share

Most men strip their humanity for the privilege of manhood

The privilege of numbness

Being numb to anything but anger is being a man

 

Bring yo ass here

You ain’t going nowhere!

 

Most men think this is a man’s world

And that women are flowers to be plucked

 

I love you so much

 

Most men see women as flowers

Most women are abused by men they know

 

It was a mistake

I’d never do anything to hurt you

 

Most women do not report abuse

Come on girl

You know you get out of line sometimes

 

Most men think being beautiful

Is all a woman can be

 

Sometimes you look unattractive…

Dehumanizing a woman sounds like a compliment

 

You couldn’t even blame me if I wanted to sleep with another girl

You need to let daddy come lay it down

And fix that attitude

 

I’d kill a dude if he ever tried to get with you

 

Girl, shut up and listen when I’m talking to you!

 

Most men don’t know how to own their tears

Most men don’t know how to own their pain

Most men smile like stretched rubber bands

And blame women when they snap

 

Most men can’t think

without someone else forcing ideas down their throat

Minds full of doubt.

Full of confusion.

Full of questions.

 

Who am I?

 

I am a man

I must prove this by all means

At all costs

 

Any one who threatens me is a threat to my manhood.

Women are a threat to my manhood.

Most women are most men’s weakness.

A real man knows that this doesn’t actually make him weak

This makes him vulnerable.

Vulnerability is okay.

A fool wouldn’t know the difference between the two.

Most men are fools.

Fools who think the women who make them vulnerable

are making them weak.

 

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B–h, I’ll beat yo ass

Raise yo voice at me again if you want

 

I am not allowed tears or wailing screams in the middle of the night

I am not allowed to tell another a man he is beautiful without someone questioning my sexuality

I am not allowed to question my sexuality

I am not allowed to see the humanity in myself without being a target

If you are not a man then you are a target

 

Being a man is learning how to not be target practice

Being a man is having the privilege to not be target practice

Or maybe that’s being a coward

 

I’m redefining my masculinity

 

I am a man who knows that both a woman and a man created me

So I am half of my mother

Half of a woman

 

Most men are taught to beat the mother out of themselves

Women are not silent flowers

Waiting for their colors to be interpreted by men

These men…

who prove their strength by exerting their force….

 

These men

are the weakest of them all.

 

logo-AWW-red-black-sq“Men’s Weakness” is an original poem created through Atlanta Word Works. Written by Joshua Stewart and Cole Jones-Ford. This poem focuses on violence against women and sheds light on the social construction of masculinity.

Related story: Josh and Cole performed this piece at the 2016 PADV Teen Summit. 

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