You would be so pretty,
If you straightened your hair
You would be so pretty,
If you just wore some makeup
You would be so pretty,
If you walked like a lady
You would be so pretty,
If your skin weren’t so dark
You would be so pretty,
If you lost a few pounds
But Wait…
I would be so pretty.
If I stopped listening
I would be so pretty.
If I smiled at my reflection
I would be so pretty.
If I wore my own style
I would be so pretty.
But Then…
I would only be pretty
So keep your pretty petty words
Because
I am fresh, fierce and confident
I am me and I am beautiful
© Manivillie Kanagasabapathy
AN: I am ridiculously attached to this poem. I originally wrote this piece in March of 2011 and it was the one the reinvigorated my love of write. To be honest, It was the first real poem I had written since 2006. I was lucky enough to have this poem and others published in a writing anthology called Beyond the Journey: Women’s Stories of Settlement and Community Building in Canada in 2013.
If only more women and men recognized the out downs of saying ” you would be so pretty .. but …”. This is a palpable message to all as a team I was told this but it was in reverse, if I had darker eyes, hair, skin … we cannot win if we say there is a narrow ideal, if we claim a woman’s value is in her prettiness. This is truly a revolutionary message. Excellent poem well worth repeating regularly.
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Thank you so much for sharing your experience and for your words. I really appreciate them. I agree beauty is beauty with no qualifiers and no need to fit into a narrow view (that is always changing and making us feel like there is something wrong with us and not this system).
Thank yo again 🙂
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You are very, very welcome. Your poem is a marvelously comprised message of truths and hopefulness and I thought it was outstanding♡ (I for one, always wanted curly hair!!!)
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