by Maggie Cooper
girls: should wear ribbons and sundresses
girls: should get good grades in school
girls: should participate in team sports
girls: should listen to their parents and teachers
girls: should leave their hair loose to feel the wind and water
girls: should wonder about the number of ants in an anthill
girls: should learn to run as fast as they can
girls: should gather their strength until the time comes to rebel
***
things we say about girl-children:
isn’t she precious?
what a beautiful smile
that’s an adorable hat
has she been eating her vegetables?
***
young women: should look sexy, but not slutty
young women: should devote themselves to developing a robust career path
young women: should avoid walking alone in urban centers
young women: should read widely and develop a taste for literature
young women: should study the ancient arts of war
young women: should know their bodies with their own hands
young women: should cry boldly into the alleyways of the night
young women: should tear the pages from the book of myths and bury them in the dirt
***
how to distinguish a female from a male sea lion:
smaller size: 150-300 pounds
lack of sagittal crests
light, golden brown color
greater longevity
***
women: should settle for eighty-one cents on the dollar
women: should become mothers who pack lunches and do their best
women: should take a daily multivitamin
women: should be kind, and stay calm, and have patience
women: should ask hard questions and demand answers back
women: should raise children with dirty hands
women: should concoct wondrous elixirs to be smuggled under dark cloths
women: should reach into the fire and feel the flames dance, cold and sparkling
***
names:
claribel
bitch
hussy
matron
wench
prude
emma
***
old women: should take up hobbies, crosswords, cross-stitch
old women: should be beloved by grandchildren and cats
old women: should keep their hair and clothes tidy
old women: should die quietly, surrounded by loved ones
old women: should not be afraid to break things
old women: should do whatever they damn well please
old women: should let their souls stretch and glow in the twilight sky
old women: should cast their spells carefully and take their secrets with them when they go
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Maggie Cooper is writer and teacher with a passion for homemade scones and the U.S. Postal Service. She currently resides in Greensboro, North Carolina, but you can find her on Twitter @frecklywench.