Ladies don't fight back

~for a slam poetry contest I would be participating in~

Let me make myself clear,
they say I throw like a girl.
When it comes to blows and brawls,
I let down my curls, give it a whirl
and fight like a girl.
And when I'm beaten to a pulp,
I lie curled up,
crying like a girl.

They say ladies don't fight back.
Whatever life puts up your way, you accept
with grace and a cupid bow smile.
They say, your might
lies not in the football fields,
with bruises and scraped knees,
and mangled mut hair.
....Hive mind....
Like swarming bees,
they buzz out their opinions in the air.
They say it's not ladylike
of me to stand here, and contradict.
The grind, gravel, and grit
was never for us.
It's not ladylike of me to even cuss,
to breathe too heavily, or talk too much.
As such, or they'd make a fuss.

They put me up on a pedestal,
made me a harlequin-esque puzzle.
They write songs of my beauty, my grace.
They talk of my body, and pretty face.
They made me a topsy turvy maze,
that cannot be deciphered and decoded.
A simpering violet, with my petals all folded up.
It's tough to take me seriously,
it's actually pretty darn ridiculous,
when they end up making me
sound tougher than solving Calculus.
My no's, they mean a yes
And my yes, is definitely a no.
My womanly woes
make for a gripping conversation
over evening teas.
On glossy magazines, growing up, I'd often see
pages upon pages of men trying to grapple my identity.
To them, I'm an enigmatic entity,
sent out only to be a remedy
for their troubling katzenjammers.
With bats and hammers,
they'll try to chisel out that perfect woman from me
I see the lack of empathy,
their attacks on my personality.

So I just stare with my floozy blue eyes,
smile with my rosy lips.
Smile and compliment
and comply
to their wheezes, whims and whacks
beating my identity blue and black.
I hold my tongue, coz ladies--
they don't fight back.

Author's Note

This is entirely experimental on my part, since I don't usually preach about any social causes in my poetry. I wrote this within an hour to meet the time limit. I think this style doesn't really sound as good on paper, as it does when read out loud.

"Ladies don't start fights, but they can finish them!"
--Marie(from The Aristocats)
Truer words were never said!!

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

well done says i! i like the sarcastic approach ... the dual woman created .. one on the outside and one on the inside ..social commentary is clearly delineated ..makes a man search his conscience ..or should anyway ... absolutely love this:
" and mangled mut hair.
....Hive mind... " and this:
"My womanly woes,
make for a gripping conversation
over evening teas. " i think they are sharp barbs that hit the mark and stick ... speed definitely picks up with the use of same ending words "...Iing" and "...ty" ... i assume that is part of slam poetry .. is it? ;)
i think you did a great job with this Moonie! and it still retains your poetic grace if i may says so! :)))))))
E.

[Onlyme]

Interesting poem it's true they do stereotype woman and how they should behave. I guess they do that with both sexes in general. A woman should be seen and not heard and not put up a fuss or get into physical fights as you said. Cuss like you said and such like. And men should never show emotions, cry or look weak. It's ironic and sad. That over time and newspaper and magazines and society in general have done this to men and woman. Instead of just being who you are in general.