Shackled, silenced, stigmatised
Moulded, conditioned, accustomed, trained
Ideology or social arrangement?
An oft-repeated script, a familiar refrain

Glorified, objectified, othered
Glass-cliffed, placed on a pedestal
Bossy-bitchy-pushy-domineering
Saint-martyr-maternal-malleable?

Seen not heard
Chaste, modest, torchbearer of virtue?
Upholder of honour ?
Or a commodity devalued

Irrelevant, invisible, on the shelf?
Or in the first flush of youth
Stepping up? Speaking out?
Who’d believe the truth?

Taunts, jeers, ridicule, judgement
The shame, the blame
Gold-digger, power hungry
Greedy for fifteen minutes of fame?

Perhaps, in time, they’d fade
Losses, lumps, bruises, pains
But for the infinity mirrors?
Scars, bumps, aches, veins

Constructed and deconstructed?
Fear, violence, threats, manipulation
Tools of control
Oppression, exploitation, subjugation

Double standards and social sanctions
For compliance with norms
Maintenance of hierarchies
In any shape or form