IKIGAI. “A little girl with big dreams”, “She wants to be an astronaut!” Instead grew up to be labelled, A ‘slut’ and what not. Too emotional and confused, Unworthy of leading we are; Our true shed of hard work and blood, Draped by one misogyny of being a whore. Been told to cover up time and again, To not look into their eye, But we all knew it was a lie When those hungry stares gnawed us naked Even when those ten layers were said to protect our pride. We don’t care if you think if our makeup makes us fake, We do it for our own damn sake. Then they say, “you should wear makeup more often, It suits you more”, Now tell me which of us is indecisive here? We don’t want attention, nor seek approval of our being from you, All we aspire, is a world where we wouldn’t only be heard When we say Me Too. -Amisha Nakhwa
