△ N A K E D N E S S △
From the moment I arrived onto this earth,
I was told that my purest form
- n a k e d n e s s -
was wrong.
That the
freedom I
craved from
the time I was
a little girl - when
the sun basked on
A L L my skin and the
cool waters embraced
my E N T I R E body -
was inappropriate.
“PRIVATE PARTS”
they’re called…
And no one
else should
view them.
The unseen.
The hidden.
(For some, these
spaces remain
unknown, even
to themselves.)
Shame was programmed into my body
and beliefs etched into my skin:
◮ men will not respect you
unless you are modest
◮ a woman’s purity depends on her virginity
◮ pleasuring yourself is embarrassing
(at the very best it’s taboo and
at the worst it’s a sin)
◮ no man will buy the cow,
if he’s already had the milk for free
Through taking on these beliefs as my own, I shut down my body.
My breasts were
bound by shame.
My hips were weighted
down by the heaviness of
the repressed feminine collective.
My yoni was dammed
by the hymen of religiosity.
I oscillated back and forth
between desire and shame.
Sovereignty and property.
Until…one day,
I removed the cloaks
of feminine suppression,
embracing my nakedness once more.
Giving my body permission to
move freely through the world.
Not for a man’s viewing pleasure,
but for M Y S E L F - so that she may
be free *and* invite sisters to do the same.
