We Do Not Belong To Ourselves

Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. #endfgm

Therefore, it seemed appropriate to share this today, in commemoration.

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We do not belong to ourselves

From the womb, our fate is decided

Before we kick, our future foreshadowed

“She will learn to cook and clean”

“She will be respectable and smart”

“She will not be wayward”

“She will be a good wife”

From the womb, our fate is decided

Before we kick, our future is foreshadowed.

We do not belong to ourselves

Our dreams, aspirations, and agency are buried

No real freedom and the walls around us are rigid

Like our mothers and their mothers before us

We tuck the darkness between our weary bones

We paint our faces and plaster on a fake smile

Sometimes we rebel and try to fight, but

Our dreams, aspirations, and agency are buried

No real freedom and the walls around us are rigid

We do not belong to ourselves

Our bodies are cut, marked, and pressed down

With no regard for our safety, pleasure, or agency

A reminder of who owns and controls us

A reminder that we are not human enough

To exist without being subjugated

To exist if we do not play our exact role

We do not belong to ourselves

From the womb, our fate is decided

Before we kick, our future foreshadowed

Our dreams, aspirations, and agency are buried

No real freedom and the walls around us are rigid

We do not belong to ourselves