My silence is not my weakness

Scribbling my thoughts on this piece of paper because I am scared to say them out loud, what if I say what you don’t wish to hear, what if my words questions your toxic masculinity? Your soul ripping patriarchy? You think I am a doll dressed only to impress you, to be kept in your ego’s showcase besides your other winning trophies. You say I shouldn’t keep my hair short because it’s not feminine, you judge my short hairs with words that bring shiver to my spine. You say wearing a bold lip color makes me look like an attention seeking scarlet. You have million reasons for me to behave in public, while you act like an animal on the streets calling me names, travelling alone scares me because you harass me with your stares as if I am the prey and you’re the predator making me feel naked even though I am covered from head to toe. You say as a female I should always dress appropriately because wearing anything above knee length is an invitation for preys like you. Wearing a kameez without dupatta automatically gives you the right to judge me as a girl with no moral values, a woman with bad character, a daughter whose parents would be ashamed of her, as someone who has hundreds of flings and men crawling under her sleeves. You are liberated but still you keep me caged with your rules of patriarchy that never seems to disappear. You call yourself educated, a modern man but how I wish you understood mutual consent when you take me by force just in the name of marriage. How I hope you wouldn’t associate weakness with femininity, how I wish that you respect my dignity. Hope someday you’ll be the one holding the tea tray while I’ll be sitting in your place asking you questions that require zero creativity just to measure your ability whether you qualify to be my significant other. Hope someday I’ll wake up in a world that truly understands gender equality. Don’t mistake my silence for my weakness for I am confident and strong and when unleashed can bring you down like a thunder storm.