Mae Dowling, age 16

New Jersey

I wrote this when I was fed up with how women are treated in professional and educational spaces.

Sick and Tired

Don’t tell us we’re the ones who need to rise up

Sick and tired
We’re never asked for our opinions, our thoughts are overlooked
You’re threatened by us, so you keep us down  

Sick and tired
We’re talking to an empty room, but our bodies are always desired
You demand our obedience, we’re objects of your imagination

Sick and tired
We do your job better, yet we are the ones who get fired
Why does our intelligence scare you? You claim we have none to begin with

Sick and tired
We’re expected to be perfect, but nothing we do is ever good enough
An impossible weight to carry, which you created but will never experience

Don’t pressure us with the burden of changing things we don’t control