I am Woman

Clunk! That was the sound my eyeball made as I rinsed it in a glass of water. The left, then the right. It had been a long night. Asa's 'be my man' softly slighthered through the speakers of my bedside stereo.

"Are you hungry?" I asked. She nodded from her cage.

I needed to have a bath. 'Thud!' As my head landed on the table. "Careful.." I muttered to myself as I unscrewed my head from my body. Thank God, no blood this time.

I took off my hair. Yes my hair, haba I bought it with my money now. Then peeled off my scalp, opened up my skull and checked if my brain was intact.

I had to do that. Becuse if my brain was intact, all this would never have happened.

You see, all that we are as women has been reduced to mere body parts.

Unlike Asa I dont want to be your woman everyday. Did I even want to be a woman?

"Ahaan sister, your driving is bad oh. Stop driving your oga's motor anyhow now. na woman you be, you nor suppose dey drive sef" Said the lastma official. Now I'm pissed. I drive off.

It seems we women even in the 21st century still grapple with so much discrimination. Was I being too emotional about the lastma official? Am I crazy because I felt offended that he assumed that my car belonged to a man somewhere? Or am I just too dramatic....?

So Im here, laying in my bed. A beheaded body because the only compliment I got today from a man was "You have a beautiful face...". So I place my head on a pedestal above every other part of my body. No wait. He also told me I have beautiful eyes, so cleaned them to keep them pristine.

*knock*knock*

Its about time. In comes my dignity and self respect, looking really tired after a long day of arguing with men in court.

"Are you hungry?" I asked. But little did she know that at that point, I didnt care.
I send her off to the cage at the far end of the room. She'll spend the night there along with the others. The others being my soul, dreams and hopes.

I dont feed them tonight because no man has appreciated their beauty. They remain in the cage because I have been told that to survive in 'a mans world' I need to murder them.

"But they are a part of me" I whisper. I whisper to no ones hearing but mine.
I hear it. I hear them. Struggling to break free. To show me that they deserve a beautiful body like mine.

Its morning. Just like Asa, I have beautiful imperfections. But today, screwing my head right on, I put my body together. I let my soul in. My self respect and dignity stand tall, my dreams and hopes go before me.

You may reduce me to mere body parts but I do not reduce myself. That, that is what is most important. I've discarded that cage along with the unwholesome need to betray myself.

You know what, its my world. A beautiful world. And I am a tonne of Woman!

'DWN.