TCF - Does This Offend You? Speech
Written by Jahra Bender and Shaquille Ramos.
Performed by Shaquille Ramos.
(Shaquille walks in, takes off her shirt, and stands in her bra)
Does this offend you? Are you uncomfortable? Why? I see guys wearing no shirts all the time, so why is it wrong for me? Females have always been seen as less than their male counterparts, but boys – do you really know what it’s like for a girl? Madonna has said that girls can wear shirts and cut their hair short, cos it’s ok for a girl to look like a boy, but for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, cos being a girl is degrading. Madonna is one of many artists who have based their career and/or personas on being open-minded toward both genders...
In mainstream media and pop culture, men are allowed to be physically confident, sexual and blatantly explicit but as soon as strong females come along like Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cher and Janis Joplin, they are immediately condemned for doing the exact same thing as their male counterparts. Is this fair? This speech is not me trying to force my opinion on you. I’m not trying to tell you how to live. I’m showing you how I live and you can take what you want from it. This is not a sexist speech. This is not a feminist speech. This is not a lesbian speech. This is not an anti-men speech. THIS IS A HUMAN RIGHTS SPEECH.
Throughout the known history of the human race, women have always been of a lesser value than men. Usually women were expected to fulfil the role of mother or housewife and were rarely seen in any position of power, with the queen as an exception. Wars have always been started due to the greed of a man whether it was due to material wealth or a woman. Manmade society imposes these roles upon women in an attempt to keep them restrained and controlled – just like this bra I am wearing; designed to keep my breasts restrained and controlled.
In indigenous cultures bras are not an essential item. In these cultures females are not ashamed of their body. In the 60s, various groups of women would burn their bras in act of protest to express their newfound sexual and political freedom. So why am I frowned upon for thinking that I am equal to a guy? Half the guys at this school have bigger boobs than me anyway yet they’re allowed to walk around with no shirts on. Is that fair?
Is this just because I have breasts? Do my breasts define me? Does my vagina define me? What defines me as a female? Sure, these things make me a female anatomically, but mentally, spiritually and creatively I am not held back by my gender. Some boys who believe they are girls are also held back physically but should this deny them from identifying themselves as females?
In public, men can take their shirts off when the weather allows it, but when females do it, we are charged with indecent exposure. This is because females are objectified through mainstream media everyday. We have been defined as sexual objects put in this world to entertain men. This is not the case. We have been told that we are nothing but bodies to be used and disposed of. This is not the case. We cannot physically express ourselves freely without being condemned. And this is because society has shown us that women are nothing but a mere accessory, a possession, for men. This is the disgusting lie that we are all brainwashed to live. Have you ever witnessed a situation where 2 guys are fighting over 1 girl? This is not always because of love, but because of possession and territory. This is the sad truth.
When I first came to this school, I decided to wear shorts purely because I find them more comfortable than skirts. But as soon as I step onto school grounds I am judged – I am a lesbian, I am a dyke, I am a rug-muncher, I am gay. Is this fair? Because me and other females choose to wear certain things seen as masculine, it takes away from our femininity. Clothing items like blazers, shoulder pads, boots and baggy clothes also take away from a woman appearing as desirable to straight/heterosexual men. You associate us with lesbians. You find lesbians intimidating and we are intimidating because we dress like you. You are afraid of us ‘masculine’ women because we confuse you. We change your idea of what a female is meant to look like.
We don’t feel confined to the box that society has created for us. Why do you judge a female just because she wears a ‘men’s’ shirt or because part of her head is shaved? Why judge a female just because she wears a suit or because she wears boots? Am I not allowed to cut off my hair like a ‘boy’? Am I not allowed to suddenly wear a skirt like a ‘girl’? Why do I need to shave my legs and armpits? Why am I supposed to wear make up everyday? Am I not allowed to wear heels like a ‘girl’? Am I not allowed to take my shirt off, like a ‘boy’? Why not? Why the fuck not?
These gender roles are created and enforced by people everyday so we are able to hide and not fully express ourselves at the risk of being judged. Why are we being judged? Why do we judge each other? Why are we judging ourselves? We have to appreciate how far our civil rights and women’s rights have developed but we must also know that we are in a movement of change and that our work is not done. Your opinion is not gonna change unless you want it to change. There are many who have come before and there are many yet to come so our work as the human race has yet to be finished.
Women are creatures of beauty, admiration, femininity, masculinity, wisdom and strength. And we are not to be underestimated. Women have been held down for too long and as Madonna once said, ‘every straight guy needs to be emasculated. They all need to be slapped around. Every straight guy needs a man’s tongue in their mouth at least once’. Tupac also spoke the truth when he said, ‘since we all came from our women, got our name from our women, got our game from our women, I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time we killed for our women, be real to our women, try to heal our women, cos if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies that’ll hate the ladies, who make the babies. And since a man can’t make one he has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one’.
SO open your heart, open your mind, open your life and let change in. Respect the women around you because they are a part of you. And if you still disagree or question my opinion, remember where you came from – A VAGINA. Okr?
Written by Jahra Bender and Shaquille Ramos.
Performed by Shaquille Ramos.
(Shaquille walks in, takes off her shirt, and stands in her bra)
Does this offend you? Are you uncomfortable? Why? I see guys wearing no shirts all the time, so why is it wrong for me? Females have always been seen as less than their male counterparts, but boys – do you really know what it’s like for a girl? Madonna has said that girls can wear shirts and cut their hair short, cos it’s ok for a girl to look like a boy, but for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, cos being a girl is degrading. Madonna is one of many artists who have based their career and/or personas on being open-minded toward both genders...
In mainstream media and pop culture, men are allowed to be physically confident, sexual and blatantly explicit but as soon as strong females come along like Madonna, Lady Gaga, Cher and Janis Joplin, they are immediately condemned for doing the exact same thing as their male counterparts. Is this fair? This speech is not me trying to force my opinion on you. I’m not trying to tell you how to live. I’m showing you how I live and you can take what you want from it. This is not a sexist speech. This is not a feminist speech. This is not a lesbian speech. This is not an anti-men speech. THIS IS A HUMAN RIGHTS SPEECH.
Throughout the known history of the human race, women have always been of a lesser value than men. Usually women were expected to fulfil the role of mother or housewife and were rarely seen in any position of power, with the queen as an exception. Wars have always been started due to the greed of a man whether it was due to material wealth or a woman. Manmade society imposes these roles upon women in an attempt to keep them restrained and controlled – just like this bra I am wearing; designed to keep my breasts restrained and controlled.
In indigenous cultures bras are not an essential item. In these cultures females are not ashamed of their body. In the 60s, various groups of women would burn their bras in act of protest to express their newfound sexual and political freedom. So why am I frowned upon for thinking that I am equal to a guy? Half the guys at this school have bigger boobs than me anyway yet they’re allowed to walk around with no shirts on. Is that fair?
Is this just because I have breasts? Do my breasts define me? Does my vagina define me? What defines me as a female? Sure, these things make me a female anatomically, but mentally, spiritually and creatively I am not held back by my gender. Some boys who believe they are girls are also held back physically but should this deny them from identifying themselves as females?
In public, men can take their shirts off when the weather allows it, but when females do it, we are charged with indecent exposure. This is because females are objectified through mainstream media everyday. We have been defined as sexual objects put in this world to entertain men. This is not the case. We have been told that we are nothing but bodies to be used and disposed of. This is not the case. We cannot physically express ourselves freely without being condemned. And this is because society has shown us that women are nothing but a mere accessory, a possession, for men. This is the disgusting lie that we are all brainwashed to live. Have you ever witnessed a situation where 2 guys are fighting over 1 girl? This is not always because of love, but because of possession and territory. This is the sad truth.
When I first came to this school, I decided to wear shorts purely because I find them more comfortable than skirts. But as soon as I step onto school grounds I am judged – I am a lesbian, I am a dyke, I am a rug-muncher, I am gay. Is this fair? Because me and other females choose to wear certain things seen as masculine, it takes away from our femininity. Clothing items like blazers, shoulder pads, boots and baggy clothes also take away from a woman appearing as desirable to straight/heterosexual men. You associate us with lesbians. You find lesbians intimidating and we are intimidating because we dress like you. You are afraid of us ‘masculine’ women because we confuse you. We change your idea of what a female is meant to look like.
We don’t feel confined to the box that society has created for us. Why do you judge a female just because she wears a ‘men’s’ shirt or because part of her head is shaved? Why judge a female just because she wears a suit or because she wears boots? Am I not allowed to cut off my hair like a ‘boy’? Am I not allowed to suddenly wear a skirt like a ‘girl’? Why do I need to shave my legs and armpits? Why am I supposed to wear make up everyday? Am I not allowed to wear heels like a ‘girl’? Am I not allowed to take my shirt off, like a ‘boy’? Why not? Why the fuck not?
These gender roles are created and enforced by people everyday so we are able to hide and not fully express ourselves at the risk of being judged. Why are we being judged? Why do we judge each other? Why are we judging ourselves? We have to appreciate how far our civil rights and women’s rights have developed but we must also know that we are in a movement of change and that our work is not done. Your opinion is not gonna change unless you want it to change. There are many who have come before and there are many yet to come so our work as the human race has yet to be finished.
Women are creatures of beauty, admiration, femininity, masculinity, wisdom and strength. And we are not to be underestimated. Women have been held down for too long and as Madonna once said, ‘every straight guy needs to be emasculated. They all need to be slapped around. Every straight guy needs a man’s tongue in their mouth at least once’. Tupac also spoke the truth when he said, ‘since we all came from our women, got our name from our women, got our game from our women, I wonder why we take from our women, why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time we killed for our women, be real to our women, try to heal our women, cos if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies that’ll hate the ladies, who make the babies. And since a man can’t make one he has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one’.
SO open your heart, open your mind, open your life and let change in. Respect the women around you because they are a part of you. And if you still disagree or question my opinion, remember where you came from – A VAGINA. Okr?
