All Nonfiction
- Bullying
- Books
- Academic
- Author Interviews
- Celebrity interviews
- College Articles
- College Essays
- Educator of the Year
- Heroes
- Interviews
- Memoir
- Personal Experience
- Sports
- Travel & Culture
All Opinions
- Bullying
- Current Events / Politics
- Discrimination
- Drugs / Alcohol / Smoking
- Entertainment / Celebrities
- Environment
- Love / Relationships
- Movies / Music / TV
- Pop Culture / Trends
- School / College
- Social Issues / Civics
- Spirituality / Religion
- Sports / Hobbies
All Hot Topics
- Bullying
- Community Service
- Environment
- Health
- Letters to the Editor
- Pride & Prejudice
- What Matters
- Back
Summer Guide
- Program Links
- Program Reviews
- Back
College Guide
- College Links
- College Reviews
- College Essays
- College Articles
- Back
Division
Prophase
To imagine how selfish you were
Wishing to have broken limbs
Snap like celery
For a cool pink cast
For what?
To have perfect little Matthew
Validate your worth
You didn’t even get the hype
We like boys now?
Slowly you convinced yourself though
Boys determine your beauty
Boys determine your worth
Boys afterall
Get it all
Metaphase
So you gave it a try
Tried to look
How they wanted you to
Because boys choose pretty
And pretty means worth
Right?
Anaphase
You were so interesting
Too bad you’re not anymore
Who else would watch
Videos on cerebral palsy for fun
Now you collect dust inside
Just as your homework does on your desk
But hey
At least you’re pretty
At least
you
have
worth
Telophase
Over the years
You realize your faults
Now it’s girl power
And independence
Cause that’s pretty
That’s worth
But you see
After years of lying to yourself
After years of making yourself believe
You know.
You
Can’t
Teach
An old dog
New tricks
Similar Articles
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
This article has 0 comments.
This piece is about a girl who grows to crave male validation from a young age, resulting in self-worth issues during her adolescence. She quickly learns that boys have it "better" than girls in this world, and to have "worth" or "beauty", they must find her pretty. I chose an unconventional way of representing the girl straying from her true self, through the phases of cell division, because as she grows up, she divides into two beings similar to a cell. This process symbolizes the two versions of herself that exist: one the naive child, and the other the young adult who is now experiencing low self-worth from craving male attention growing up. Towards the end of the piece, I describe the recently rekindled awareness of the importance of self-esteem in girls. Although it has always been crucial in our society, it was often overlooked in the past. Now that "confidence is beautiful" and "girl power" is trendy, people have been paying more attention to it. However, due to many girls' upbringings, they have deep-rooted insecurity and issues with feeling validation from simply themselves. "You can't teach a new dog old tricks" is a well-known cliche that encapsulated the issue effectively.