STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER
You say strong, you mean:
kick-ass
leather-clad
midriff bared like body amour
whippet-thin
manga-eyed
little girl-woman seeming fragile, vulnerable, weak when
– surprise! –
she is anything but.
I say strong, I mean:
like coffee
rich, complex
developed over time
a thousand different flavours
from a thousand different beans
savoured in all its forms
from double-shot-espresso
to frothy fulsome cream
coffee
not one thing to any one person.
You say strong, you mean:
invincible, unbreakable, impenetrable
polished steel
kicking it with the boys
just one of the boys
just another boy
just a boy
in a girl-suit
who by any other name would still smell
of testosterone.
I say strong, I mean:
a woman who breaks
allows herself to break
picks up the pieces
allows others to pick up the pieces
puts herself back together
with or without help
not the same way
never the same way
perspective cracks different each time
her steel is a chain
resilient
flexible
repurposed to suit each new place
each new person
each new way of being
herself.
You say strong, you mean:
independent
splendid in her isolation
cracking cynical
when beaten
looking good
when bleeding
secret trauma worn rigid in her spine
softened
only for the most deserving
that special someone
just a little bit taller, broader, worthier
than her.
I say strong, I mean:
like equations
unfalsifiable
their validity autonomous of approval
mathematical engines
that will drive the world
if ever the world will let them.
I say strong.
Are you listening?
Kirstyn McDermott is an Australian novelist, short story writer and sometime poet who generally works in the darker alleyways of speculative fiction. Her most recent book is Caution: Contains Small Parts, a collection of short fiction published by Twelfth Planet Press. When not wearing her writing hat, she produces and co-hosts a literary discussion podcast, The Writer and the Critic. After many years based in Melbourne, Kirstyn now lives in Ballarat and is pursuing a creative PhD at Federation University. She can be found online (usually far too often) at www.kirstynmcdermott.com
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