("Who Will Watch Over Me")
- Mama says you're a pretty girl,
you're my angel,
my baby,
my star,
my world.
But if this is true mama,
if this is fact,
then why do say such hurtful comments to me?
How can you do me like that?
"You look like a slut in that dress."
"Those yoga pants say that you want much more."
"And if you leave my house looking like that,
"everyone will think that you're just another loose girl."
But why should I care mama?
Why should what they think matter?
Because nothing hurts me more
than to hear you point out that my thighs have gotten fatter
or that being a sexual person makes me a bad daughter.
I'm either you're little good girl
or that slut who likes it rough.
But when I plead in opposition,
you say "Girl, you need to calm down and listen.
"You're just a little too tough,
"you need to smile just a tad bit more
"but not too much because then you'll look like a whore."
I either eat too much
or not enough,
I'm too thin or too thick,
too fat or too skinny.
But mama,
why can't you hear me?
I have a woman's body
and I will not apologize for that.
It's the body that you passed down to me
so how can you shame me like that?
These thick thighs,
these full lips,
these killer curves,
these bodacious hips,
you're the one who blessed these gifts upon me.
So how can you say the ugly things
that you do about my body?
These questions are not out of spite for you,
neither contempt or disdain,
I just wish
that you would take the time to contemplate
the words you're always saying
because I can't spend another day
listening to your internalized hate.
For years and years I've tried not to let it bother me
but I can't anymore because
women need to learn to live in harmony.
Divide and conquer,
that's how they keep us down,
that's how they hold us back.
They make you feel shameful for the skin that you're in
and see to it that we pass it on to the next of kin.
But that's got to stop mama,
we can't be about that life anymore.
I just want to love my body,
be a sexual being
and know that you won't see me as just another whore,
that you'll still be able to think of me positively,
that you'll be able to see me for more than just my body.
Mama,
you say I'm a pretty girl,
I'm your angel,
your baby,
your star,
your world.
But if this is true mama,
if this is fact,
I need you to stop saying the hurtful things you say to me.
I need you to have my back.