To Love Pink

To be me

There was a time I wished I wasn't

I hate how my gender is seen as weak

I hate that there is expectation for how

women should be

I have never fit

And never will

I have never been skinny

I’ve been bald since 13

My body

rejects

My hair

Like a sickness

Like my peers rejected

me

For not fitting into the norm of what society considers

to be female

And even when I did like things that are considered girly

like pink

They called me basic

I love pink

But I pretended I didn't I wore wigs to hide my baldness And binged and starved and binged and starved

One more pound until I’m happy If I style it this way it will look more natural No, I don’t like pink

Perpetually trying to fit

Into the wrong color scheme

Always

There was always

This feeling in me

This feeling of wanting to break free

This feeling that I knew

If I listened

I knew it would mean change

I always dreamed of

Throwing off my wig

And saying to the world

My name is Sarah

I'm a bald girl

It’s my body

Flaws and all

And

I

Am

Not

Weak

I love being a woman

I weighed

For too long

If being free

was worth losing

It wasn’t until college I met strong women

Women who said the thoughts I had always been afraid to voice

Women not afraid to burn

Being around these burning women

Taught me I am not alone

Being around these blazing females

I began to be

More comfortable

To love pink

To be a bald girl

To disagree and not feel guilty

To be me And to love her

And the more I have learned to love myself the more I have come to understand that being a woman isn't weak

To be a woman is to have to overcome and to overcome makes you strong and that strength has made me realize that

there is nothing more powerful than being a woman