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"The Type"

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Recently, much media attention has been paid to what it means to "be a woman," but often the conversation focuses on what it means to be a woman in relation to others. (Women as mothers, as wives, as sisters, as lovers... etc.) I believe these relationships are important. I also think it is possible to define ourselves solely as individuals, without comparisons or relationships. Women don't have to be defined by others. We have the power to define ourselves: by telling our own stories, in our own words, with our own voices.

The Type



Or windows.
Or mirrors.

Let them see what a woman looks like.
They may not have ever seen one before.

you can let them touch you.

Sometimes it is not you they are reaching for.



you can let them hold you.

All day they practice keeping their bodies upright--


admit they do not have the answers
they thought they would have by now;

some men will want to hold you like The Answer.
You are not The Answer.

You are not the problem. You are not the poem
or the punchline or the riddle or the joke.

You can let them love you.

Being loved is not the same thing as loving.
When you fall in love, it is discovering the ocean


Do not spend time wondering if you are the type of woman



Let the statues crumble.
You have always been the place.

You are a woman who can build it yourself.
You were born to build.