The Double Standard
A poem based on Susan Sontag’s “The Double Standard of Aging.” To be read both forwards and backwards.
Beauty
Is
Pain
Mama
Told
I
Nothing else matters
If
You can’t find
A guy
Don’t focus on
Your plan
That undermines
The man
Forget
The city
Stick with
Pretty, girls!
To Buy
The products
We become
Youthful again
To be feminine is to be
Nice
Otherwise
He won’t find you
Or have strong interests or ask
Away
To turn
Men’s desires
From
Being resistant
To be helpless
Is
To be a lady
And our joy should never stay
Hidden
Keep our years
And
Just hold on
The only way to succeed is to
Keep believing
But we
Know this to be true
Sorry, women.
The girls
Say
I can
Look like the models
We’re not supposed to
Change
The
Leading
Scientists & artists are
Collaborating
Novelty with experience
Erasing
The fine line
For it is
Common wisdom for all
Aging enhances
A man
But progressively destroys
A woman