Here's to the Girls

Here's to the girls:

To the ones who learned, from the start, to be quiet and to be nice. Who learned to speak in "maybes" and "I thinks."

To the girls who learned to sit still and not to jump in puddles, to play baseball better than the boys, or to climb too high in trees.

To the girls who were told they were too tall, too chubby, or too skinny. To the ones who learned, at an early age, that their bodies would never be good enough, and that, therefore, they would never be good enough.

And to the ones who were praised for their beauty, who learned, at too young an age, that their looks were all that mattered, and that, therefore, they would never be good enough.

To the ones who were told they were "too smart for their own good." To the ones who were told they couldn't be good at math or science.

To the girls who believed they had to choose between being smart or pretty, between being successful or popular, between love and respect.

To the girls who were taught they couldn't be priests, ministers, or rabbis. To those who were surrounded by pictures of a male Deity, who never really felt they were created in God's image.
To the ones who were told they weren't funny.

To all the girls who were abused in subtle and unsubtle ways, who hid themselves and were never seen, who were afraid to show themselves, but wanted, desperately, to be loved for who they were.

To the girls who survived.

To the ones who didn't give up.

To the strong ones.

Here's to them.