how to become a Woman
by Margot Ratchman
I. they expect you to advance from girl-hood to Woman-hood like a witch of soft disposition lures you to her cottage, rips out your soul, tightens each organ in a jar, pounds the rhythmic beat out of your
II. heart-felt notions? perhaps, but a harrowing population knows how inconceivably impossible it is to transfer your maturity in a moment. you see, the problem with such a hastily cut transition is
III. you are the sacrificial lamb — no longer a member of humanity but one of the “other”, one who fell off the platform and onto the tracks. a train speeds closer, closer, nearly touching your toes as you stumble over the metal parts. if (by some outrageous miracle) you manage to survive the incident, you will be carelessly thrown back into
IV. society does not have a mind for your excuses, your tears, your ruthless or suppressed speeches, your mind-numbing pain hiding between blossoming breast tissue. you must detach to protect yourself and to please
V. some have the pleasure of choosing their advancement to Woman-hood. the remainder receive one of two equally horrible fates: you may either stay in such a state of “other,” or become a shell of a Woman. only i have a secret! once you have dabbled in the fate of “other”, you can never truly leave. sure, pretend to become a Woman, nobody will care to stop
VI. you may not become a Woman, because you are still but a small, terrified girl.