Girlhood (In honor of International Women's Day)

I love being a girl 

but I hate what it took

for me to be able to go to school

for me to know I will be able to vote

for me to know that I will be allowed to get a job when I grow older

for me to dream of being a doctor

and know that it could really happen

I love being a girl

but I'm grateful I wasn't one in the 1900s

when woman couldn't vote

or be in charge of their own money

I love that woman fought for girls like me

but I hate that they had to

I hate that people as old as my grandma 

couldn't own land

if they didn't have a husband

like not having a man in your life made you somehow less worthy

I hate that we still haven't had a woman president

and that we still get paid less

and I hope that when I am as old as my grandma 

my grandchildren will be thinking about how far women have come

since I was a child

and hope that they don't have to worry about men

like so many women still do

and I know 

that I will never forget the woman

that made it possible for me 

to love being a girl