1. Your place is in the kitchen. If you somehow manage to find work outside of the home, it is because you fucked the interviewer. 2. You cannot participate in sports because no one will want to watch you play. Unless your uniform is a sports bra and spandex. 3. ‘You are not like other girls’ is the best compliment you can receive. Other girls are your enemies because they are your competition. Not in landing a job, but in landing a husband. 4. Homosexuality is okay in pornography. Love and marriage with someone that is of the same sex as you is not. 5. You were asking for it. Despite the fact that he was your friend, despite the fact that you were too inebriated to say ‘yes’, despite the fact that you were passed out. You were asking for it. 6. Wearing revealing clothes makes you a slut. 7. Don’t have sex because everyone will think you’re a slut. 8. The worst thing you can possibly be is a slut. 9. But you still need to be sexually alluring and available. Just not a slut. 10. It is your responsibility not to get pregnant and your responsibility alone. However, if you do get pregnant, you cannot get an abortion because that’s just being selfish. 11. You don’t want to have children? That’s not how things are done. You’re not living up to your role as a woman. 12. Being upset and cognizant of your feelings is a sign of emotional and mental instability. 13. Lose weight. 14. But keep your curves. You’re not a real woman without them. 15. You don’t own the rights to your body. 16. If you notice any discrimination based on your sex or gender, it’s better to keep quiet because you don’t want to upset anyone. Silence is better than making someone uncomfortable. 17. It is your fault for being born a woman. And you should be ashamed.

it’s been a year & i still get butterflies when he says my name. it’s been a year & we still stay up until 5 am whispering i love you over & over & over to each other. it’s been a year & we mean it. it’s been a year & i want to know his every thought, on every subject. it’s been a year & he still makes me laugh, every day. it’s been a year & everyone i know hates their significant others. it’s been a year & my friend tells me how she wishes she could just get away from her boyfriend. just for a day. how he suffocates her, calls her too much, always wants to do what she’s doing when she wants to be alone. or with other people. when she just wants to not be with him. it’s been a year & i ask her, shouldn’t you want to be with him? am i wrong? it’s been a year & i want him by my side, always. it’s been a year & the only place i want to get away to is in his arms. it’s been a year & my brother tells me his girlfriend is annoying & a girl at work always cries because her husband calls her fat & stupid. it’s been a year & he tells me i am beautiful every single day, even when i am not. especially when i am not. it’s been a year & we have nothing to say but words of adoration when people ask about our relationship. it’s been a year & people don’t want to hear about the good. they say things like, but doesn’t he ever do anything that drives you crazy? they say, what on earth do you talk about for 6 hours straight? it’s been a year & i don’t know what to say so i shrug, i guess you wouldn’t understand. it’s been a year & everyone i know asks what it is that makes us different. what it is that makes us special. it’s been a year & we don’t know, we just actually like each other. it’s been a year & we wonder, isn’t this what love is supposed to be? it’s been a year & i will never stop being grateful for him & i know without a doubt, he will never stop being grateful for me. it’s been a year & we are so fully aware, we are the lucky ones. we know, this love is rare. we know, we have to keep this safe. it’s been a year & he is my best friend. it’s been a year & we don’t keep secrets. it’s been a year & on the bad days we remind each other, we are a team. everything we go through, we go through together, hand in hand. it’s been a year & every minute of every day i love him a little bit more. really. it’s been a year & i know, i will write words just like these 50 years.