To Pandora, From Athena and Aphrodite (your queer aunts)
[ Image ID: Poem titled 'To Pandora, From Athena and Aphrodite (you queer aunts). BOTH: Pandora, oh, you sweet young thing. ATHENA: Born to be an evil of man, you were cursed from the beginning. APHRODITE: We're so sorry, darling. ATHENA: They will tell you that you can't be smart. APHRODITE: They will tell you you must be beautiful. ATHENA: Be an object for him to look and touch. APHRODITE: Passive, yielding. A warm embrace. ATHENA: I have been charged to teach. So teach I will. APHRODITE: I have been charged to give. So give I will. ATHENA: Pandora, my dear, to you I will teach weaving. You will learn to create one from many. To create with your hands. You can beguile with your flashing fingers, flatter with his story built in. Pandora, you have power. It's there for you to take. APHRODITE: Pandora, dear, to you, I give golden grace, painful desire, and limb-gnawing sufferings. This is not a kindness. I am doing you no favour. I am sorry for these burdens. You may think the gift of golden grace to be a reprieve from my other gifts, but one day you will find it to be the worst of them all. ATHENA: They have given you no space to choose your own way. APHRODITE: They say you must be with him. ATHENA: They say you must tempt him. APHRODITE: They say you must love him. ATHENA: They say you must tend to his every need. BOTH: This is not love. APHRODITE: Love is taking her hand and feeling her callouses against your soft skin. ATHENA: Love is brushing her hair because she claims you're gentler when doing it. APHRODITE:Â Love is her changing her mind at the last minute about going out, to spend more time with you instead. ATHENA:Â Love is when she wraps her arms around you and whispers softly and sweetly into your ear. APHRODITE: Love is when you're watching a movie and she rests her head on your shoulder. APHRODITE: Love is vulnerability. ATHENA: Love is strength. APHRODITE: Love is kindness. ATHENA: Love is support. BOTH: Love is everything. ATHENA: it's too early to tell who you'll really be. APHRODITE: What you'll do. ATHENA: Where you'll go. APHRODITE: But we know this much. We'll always love you. ATHENA: We'll always be proud of you. APHRODITE: There is nothing you could do that will change these things. BOTH: We know you're going to change the world.Each line that begins with 'Athena' is bolded, each line that begins with 'Aphrodite' is in italics, and each that begins with 'Both' is italicised and bolded. End Image ID.]
