I have always been an enthusiast of all things women. Since the beginning of time, women have been in an ongoing battle with themselves, other women, and societal standards changing as frequently as Donald Trump’s views on abortion. Recently I found myself lured with the words of a poet I discovered. Rupi Kaur is a writer and artist that currently lives in Ontario. She is known for using different mediums to express herself, such as writing and illustrating. I admire Rupi Kaur because she writes frequently about loving yourself and the everyday struggles of being a woman. Rupi has a magnificent, strong soul which can easily be seen through her posts. So what exactly makes her poems remarkable?
For one, she does nothing but promote the encouragement of women. In a society that pits women against one another, Rupi reminds us that we should be doing the opposite. “We will move forward when we recognize how resilient and striking the women around us are”. A great deal of us fight to show how strong we are, yet we forget at the end of the day that we are resilient when surrounded by other powerful women. With the rise of women fighting for women’s rights, it is extremely important that we are all on the same page.
She understands that it is important to have a relationship with yourself before you begin one with someone else. “You must want to spend the rest of your life with yourself first”. I feel like we often get stuck on being so concerned with whether other people love us or not, that we tend to forget that ultimately we need to love ourselves first. Learning how to love ourselves is what helps us show those around us how we care for them.
Rupi constantly reminds us that we are more than our bodies. “You have been taught your legs are a pit stop for men that need a place to rest. A vacant body empty enough for guests ‘cause no one ever comes and is willing to stay”. In today’s hookup culture it is easy as a woman to feel like guys only view us as sexual objects that can be used and thrown away when needed. Many women have been taught that their worth is equivalent to what they do or do not give up to men, but we are so much more than that. We have so much more to offer this world than satisfaction for someone who doesn’t even know our favorite color or why our sister actually is our best friend.
She reminds us that we are our own biggest critics. “The way you speak of yourself, the way you degrade yourself into smallness is abuse”. Ladies, stop degrading yourselves because you feel another girl is prettier or skinnier or funnier than you are. Nobody has the same heart. That is the beauty of this world, we are all so vastly different. At the end of the day what we really see is each others’ hearts. Why wouldn’t we want to focus the exquisiteness in each other rather than the outward aspects we can’t control?
Rupi is not afraid to say what is on her mind. “You tell me to quiet down cause my opinions make me less beautiful but I was not made with a fire in my belly so I could be put out”. I am guilty myself of quieting down because I was made to feel foolish for voicing my opinions or speaking too loudly over something I was passionate about. It’s quotes like this that remind me that it is okay to be a fire that cannot be put out. It is perfectly alright to be someone that cannot be stopped when fueled with enthusiasm. There is nothing wrong with being un-apologetically yourself.
But what I appreciate most about this poet, is that she will never stop reminding us that we have always had the strength to carry on. “What’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one, she’s already had everything she needs within herself. It’s the world that convinced her she did not”. It is easy to forget that, I know I do more often than I would like to admit. If we shift from this trend of breaking each other down to building each other up, perhaps one day it will take significantly less convincing that we are more than enough.
