Like most of you in the room, I started life in the womb However, there was limited space: I was not aloon I had a twin sister with me, hanging around dizygoticly And ever since then, I’ve tried to see What makes women women, and me me My twin and I are known, in Chinese culture (and other parts)  Literally as “Dragon and Phoenix infants” This is culturally seen as a sign of great luck, I guess  Because New parents always say they want more stress The Dragon, the man, the yang, the force The Phoenix, the yin, the fem, grace, and of course The mix of Masculine and Feminine energy  Allegedly blended us together in perfect harmony To that last point, one person would disagree That person being our mother The problem with the dragon/phoenix analogy Is that my twin and I were adversaries And it made women “the other” Something different, something strange Mysterious in a way that’s difficult to explain So I’ll attempt to make my position clearer When I was six, I thought girls were ick Stupid and shallow with their thoughts Didn’t they know that Transformers existed? And those that did weren’t that interested So alone I sat and played with my robot cars As I aged, the situation changed and the  Hormones began to rage Slap to the face that hit like a truck Half the population suddenly sexy as fuck Driven insane, I’m shit out of luck Brain now sucks, can’t think straight Logic overridden, I cannot overstate How my life would now, for some reason (That is unclear to both you AND me),  Be fulfilled totally utterly completely If only for a second or three I could please please please get to see, your boobies Thus began “the objectification era” At the risk of being controversial,  and digging up memories I cringe at still My decade of sluttery taught me things that utterly Blew my freaking male mind. Like did you know that it’s okay to randomly buy yourself little treats? You can just be walking along the street and think “hey that looks neat?”  and gift yourself something to eat. Or that if you’re feeling upset, there’s nothing wrong  with spending an hour in the bath singing sad songs Crying and drinking red wine till the feelings gone Or that sex is more complex than what is wet or erect A synthesis of physical sensation, mental stimulation, And bodily improvisation, resulting in eleation Ladies, I swear you were my salvation! Now no longer the “other” or something strange (Whilst their are clear differences in how we behave) I wanted to say “thank you” for giving me the chance One, for getting to rub together our body parts But more importantly teaching me  That there is so much more for this dragon to see That my gender isn’t my personality It’s simply just another feature 06/03/[[2023]] ** This poem was written for a poetry slam with the theme "Man I feel like a Woman". I ended up writing two poems, [Man, I feel like a Woman (Unsafe Edition)] and this one. I asked my friends and they said "nice poem, wrong audience" so it never got performed. #identity #feminism #sex #masculinity