I felt unsafe the other day as I was getting to know someone new
He demanded to know my body count and said the number determined my value

In the same breath he stated that he his intentions were to sleep with me… but hadn’t he just made it clear that me doing so would lessen me?

The definition of audacity.
I chuckled internally at the absurdity…
I think he really thought things were going his way
That is to say, he was blinded by his conceit
His lack of self-awareness was elite.

He never even asked if the attraction was mutual
as if I didn’t have a choice, or as if hearing no was unusual.

If that wasn’t shocking enough, he added insult to injury
When I asked if he ever hit a woman and he said I only slapped her a bit you see
I believe he had some excuse for it, but to be honest, I was in disbelief

When did being woman begin to mean that we are simply objects, tools, or things.
My Spidey senses were tingling, and I knew I had to disengage
my survival senses were on overdrive as I attempted to get away

And As he was spewing his hateful rhetoric aggressively, I had already shut down mentally.
I smiled politely and said okay
I guess he thought I’d have more to say

His disappointment with my lack of quarrel was evident.
But I’m not the type to get dragged into squabbles with an irrelevant regurgitating unintelligence.

No sudden movements back away slowly and remember if cornered scream.
But All those precautions followed to a T
still can’t always protect a woman from toxic masculinity.

Women around the world face this daily
Some get a chance to survive but a lot aren’t so lucky.
I wish for a place where my sex is valued as much as any mans
and a I don’t have to feel afraid because of an appendage I lack

I just want my daughter to know
That I helped create a world safe for her to grow
That she won’t be attacked because she’s a she
Or expected to fill a role
that she doesn’t want to be

I wish for her to grow up in a world without toxic masculinity