Hey you, activist men, progressive politicians, beloved leaders,
You said you wanted to change the world,
and we believed in you.
But you didn’t include us,
except when there was work to be done,
or you needed a photogenic face beside you,
or you wanted to have some fun.

And because we loved you,
we’ve given you the benefit of the doubt,
that maybe you didn’t even realize
you were always leaving us out.

Hey you, activist men, progressive politicians, beloved leaders,
you said you wanted to change the world,
but always in the background was this myth
that women’s needs were less important.

For the common good, we sucked it up
hoping if this time,
we made concessions,
we would be next in line.

But there was always a “Just wait ‘til next time”,
and meantime,
we were good for stuffing envelopes,
cooking up potlucks and cleaning up,
adding our bodies to your demonstrations,
adding our bodies to your acts of civil disobediences,
adding our bodies for your entertainment.

You used us!
to give credibility to your causes,
to knock on doors,
to donate our dollars,
and volunteer for every monotonous task
you thought was beneath you.
But you never thought to hire us
when there was a prestigious paid position.
You seldom shared the stage with us
when there was success and celebration.
You never mentioned our names
when you were making recommendations.
Hey you, activist men, progressive politicians, beloved leaders,
you said you wanted to change the world,
and we backed you up with everything we had.

But now we know that we’ve been had.
So, to be honest, just between us,
you were only thinking of that half of the world
that has a penis.

We’re on to you now,
though it took some of us a while to see it,
to come to grips with the terms of our relationship–
We do the work,
you get the glory.
We do the work,
you get to grope us.
We do the work,
you get to blow it.

Hey you, activist men, progressive politicians, beloved leaders,
if you really want to change the world
step aside,
Enough with innuendo about our cycles,
our shapes and emotions,
we want you to appreciate our beautiful, brilliant minds
capable of moving mountains and oceans.
My sisters are rolling up their sleeves,
rolling out our blueprints for success
rolling over your failed plans and promises.
You can either walk with us, side by side,
or step aside and watch us pass you by,
You had your chance, times up, you’re out
we’ve had plenty of opportunity to observe
the flaws in your systems
and this time it’s not gonna happen
unless it’s good for me and my sisters.