Fairy Tale

In another daring escapade,
The princess claims the prince,
And he is hers.

Not unlike when she saved
Him from the vision of
Normalcy that resides
Amongst this (society).

The princess needs no
Prince.

He doesn't pursue, he is
Pursued.

The moral is not to assume
I guess, but in the end,
The girl got the boy.

Not
The other way
Around.


Maybe it's easier to write a poem about expectations and roles when it comes to relationships and 'ownership', but I think the whole idea of 'gender-swapping the patriarchy' is really fascinating when it comes to art. Perhaps it could even be vital for the creation of theatre and literature, because if characters couldn't swap genders without seeming strange, then they haven't been fully created so much as copied.

I also have spent a lot of time recently thinking about this idea of 'the guy gets the girl', as if she is an object to be won and thus incapable of 'getting the guy'. Even movies and books that center around a female protagonist have a tendency to put the male character as the 'owner' of the relationship.

Maybe it's because women (in the eyes of current and previous societies) have no claim to their bodies. They are merely there to be consumed by men and are sexualised as commodities rather than treated as individuals. I know a lot of men don't think like that about women, but some do, and it's incredibly negative and reductive for everyone.

I guess the point of what I'm trying to say is that it's important to determine if the things you say could hold up regardless of the receiving party's gender (and wherever they fit on the spectrum). It's also important to consider whether what has been said is reductive in its treatment of gender, because creating and following patriarchal conventions by continuing their use is negative to the cause of equality.