Slam poems every woman should watch

I’ve gone on a little slam poem watching spree lately – yes, I am a nerd, I know. But! these poems are incredibly powerful for a reason. I’ve put together some of my favorite slam poems, but if you for some reason don’t have two hours of free time like me (what am I doing with my life?) I’ve given you my favorite quotes.

If you consider yourself a feminist, or even if you don’t but you are a woman, these will hopefully resonate with you. Maybe something you have been trying to put words to is finally tied together into a string of perfection that you think should be plastered for everyone to see. Either way, here are my favorite quotes for girls who don’t give a fuck.

Heels – Imani Cezanne

“Listen, shrinking don’t come easy to us giants. You cant teach height, boo. I be big for a reason, I be sized to be seen. I am a prize, my heels are a pedestal.”

9 Things I would Like to Tell Every Teenage Girl – Melissa Newman-Evans

“Wear whatever you want, look however you want. You know who can fuck themselves if they don’t like it? EVERYONE.

“You need to hold up your sisters – everyone is your sister”

Ode to my Bitch Face – Olivia Gatwood

“‘Resting Bitch Face’ is a term coined by someone who was unhappy that women aren’t smiling literally all the time.

“How can you sleep pretty when there are four locks on the door and the fire escape feels like break-in bait… Bitch face is safe zone. Bitch face is home. Bitch face is cutting off the ladder and willing to burn in the apartment if it means he can’t get in.”

Bitches – Melissa Lozada-Olivia

“you-better-text-me-when-you-get-home-okay bitches, pray-before-the-plane-takes-off bitches, pray-before-the-baby-comes bitches, she-has-my-eyes-my-big-mouth-and-my-fight bitches, sing-to-the-scabs-on-her-knees-when-she-falls-down bitches, give-abuelita-bendiciones bitches, it’s-okay-not-to-be-liked bitches, on-our-own-till-infinity bitches, the vengeful-violent-pissed-prissed-and-polished-lipstick-stain-on-an-envelope-I’ll-be-damned-if-I’m-compliant bitches, the … What did you call us? What did you say to us? What is that kind of love called again? Bitches.”

Speak Like a Girl – Megan Falley & Olivia Gatwood

“Today you are in control of your own incredible body, today millions of girls loved themselves in the face of the world that tells them not to. And isn’t that tiny revolution enough? And isn’t that the greatest revolution of all?”

The Period Poem – Dominique Christina

“When your mother carried you, the ocean in her belly is what made you buoyant, made you possible… The body whose machinery you now mock on social media, that body wrapped you in everything that was miraculous about it and sung you lullabies laced in platelets without which you wouldn’t have no Twitter account, motherfucker.”

What To Do When a Politician Tries to Fall into Your Vagina Feet First – Theresa Davis

“You got no business being down there, if I wanted you down there you would have been invited. Now you want to try to tell me what to run what I’ve been running my whole life.

“I’m thinking if your God really wanted you in MY pants, he would have made you ME. If you wanna talk about healthcare or basic human rights… but if all you wanna discuss is how you think I should honor my body. You cannot DIC-tate who lives in my WOMB or who is evicted.

“And how dare you suggest I get over it, no matter how many times you say it there is no such thing as ‘legitimate rape’.”

Girl Code 101 – Blythe Baird

“We are the girls taught to survive by using our bodies as Swiss army knives. Calculated scrunched nose giggles… you’re so funny! Please don’t touch me. We are taught there is protection in being polite.

“13 when your dad says wearing short skirts to the city is like driving without a seatbelt.

“We are answering to guidance counselors asking ‘well… what were you wearing?’

“This is not female privilege this is SURVIVAL OF THE PRETTIEST. We are playing the first game we learned how to. We are the asses smacked by guys who made welcome mats of our yoga pants. We are easily startled… Who wouldn’t be? We are the girls petrified of the business school boys who learned to manifest success by learning not to take ‘no’ for an answer.

“Give me a city where my body is not public property.

“Give me one accomplishment of Mary’s that did not involve her vagina.”