As the one year anniversary of Trump’s inauguration approached, so did the anniversary of the Women’s March on Washington. To show that we will never give up hope or be silenced, protestors prepared to do do it all over again.
So on January 21, 2018, people marched once again. These marches took place throughout the country. In New York City, among the many speeches given to the massive crowds, singer Halsey definitely took the spotlight with her beautifully written poem. She explains that she chose to write a poem because that is the medium most comfortable to her, and that is most important when speaking about such a sensitive, personal topic.
(I have attached the video of her reading it below for those of you who haven’t seen it yet.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKddxONWn78
This poem, titled “A Story Like Mine”, speaks volumes at how relevant the issue of sexual assault is, no matter who you are; what your job is, how old you are, or how famous you are. The poem really captured my interest because of both the language she used and the emotion she poured into each word she spoke. Watching the video of her reciting it literally gave me chills all over my body the entire time.
Although I liked the entire thing, the most powerful part of the poem to me was when she said:
It’s 2017 and I live like a queen
And I’ve followed damn near every one of my dreams
I’m invincible and I’m so fucking naive
I believe I’m protected ’cause I live on a screen
Nobody would dare act that way around me
I’ve earned my protection, eternally clean
Until a man that I trust gets his hands in my pants
But I don’t want none of that, I just wanted to dance
…
I’m supposed to be safe now
I earned it
It’s 2018 and I’ve realized nobody is safe long as she is alive
And every friend that I know has a story like mine.
This portion of the speech stood out most to me because it shows how personal this story is to Halsey. Not only was she affected by sexual assault in the past, but she continues to experience it even in the peak of her career in the spotlight.
It is so easy to forget that sexual assault can happen to anyone, even celebrities who seem “untouchable” because of their fame. Every single woman has been or knows of someone who has been a victim of sexual harassment or sexual assault. This poem is meant to show those watching that she was affected by this issue before and after she became famous.
It is so sad that there is almost no way to protect oneself from sexual harassment or assault, even if you have body guards following you everywhere like celebrities do. This is because the most frequent cases are those involving close friends or even boyfriends and husbands. The worst part is that it happens with those we trust most, and it is almost impossible to escape it.
The portion of this poem when she calls herself naive really makes me angry though. The fact that she, and many other women, feel like it is their fault for not “knowing better” than to expect sexual harassment to follow them throughout their life is just so upsetting. Why should women have to just expect to be treated unfairly?
That is why marches and speeches like these are so important. They bring awareness to the wide scope of people that this problem reaches each and every day so that we can eventually find a solution.
