my heart dreams of wild, secret spaces.

There was a study done where they got a man to harass a woman in the park
and then they did it the other way around.
Several stopped the man but they let the woman slap and scream
and yank his hair.
They asked a professional who concluded that compared to men,
women aren’t seen as enough to be a threat.

My friend’s principal from three years ago
took his kids and ran
because he kept showing up to work
with bruises put there weekly by his loving wife
and everyone told him to take it like a man.

Last week I listened as a guy laughed off the idea
that a woman could violate him
and I thought of an interview on a news show
where they showed a boy who flinched inwards
every time a girl touched him
because of the exact reason the guy laughed off.

When compared to men,
Women aren’t seen as a threat
so men feel free to take whatever they like.

Women aren’t seen as a threat
so no one takes men seriously
when a woman
breaks them open.