In 2018 on the International Womens' Day, we invited anyone who
has ever felt unequal, unwelcome or unsafe because of their gender,
to add a tally mark to our wall. To let each tally line crossing across
others say that the line to our acceptance, our silence and compliance,
has been crossed.
The crossing of lines, that has hitherto always been the very symbol of
inequality ( ≠ ) , thus turned around to become our call for equality. It
became a manifestation of the sheer number of us who go through this.
And at the same time, it became a coming together of people, their stories
and what we can do if we stand together.
For everytime we've kept walking
eyes down and step quickened
For everytime we chose silence
voices folded small and dainty into boxes
too pretty to hold truth
For everytime we tucked and pleated them
carefully so no edge sticks out
who cares if the creases might never go away
For everytime we squeezed and shrank ourselves
into spaces too tight
so society could breathe better
For everytime we stayed in our seat, feet crossed
for putting a foot down might make too much noise
For everytime we chose to be accepted
by accepting not to chose
Let's stand together and let them know
THEY'VE CROSSED THE LINE NOW.
