A strong woman
Does not need a man.
However,
That does not mean she
Is incapable of loving
A man.
No.
To feel his warm embrace
Is not to sell her purity,
Rather to conserve it
By expressing her strength
In her feminine grace.
A strong woman
Is her own keeper
To share her nakedness with whom
She may choose,
Whether that be one
Or many.
The men she is with do not define her.

A strong woman
Knows her place
Is wherever she wants it to be.
Her place is her passion.
May that be traditional
Societal roles of a woman,
Or her own free willed role.
Her place is hers,
Individually.

A strong woman
Knows the difference
Between chivalry
And disrespect.
She can swallow her pride
And gratefully
Walk through the door
He holds.
And delightfully
Hold the next for him.

A strong woman
Embraces all her femininity
In all its beauty
And ugliness.
She respects herself
As well as respects
Her male counterparts.

A strong woman
sees the inequality;
Sees the struggle.
She embraces it
With a fierce fighting fire,
Not with hate.
She opens her heart to the ugliness.
And with a driven force
Changes the world around her.

She brings out the strength
In all
And binds them together.
She understands
Blame and hate
Only perpetuate and demean
The problem at hand.
She gets it.
But won’t accept
Any situation
That holds her back.
She will voice and fight
For what’s fair and right.
Her own driven self is what
Gives a woman strength.

We are strong women.

Author: Morgan Ruiz 

Image: Martinak15/Flickr

Editors: Emily Bartran; Travis May