Svalbard - What Was She Wearing?

Is this too much?
Is this not enough?
If I don't cover up
does that make it my fault?

You have painted me
so the clothes I am wearing
speak louder
than the things I am saying.

And the only thing I can be
is a prude or a whore
“seeking attention”
and nothing more.

Showing flesh, showing flesh
does not remove dignity
Showing flesh, showing flesh,
does not invalidate me.

Why are we still being punished just for having a body?
Why are we still being judged solely on our clothing?

Showing flesh does not deserve shaming
Showing flesh does not warrant blaming

Why the hell must you ask what the victim was wearing?

Why are our bodies seen as a bad thing?
To be locked away
in a misconception of purity.

To be hidden like a guilty secret

This is my skin
This is the vessel I exist in
It is not a sin
My body is not a sin!