sister-hood is an award-winning digital magazine spotlighting the diverse voices of women of Muslim heritage.
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womanness: a poem film
There are times
When I’m browsing through the market
And I am struck
By my Womanness
It sneaks around the corner
Maybe I’ll see it
In the eyes of a stranger lingering too long
In the gruff holler of a street hawker, not even meant for me
In the song whistled by the old man watching me from the stoop
In the linen of a kurta
Leaning close behind me at the cigarette shop
In my fingers as they trace this map, looking for space
My Womanness follows me
Declares itself
‘You are Woman!’
My lipstick becomes a mascot for it
And so do the jeans that hug my hips
My breasts, my wrists, my waist
My… voice.
I cannot escape it
I cannot escape it.
The film features Aakaanksha Rao, and music by RW Smith.
Shifani Reffai
Shifani Reffai is a Colombo-based writer who dabbles with art, photography and film. She has an active interest in gender, fashion and media studies, which she tries to translate into her work. She is currently doing her Masters degree in Literature at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.