Page 11 - Contrast1984v26

YES, BUT MUST I MARRY?

MUST I MARRY?
Must I
marry
my body?
Shall I
be
the bride
or groom?

Take it to bed.
lie beside
the pain ...

As a bride I
in a white
nightgown.

Only, being broken
there'd be no break'l.ng in.

LyYlvt S;ULOYlgiYl

God, I hate reading old letters, don't you? Especially the

Ones from oId high school suffragettes who are now perfectly
content· ln th'elr Better Homes and Garden eXl.s.tence. Sometlmes ...
could you hand me that slip, please? Thanks ...sometimes they '11
stick l.n an invitation to a tupperware party or an article from
Good Housekeeping about a new jello mold. Honestly, it makes my
stomach weak to think of them now. We used to be so radical! ...
how am I going to wear my hair with this? ..oh, we used to correct

every teacher who called us "girls", boycott soap operas, and
devote all of our extra time to angry pieces of feminist theatre.

And now--well, I guess their apron strings are tied just a little
n

too tight'....what do you think, pearl earrings or diamo ds?..··
Perhaps it began in Spring--Spring was in progress and I was in
decomp OSl.t.lon. Such changes of the seasons. I felt like I had
noth'lng out there, you know? There was a fall back, though.