E is for Elementary Education

Second Grade, Math Monday.

When students went head to head
For the coveted title of Multiplication King.
There had never been a Multiplication Queen on the scene,
No girl had ever won, but I was determined to change that.

Finally, it’s my turn.
I’m going up against Walter the Whiz.

Ready to make it mine,
I step to the line,
Lucky pencil in one hand,
Determination in the other.

The teacher flips the flash card…hard.
6 x7=…
42, I scream fast and first.
But in the excitement,
I’ve released my pencil.
Spiraling through the air, like a missile it flies,
And hits Mrs. Wilson square between the eyes.
“Donna Jane Ison, you could’ve blinded me.”

I decide right then and there,
That numbers are dangerous.
I decide right then and there,
That I will stick with words.
Pencils that are busy with sentences and such,
Do not put people’s eyes out much.

For years, I lived this lie.
But, recently, I realized that as a girl,
You gotta’ get good at math.
Because, ladies, life is a numbers game.

We are judged by our weight, our bra size, the width of our thighs.
The number of sexual partners, the number of husbands, the number of children.
Hours spent at work –vs- hours spent at home.
Hours spent with a man –vs- hours spent alone.

To understand the damage that numbers can do,
You gotta’ get familiar with fractions and percentages, too.

80% - the number of women who will have HPV by the age of 50.
1 in 50- the number of women who admit they actually like their bodies.
$11 billion dollars- the amount spent by American women on plastic surgery last year.
17% - the number of congressional seats held by women.
1 in 3- the number of women who are sexually assaulted within their lifetime.
77 cents to one dollar- the amount that KY women are paid as opposed to KY men.

In addition to the somber statistics,
There is magical and malevolent anti-feminist formula.
No matter what numbers you put in the answer is always the same.
Allow me to demonstrate:

Subtract the ideal from your actual weight and age,
Divide this by the discrepancy in wage,
Subtract the number of hours in each day,
Spent on self-loathing, regret, and shame,
Add in the year you first came,
Divide yet again by ten.
Subtract the double standard in morality,
Add in acts of brutality…
That you’ve committed against other women,
Give or take a few and divide that by two,
And the answer is less than and never enough.
That’s powerful stuff.
I’ve called a truce with the times tables.

In order to stop the epidemic of conquer and divide,
I have to learn to add and multiply.

One girl + one girl united in the common cause of mutual advancement.
Two voices speaking out  x four hearts hearing = eight
Eight who are greater together than alone
Eight women, two hands each… that reach

To others offering support and guidance.
Sisterhood squared…
Until millions are standing side by side exponentially expressing
Their belief in themselves and each other.
Girls, we have got to get good at math.