ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
(a poem for two voices)

You can't be what you want to be

Because you're a girl

You own nothing
not even your clothes

Because you're a girl

You can't vote

Because you're a girl

You don't have a voice

Because you're a girl

Do you dare speak up?

Elizabeth did.

Elizabeth Cady rode horses

Because boys did

rafted dangerous rivers

Because boys did

went to school

Because boys did

It's a pity she wasn't a boy
everyone said

She married a man who
believed in freedom
had babies
cooked
washed clothes

Change was needed for women
Elizabeth said

Laws needed to change.

Elizabeth spoke about
rights of women.

Elizabeth spoke about
the right to vote.

No

people argued

She's too bold!

newspapers said

She must be stopped!

As a girl

You can be
what you want to be

As a girl

You can own property

As a girl

You can vote

You have a voice.

Elizabeth was unstoppable.