* * * * *
Male and female. Polarized.
M: Look how big he is! He's gonna be a football star.
F: Isn't she beautiful?
She's so darling dressed in pink.
(I wish it'd been a boy.)
M: Boys don't cry.
F: Sugar and spice and everything nice.
M: Boys will be boys.
Bang! You're dead!
F: Does Daddy's little sweetheart like her pretty doll?
M: Hey! Don't be a sissy.
F: Remember honey, you mustn't hurt their feelings.
Don't touch yourself down there.
M: How's my little man?
F: Act like a lady;
keep your knees together!
M: Come on fella, take it like a man.
F: Just wait till you get married.
(I'll be somebody
when I'm Mrs. Robert Jones.)
M&F: Bob and Jane sitting in a tree
K I S S I N G
first comes love then comes marriage
then comes Jane with the baby carriage
F: Mom, a boy at school keeps hitting me.
Dear, that means he likes you.
M: Look! Suzy's getting tits.
F: Mom! Mom! I'm dying! I'm bleeding down there.
M: Are you going out for football?
(Am I a queer if Idon't want to?)
F: I'm in love.
M: I've got to prove myself, compete!
F: I tremble when he looks at me.
Am I too fat? Will he like my breasts?
M: Pussy! Beaver! Tits & ass. God! I've gotta score.
F: Nice girls don't. (But I want to.)
M: Don't be a wimp. Nice guys finish last.
F: Nice girls don't. (But I want him to love me.)
M: She's saying no but she could mean yes.
What a tease. (Why is she crying?)
F: (This isn't how I thought it would be.)
M: Boys will be boys. (Why is she crying?)
F: I want to be loved.
M: I've tried to speak to her
across the gulf that separates us
but my words
were lost in the clamor
of the funhouse walls.
F: Oh where is Mr. Right?
(Will Mr. Right want me now?
Will he think I'm just a slut?)
M: Son, it's time to be a soldier. (I don't want to die.)
F: Someday my Prince will come. I'll just work till then.
M: This is your rifle. This is your gun.
One is for killing. One is for fun.
F: Where you lead I will follow.
(I'm so aware
of the silence
sifting in between us,
leaning against our ears
and mouths in heavy
banks, because
I've tried so hard
to hear a sound and sought
to move my lips.)
M: Left, right! Left, right! Kill! (I don't want to kill.)
F: You've come a long way, Baby!
(Am I really free or am I just easy?)
M: It's time to be responsible, a good provider. (Nice guys finish last.)
F: What a nerd, he drivea a Yugo.
That one's loaded. What a hunk!
M: Have my girl call your girl.
F: A woman's work is never done.
M: Beat out the competition.
Climb the ladder of success.
F: I'm a career woman.
(Why aren't my abilities recognized?)
M: I pronounce you man and wife.
F: Love, honor, and obey.
(I'm no longer myself; I'm Mrs. Robert Jones.)
M: My little woman's place is in the home.
(Why can't I support my family, the way my Daddy did?)
F: I'm the woman behind the man.
(Can this really be my knight in shining armor?)
M: Be responsible and provide.
(Have I been pussy whipped?)
F: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
M: Look how big he is!
He's gonna be a football star.
F: Isn't she beautiful?
She's so pretty dressed in pink.
(I wish it'd been a boy.)
M: Boys don't cry.
(I feel so alone.)
F: Sugar and spice and everything nice.
(I feel so alone.)
M: Be responsible. Provide!
(I'm so alone.)
F: You've come a long way, Baby!
(But I'm still alone.)
M & F: In the funhouse
we are, all of us, alone.