It’s been a week; time to revisit. But if you haven’t yet witnessed actress Ashley Judd’s dramatic interpretation of Nina Donovan’s poem “Nasty Woman,” my advice is to sit down and buckle up. Your heart will likely lurch throughout the entire performance.
Tina Donovan is a 19-year-old woman from Tennessee. She wrote her protest poem after viewing the presidential debate in which Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a “nasty woman.” Ashley Judd performed the spoken word art on January 21, 2017 at the Women’s March on Washington.
Meet Nina Donovan, the 19-Year-Old Poet Behind Ashley Judd’s Explosive Women’s March Speech | i-D Vice
“Last Saturday morning, actress and activist Ashley Judd performed Nina’s poem “Nasty Woman” to a crowd of 500,000 protesters at the Women’s March on Washington, following speakers including Angela Davis, Gloria Steinem, and America Ferrera. Judd’s reading was streamed by NBC, ABC, and thousands of raised iPhones to viewers all over the world, including Nina herself. “I was at the march in Nashville with friends, watching it on my phone,” she says, “It was like a dream.” […] ~ Alice Newell-Hanson
“Nasty Woman” by Tina Donovan
I’m a Nasty Woman.
Not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in cheeto dust.
Not as nasty a man who is a diss track to America.
From Back to broken Back he’s stomped on, his words are just more white noise ruining this national anthem.
I’m not as nasty as confederate flags being tattooed across my city;
maybe the south actually is going to rise again
Or maybe it never really fell
Because we’re still drowning in vanilla coated power
Slavery has just been reinterpreted into the prison system
Black lives are still in shackles and graves just for being black in front of people who see melanin as animal skin
Tell me of a decade that didn’t have traces of white hoods burning up our faith in humanity.
I’m not as nasty as a swastika painted on a pride flag
And I didn’t know that devils could be resurrected but I feel Hitler in these streets
A mustache traded in for a Toupee
The Nazis renamed The Cabinet
Conversion therapy the new gas chamber,
Shaming and electrocuting the gay out of America
turning rainbows into suicide notes.
I’m not as nasty as racism, or fraud, or homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia, white supremacy, white privilege, ignorance, or misogyny
Not as nasty as trading girls like pokemon before their bodies have even evolved.
Not as nasty as your own daughter being your favorite sex symbol
Like wet dreams infused with your own genes.
But yeah!
I’m a nasty woman.
A phunky
Crusty
Bitchy
Loud
Nasty woman.
Not as nasty as the combo of Trump and Pence being served into my voting booth,
But I’m nasty like the battles women fought to get me in that voting booth.
Nasty like the fight to close the wage gap.
Nasty like conversations trying to remind people there is such thing as a wage gap.
Tell me that this is only because women usually go into lower paying fields.
So why did last year’s top actresses make less than half of what the top actors did?
Do you realize that the World Cup shelf of the U.S. men’s soccer team is as empty as Trump’s promises
But the women’s team has scored three World Cups,
In 2015, brought in 20 million more dollars in revenue than the men’s team,
but is still paid 75% less?
See even when women go into high paying careers, their wages are still cut with blades sharpened by testosterone.
Tell me why the work of a black woman and a hispanic women is only worth 63 and 54 percent of a white man’s privileged paycheck?
This is not a feminist myth;
this is inequality.
So we are not here to be debunked
We are here to be respected.
We are here to be nasty
like blood stained bedsheets.
In case you forgot,
women don’t choose when or if they get their periods!
Trust me, if could we would!
We don’t like throwing away our favorite pairs of underwear!
But men can choose to not have sex
And they know how to live without a full head of hair,
so why are tampons and pads still taxed, but Viagra and Rogaine isn’t?
Is your erection really more important than protecting the messy parts of my womanhood?
Is the thinning of your hair really more embarrassing than the period-staining of my jeans?
I know it seems petty to complain about a few extra cents
But it’s just the finishing touch on a pile of change I have yet to feel in this country.
So don’t try to justify our injustices with excuses that smell like your security when you’re walking alone to the bathroom
or your car
or down the street.
Security my eyes have yet to see
Their too busy praying to my feet
So you don’t mistake eye contact for wanting physical contact
I’ve been zipping up my smile so you don’t think I want to unzip your jeans.
I know you forget to examine the reflection of your own privilege
You may be afraid of the truth
But I’m not afraid to be honest
I’m not afraid to be nasty
Yeah I’m nasty
like the struggle of women still beating equality into the world,
because our rights have been beaten out of us for too long.
And our fight will continue to embody our nastiness.
I’m nasty like red, white, and blue bruises.
Nasty like Elizabeth, Amelia, Rosa, Eleanor, Condoleezza, Sonia, Malala, Michelle.
Our mothers, our sisters, us sisters are all nasty like history
And our pussies
ain’t for grabbing
They’re for reminding you that our walls are stronger than America’s ever will be.
They’re for birthing new generations of
Filthy
Vulgar
Bossy
Brave
Proud
Nasty women.
So if you a nasty woman
say hell yeah.
Amazing!! I loved it when I first saw it. To think a 19 years old girl wrote that! Something I’ll remember for a long time! Hugs ..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, quite unforgettable!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m a white male republican, but her poem says many, many things that are true for all people. I don’t agree that we have Nazi’s in the white house, but they exist in many parts of our country. We need to be vigilant and honest with ourselves and accept criticism and always try to do better. I think Ashley Judd doesn’t get it – ridiculous screaming and such an angry tone might be good for a movie part she plays, but not for really getting to the people. Who was she talking to – only people that already agreed with her, she was all about “self appreciation” and that gets us nowhere. To change, she needed to speak to people who don’t agree with her. All she did was denigrate a very meaningful poem and educate no one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for commenting, Charley. I agree that Ashley was preaching to the choir, but she really charged them up!
I agree that it’s important to have political dialogue with folks holding opposite views. Tricky, though.
LikeLiked by 1 person
4 shore. But, that’s what you and I are trying to do. And that’s what will get people to stay interested in following our country’s politics.
LikeLiked by 1 person
here, here to that!
LikeLike
well said!
i enjoyed being
a nasty woman
at our local march 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on AGR Daily News Service.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing, Green!
LikeLike
Hell yeah! Wonderful amazing stuff. This is what the world needs to hear. Thanks for sharing x
LikeLiked by 1 person