To Rape Pop Culture

To Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich
For not releasing Kesha from her contract with Sony
Thank you for reminding us that money is more important than our safety

To Sony
For making her work with her rapist
Thank you for reminding us we are property not people

To Return of Kings
For your campaign that rape should be legal on private property
Thank you for reminding me that when I was silent on his couch and said no
In his bed
That it didn’t count

To Twitter
For coming to the defense of Bill Cosby
Thank you for reminding us that it doesn’t matter if it one account or sixty
We’re not worth believing

To DC Comics
For bringing back The Killing Joke
Thank you for reminding us our trauma is only important in relation to a man’s tragedy

To Judge Aaron Persky
For only giving the Stanford Rapist a 6 month sentence
Thank you for reminding us their future is more important than ours

To the media
To Hollywood
To social networks

Rape is not a joke
Nothing is funny about having your safety literally stripped away

It is not a plot device
We are not stronger because of this but in spite of it

Survivor is not just a game show

We are here
We are real
We’re not the liars
You are

By Ry Irene

Biography:

Ry Irene is a queer non-binary slam poet that calls Utah home, seven states later. Ze was a member of the 2015 Salt City Slam Team as well as a member of the 2014 and 2015 Westminster College Union Poetry Slam teams. Ry has also competed in Individual World Poetry Slam 2014 and Women of the World Poetry Slam 2016 as a storm poet. Ze has self-published a chapbook entitled “Keep My Out of Your Art, I’ll Keep You Out of Mine”. Ry is a Scorpio, enjoys long walks on the beach, bubble baths, and dismantling the patriarchy and gender norms.