Do not teach your daughters to be ‘pretty.’

Do not entomb her in a pretty pink tower
and insist that only the degree of her physical appeal
may set her free.
Teach her to fight her way out,
to consume books and spit knowledge
to lesser boys who insist she is just beautiful
and nothing more.

Teach her to love her body
not to manipulate and put a price tag on herself
as a defined worth
she shall be immeasurable
she shall be more than this.

Do not let her break herself down
when the boy in kindergarden hits her
because he likes her.
What are you really teaching her?
Pain and love are not synonymous
neither are pretty and perfection.

Teach her to be kind
to be harsh
to be demure
to be wild
to be sensitive
to be thick-skinned

But good god,

Do not teach your daughters to be ‘pretty.’