solid women by Eleanor (England, 26)

​I searched for solidarity for women
And was greeted with
Hundreds of perfume ads
How to be attractive to the male gaze
Effervescent clothes shops
Even
“It is of vital importance that women are beautiful”
I was confused
And altogether disappointed
Since when did appearance and appealing to men
Have anything to do
With the solidarity
Amongst women

​I searched for solidarity for women
And was greeted with
Disagreements
Arguments
Very little related to
What I personally thought I knew
as sisterhood
Have I been mistaken all along
Led into this false sense of security
That women look after one another
When all they really do
Is argue
And talk about men
And argue with those men they are talking about
And fight with other women about those men they are arguing with and talking about
No
Because I have experienced first-hand that incredible protection
So why is it hidden
In the media
On those search-engines
Sometimes
behind the green eyed monster
Perhaps because
They know us women
Are so powerful when we come together
We cannot be stopped
They don’t want us to get too close
In case
Instead of pulling each others hair
And
Clawing eyes out with long manicured nails
We kill you
With kindness
In a ‘together’ fashion

I searched for solidarity for women
And found
It was already there
At the end of my fingertips
Every time I hold my best friend
A costa shared over laughter in an icy car
On the other end of the phone
A text that says I love you
I am here for you
That pen pal you’ve never met
but are rooting for
All the same
The female icon in your favourite movie
That makes you feel 10 feet tall
The relationship you have with your mum
The most wonderful woman in the whole world
The relationship you have when you see
Girls being harassed on a night out
And immediately spring into action
Like a knight
With heels for swords
Or sturdy dr martens
And masses of curls where helmets might be
Or pony tails sprouting from the back of heads
Handing over a tampon in the toilet
Like a beacon or baton
Even when they were really expensive thanks to attempting to save the planet
And you’re down to your last one
Or an army of feminist soldiers
Rushing to form a virtual pyramid of back up dancers
Because one stupid individual made a comment
About the woman who happens to not have a vagina
I searched for solidarity for women
But I really needn’t have
I could have simply thrown myself off
A mammoth incline of in-jokes
hands that are clasped together
bottles of shared wine
And been caught by other women
Laughing and holding and drinking
In sisterhood studded hotpants





Eleanor is a 26 year old actor and writer from Sheffield. She had her first Chapbook ‘Ghost and Found’ published by Cerasus Poetry in 2021 and has been published in 3 anthologies along with and by Full House, Southchild Lit and Glitchwords amongst others. Eleanor is a playwright for the Sheffield Theatres 2023 Bank Cohort and has written and toured 2 autobiographical solo shows, the newest of which she headlined an event at the Leeds Poetry Fest with this year before taking to the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a regular at York Spoken Word Open Mic, The Cardigan Arms Open Mic in Leeds and Left Bank Open Mic in Leeds.