The Male Gaze

You're staring at me from across the room and it’s okay because I want you to.

I wore this so that I look the way I do now, the way that makes you stare at me.

I don’t know if it’s the low cut shirt that makes your imagination run wild or the jeans that I am wearing that make my legs look just the way I want them, or just the way you want them.

Not too big but not stick thin either. I’m supposed to have a thigh gap and a big butt, it’s almost impossible to achieve. It’s almost impossible to please everyone in the room but these jeans make you look at me the way you do.

Maybe it’s the way I’ve curated my hair to fall in a way that frames my face. The face I was told was just a little bit too chubby for liking when I was younger. Or maybe it’s the new mascara that I tried. The packaging said it would make me hot and maybe it did because it’s making you look at me the way you are now.

It could be the way I look effortlessly put together but it took me hours, 2 drinks, and my anxiety medication to look the way that makes you look at me

It could be the way I am smiling but that took years of braces and bullying in order to achieve. It could be the way I am laughing with my friends despite truly wanting to go home. 

You haven’t even talked to me yet you are looking at me the way you are now.