My anatomy is political

Is it?

I use it to take up space

stomp in the supermarket

cry on the bus

I was afraid to be political

having an opinion

was like armpit hair

= not hot

Feminity is an artifice,

an achievement

My biceps are not artificial

And I don’t know if they are

an achievement coz I find them quite unfeminine

till I need to carry all these unmanaged expectations

Iris Young

says

“a space seems to surround women in imagination which they are hesitant

to move beyond”

Little girls

In pretty boxes

Brush their hair

Off their faces

whilst keeping their arm

firmly by their side

I see femininity lifting weights

She’s squatting

and grunting

and squinting

and spitting

strong bulky babeness

in a grubby t-shirt

Joana Joy is Whanganui born and bred. Her main creative domains are in performance: stand up comedy, dance and comedy cabaret. She uses poetry to capture moments in time and as catharsis. There's a whole string of performance accolades and experiences both sides of the Tasman behind her. Joana studied in psychology and philosophy, and is now doing post-graduate Creative Arts Therapy. She is an aunty and sister and yoga teacher. Amidst all this, she loves surfing, riding her bike with no hands on the handlebars, giant cups of English Breakfast tea, reading, crying in public, sunsets and cooking.