Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 15:17:04 -0800 (PST)
From: Ione Linker ionelink@yahoo.com Phenomenal Woman
By Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
and to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
Please send this to five phenomenal women today in celebration
of
Women's
History Month.
Did you know ...
* If shop mannequins were real women, they'd be too thin to
menstruate.
* There are 3 billion women who don't look like super models and
only
eight who do.
* Marilyn Monroe wore a size 14
* If Barbie was a real woman, she'd have to walk on all fours due
to her
proportions.
* The average American woman weighs 144 lbs. and wears between a
size 12
and 14.
* One out of every four college aged women has an eating disorder.
* The models in the magazines are airbrushed-they're not perfect!!
* A psychological study in 1995 found that three minutes spent
looking at
models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed,
guilty,
and shameful.
* Models who twenty years ago weighed 8% less than the average
woman,
today weigh 23% less.
Please send this to every woman you know. If you don't, nothing will
happen, but if you do, something good will-you will boost someone's self-
esteem!
