Pain is not Invincible

In my 10th grade world literature class we discussed poem titled "For the Women of Afghanistan" by Sheema Kalbasi. While an overall enticing read, a few lines truly jumped out at me...

"As I walk the streets of Kabul/behind the painted windows/there are broken hearts, broken women” (lines 1-3)

"Stones in the back of the line/their voices not allowed to come out of their dried mouths” (lines 10-11)

Through analyzing this poem I have come to realize that humans gain an anomalous sense of pride through obsessively stripping others of their right to truly live. As women, we are constantly grappling with the boundaries that society has placed upon us. Our broken hearts are not crushed by any physical force. Rather it is the inconsiderate humanity in which is geared against us. Painted windows call for a visible disconnect between ideas and actuality. Only certain aspects of a fabricated existence are able to be spotted. Meaning. those who think that they are "protecting us" are only promoting a lifestyle that is only partially livable. After all, how are we supposed to reach our fullest potential when we are not guaranteed the right to have our voices heard? We, as women, are forced to pay the dues for a mankind proven to be full of inequalities. Stones in the back of the line refers to women being viewed to be objects that are simply liabilities to society. Wrongfully silenced and thrown to the back of the line as if we were inferior to all others. Through this are we still not allowed to express our perspective and input? Perhaps we are immediately silenced by our thirst to liberate ourselves from the shackles of a deceitful society? Pain is not invincible and we should never try to make it out to be.