Content note: fantasy/horror violence, and plenty of it. Also some references to sexism, misogyny, misogynist violence, and some sexual content.

In response to this post on Facebook, from dating coach Jonathon Aslay:

How a Woman Becomes Irresistible To a Man… She chooses to set high standards for herself. She’s clear on what she wants. She knows the value of friendship before sex. She comes from a place of gratitude (not expectations). She is confident and willing to ask a man out on a date because she knows a relationship is a two way street. She demonstrates trust and respect by accepting him for who he is. She’s in no hurry to get to the destination. She can take of herself, she doesn’t need a man. She shows up interesting and interested. She comes from a place of compassion (not entitlement). Lastly, she knows how to inspire a man, because she leads by example. Did I miss anything?

Facebook feminists bring you: The Irresistible Woman. Part 3 of a series. All micro-stories reprinted with permission of the authors, credited and linked to (or not) as they requested.

DISCLAIMER: References to violence, death, destruction, physical torment, psychological torment, supernatural torment, world domination, eternal nightmares, or the warping of the entire space-time continuum to exact revenge on one sexist jerk, are all intended as metaphor. These are fictional expressions of rage and mockery, aimed at the impossible, contradictory, ever-shifting standards of female desirability, and at the barrage of advice given to women about how to meet those standards. None of the authors actually want to do these things, or think they should happen. No, really.

*****

The irresistible woman lies
soft upon the ground,
her body a quaking monument
thighs shiver-shifting,
perfect in herself,
the arch of spine
arch of rib
arch of breast.
red lips parted,
gasping at the thin air.
If you believe
that a woman’s life is performance
it is easily mistaken for
a forward gesture of submission,
an invitation not given,
but begging to be taken.

The irresistible woman,
you might hunt her,
an entry in your life-list,
another bird
in the cage of your regard,
but you would not know.
the truth of her even if you saw,
her magnetism
not a hunger for buttercream
or cherry tarts
or the flirt of lashes
against a reddened cheek,
but the irresistible flow of a storm
the churning of magma
in the bowels of the ocean
and to court her is to open
yourself
wide
to the terrifying elemental force
of another consciousness
independent of your desire,
a wild creature
that does not need you
to need her
or want you
to love her.

The irresistible woman
laughs at
you playing come-catch-me
with a wildfire;
she knows
you cannot resist the burning,
she smells the singe of your hair,
your blistering skin,
at the mere brush of her breath.

The irresistible woman
lying soft upon the ground
shudders with her own muscle-memory,
her own agony or pleasure,
observed but not there to be seen,
her body meant only for herself,
the arch of bone,
sweep of curving flank,
no invitation,
in the softness of her belly curl
potentialities,
curses,
wet fur,
the stink of copper blood.
The quaking of her limbs
the trembling of creation
a skin sloughed off wet with lymph
left to dry in the grass
a new self
self-created each day.
Her parted lips,
flash of white teeth,
she gasps
to give freedom to howling,
to tearing screams,
to words,
to herself.

The irresistible woman,
her body a truth
ignored
if you do not realize what a woman can be,
how some do not possess
curving mound and silken pelt,
milk and bee-honey,
how some do not bleed
except from the wounds the world gives
how some do not give birth
except to their own truth,
that they are women born,
known to themselves,
beings the world would define
right out of existence
hunted to the brink of their own bodies,
but beautiful
and full of stars
and irresistible just the same.

The irresistible woman
is not a good girl
who will make a good wife someday
a loving mother
to strong sons
or daughters who will
make good wives someday
and give birth
to strong sons
or daughters
who will make good wives
good girls
good girls.

The irresistible woman
is not here to birth for you
invite you into her body
please you daily
roll you up and take you in
or to be a pedestal for your pride
but here to live
to put feet in dust
bloody hands to brick
shoulder to the mountainside
here to unmake
the world
that made room for only part of them,
though they are whole,
though they have always been
and have always had to be
the strongest of souls
because they were told the lie
at parent’s knee
or the school desk
at the water cooler
at the end of a belt
or a fist
that they were weak.

The irresistible woman
loves women
loves them so deep
as sister or daughter or mother,
or perhaps
she loves them like lovers,
takes them ripe in hand
into her mouth
into her body
a simple love
slippery salt
and adoration of what was scorned;
however she loves
she loves without the necessity
of a man to love
or to speak love at her.

The irresistible woman
she is always behind you,
the liminal laughter
or screaming
or song
that sounds all the same to you somehow
inconvenient noises
to be ignored
too raw
ugly
real
to be desirable;
and she is all scars
stretch marks
top surgery
cutting
the tabled guts of c-section birth
or scars inside
from things endured but not believed
from the wounds of judgments made
from horrors.
She is not the silken being you thought
was made to be loved as seashells are loved
empty, frail, collected;
she has gall and teeth,
her gentleness her own to call,
her righteous fury scorned
with words like
selfish
bossy
stuck-up
bitch
cunt
whore
as though owning yourself
is not the inevitable result
of being
a force of nature.

But by all means
please tell us
what an irresistible
woman
is.
–Amanda Gannon

TO BE CONTINUED…

The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 1
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 2
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 3
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 4
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 5
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 6
The Irresistible Woman: A Micro-Horror Collection, Part 7