Poetic Resistance | Jessica Hylton | TEDxLone Star College

Key Concepts

• Looking Up vs. Standing Up: The distinction between passive observation and active empowerment.
• Glass Ceiling: A metaphor for the invisible barrier preventing women from advancing.
• Female Voice & Silencing: The societal pressures to diminish women's voices and the act of speaking out despite them.
• Female Solidarity: The crucial role of supportive female friendships and communities.
• Gaslighting: Manipulating someone into questioning their own sanity or perception.
• Authenticity & Self-Reclamation: The process of rediscovering and embracing one's true self after societal conditioning.
• Taking Up Space: Physically and metaphorically asserting one's presence and worth.

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Introduction: Beyond Just "Looking Up"

The speaker, after being invited by Adam Key to give a TED talk since 2017, finally agreed. The assigned topic, "Looking Up," initially led her to consider the obvious metaphor of the "glass ceiling" and the idea of "smashy smash" (referencing superhero movies). However, she found this approach too violent and ultimately insufficient. She concluded that "looking up wasn't enough" and that the focus needed to be on "doing a little bit more than just looking." This perspective sets the stage for the four poems presented, which explore active forms of empowerment and defiance.

Poem 1: "Speak" – Standing Up, Not Just Looking Up

This poem directly challenges the traditional societal expectations placed upon women to be submissive and quiet. It details the commands often given: "Look down, girl. Cross your legs. Lower your voice. Let the men go first." The speaker recounts learning to speak with disclaimers, lacing sentences with smiles, and offering questions when commands were intended. Despite these efforts to conform, she was still deemed "too much" – "too bold, too sharp, too loud" – her voice unheard because others were "already talking over it."

The core message is about persistent defiance. By continuing to speak, a transformative process occurs: "your spine forgets how to bend. Your chin learns a new angle. You stop folding yourself into something polite." This leads to a powerful state where one can "crack ceilings just by standing" and walk into rooms "already unforgiven and already unafraid." The poem culminates in an actionable call: when questioned, "Say it again. Say it louder. Unsilenced. Unapologetic, not looking up but standing up." This emphasizes active assertion over passive observation.

Poem 2: "To the girls who kept us" – The Power of Female Solidarity

This poem celebrates the profound and often unacknowledged support system of female friendships. It paints a vivid picture of these relationships across different life stages. From childhood, it highlights friends who "held your hair back in your secrets close," passed notes, and offered judgment against those who spoke ill of you. It details the subtle, coded warnings exchanged: "He's not safe. She's not real. Cover your drink." These friends provided crucial emotional support, whether by "snuck out windows so you wouldn't cry alone" or buying "French fries and rage after the teacher called you emotional for having a thought out loud."

As these girls grow into women, their support continues, manifesting in actions like walking friends out of bars with "keys between their knuckles" or sending "good texts" before they're even needed. They remember personal preferences and offer comfort when one's voice is "cracking under the weight of everything else." The poem acknowledges the women "who told you to rest, who meant it, who showed up, who held the line when you couldn't yourself." The powerful conclusion attributes immense strength to these relationships, stating, "They were holding up the whole damn sky," underscoring the vital, foundational role of female solidarity.

Poem 3: "Did you hear her?" – The Invalidation of Women's Voices

This poem addresses the frustrating reality of women's voices being ignored, dismissed, or invalidated, even when they are actively speaking. It opens with the rhetorical question, "Why didn't she say something?" immediately refuting it by stating she had been "shouting for years." The evidence of her speaking is presented through various forms: "stories weren't already scattered across desks, whispers in bathrooms, buried in group chats with screenshots and timestamps."

The poem highlights the mechanisms of silencing: "they were so busy gaslighting her silence and quoting her out of context." Her voice was deemed "inconvenient, too sharp around the edges. Too emotional, too early, too late, too much." It describes how women learn to communicate in alternative, often subtle ways – "in footnotes and disclaimers and raised eyebrows in carefully chosen silences and no thank you when she really meant get the [__] away from me." The poignant irony is that she was not truly heard "until someone else said it louder until someone else said it smoother. Until someone else said it with a tie," implying that credibility and audibility are often granted based on external factors like gender or perceived authority.

Poem 4: "Spell for a girl who forgot she was magic" – Reclaiming Self-Worth and Power

The final poem is a powerful incantation for self-reclamation and empowerment, aimed at anyone who has forgotten their inherent strength. It begins with a practical, symbolic instruction: "First, find a mirror that hasn't lied to you yet. This might take some time. Stand there. Look, not for flaws, but for fire." This sets the stage for an internal rediscovery of self.

The poem redefines self-identity, asserting that one is "made of teeth and tenderness, rage and reason, grit and grace, and the will to bite back when they think you will bow." It directly confronts the societal pressures that lead to self-diminishment: being told "you were too much, so you shrunk. Too loud, so you whispered. Too angry, so you smiled like a good girl and swallowed thunder just to keep the peace."

The "spell" then commands an end to this shrinking: "No more. Now you rise with both hands up. Not to surrender, but to build." It encourages naming oneself "wholly enough unapologetically here," emphasizing that one owes neither "smallness" nor "silence." The call to action is explicit and liberating: "So go say the thing. Do what you were told not to. Laugh with your whole chest. Take up the space they swore was not yours." The poem concludes with a defiant instruction for when others witness this reclamation: "And when they see you taking the sky for yourself, don't explain. Just keep going."

Synthesis and Conclusion

The collection of poems moves from an initial rejection of passive "looking up" to a robust advocacy for active "standing up" and "taking up space." The speaker masterfully uses poetry to articulate the systemic challenges women face in being heard and valued, the profound importance of female solidarity as a foundational support, and the ultimate necessity of reclaiming one's authentic voice and power. The overarching message is one of radical self-acceptance, defiance against societal pressures that seek to diminish women, and the unwavering pursuit of one's full, unapologetic self. The poems collectively serve as a powerful framework for personal and collective empowerment, urging listeners to not just observe, but to actively participate in shaping their own narratives and realities.