INNOCENT | inǝsǝnt

• (adj): free from guilt or fault

  1. It isn’t her fault that she was born a girl, or that when her body began to change, she maintained the small, childlike frame that men want in a woman. It isn’t her fault that she grew up in a world that praised women who appealed to the male gaze. It isn’t her fault that she internalized the desire to be wanted. She isn’t asking for people to stare anymore.

  2. It wasn’t her choice to be raised in the Baptist church. She didn’t know that she was allowed to choose whom to love—or whether she wanted to love anyone at all.

  3. She fell victim to the allure of pleasing the people around her, and her family loved it when she showed off her musicianship at holiday reunions. Her name became synonymous with the sound of a violin, her voice lost in the stacks and books of sheet music. She didn’t mean to disappoint everyone when she finally grew brave enough to leave it behind.

  4. She didn’t ask to be born into a family that couldn’t keep her. She didn’t ask to be adopted from China by a white mother who couldn’t teach her Mandarin or Cantonese. She didn’t ask to be raised knowing little to nothing about her culture.