INNOCENT | inǝsǝnt

• (adj): lacking or reflecting a lack of sophistication, guile, or self-consciousness

  1. Before she knew what the word “objectification” meant, she thought that boys talked to her because they wanted to be her friend. She was shy when they approached her, unknowingly catering to their desire for a meeker partner—too focused on hiding the blush in her face and speaking smoothly to notice that they weren’t really listening to her at all, that their eyes weren’t looking into hers. She never imagined that anyone would look at her and see something worth wanting.

  2. She believed the youth leaders at church when they insisted that her body was a gift to the one lucky man who would one day claim her as the great love of his life. She was naïve enough to believe that she could only ever fall in love with a man.

  3. She tricked herself into believing that she loved the violin, when in reality, she loved the awestruck approval she received when she played the violin.

  4. In her college history class, she thought that the reason people were surprised when she spoke was because she was usually quiet. She didn’t know that they weren’t expecting fluent English to come from the lips of an Asian girl.