Zahra Jafarpour

The inspiration for this poem comes from my experience with dating apps. Although I’ve always had the option to use dating apps in the cities where I’ve lived, I never chose to do so. I believed in meeting someone in a social environment and getting to know them organically. However, after moving to Dallas, I realized there aren’t many other ways to socialize and meet new people without joining a dating app. As a result of this shift, the idea of getting to know people online and the need to subscribe and pay for access became more appealing to me.

Because of the name and logo of the dating app I’m using (Bumble), I compared this experience to buying organic honey online, a metaphor which produced imagery around sweetness and restless chasing (the bee), though also questions around organic marketing and originality. I chose six-line stanzas for this poem which finally taper down to shorter and shorter lines as the speaker becomes less convinced of the people market for love.

The inspiration for this prose poem comes from my memories as a teenage girl. Two generations of women in my family—my mother and grandmother—taught me how to embody beauty ideals and uphold a particular body image. They instilled in me the belief that any flaws should be concealed. They also encouraged me to wear conservative clothing while being more attractive, such as by growing my hair long. I used animal imagery (and how my body was compared to a camel and a giraffe) to show my family’s discomfort with my appearance. Over time, I realized my mother and grandmother were not to blame for these beliefs. Instead, I recognized that patriarchy and capitalism have perpetuated the notion of an ideal body and a beautiful woman across generations—from my grandmother to my mother, myself, my sister, and even my niece. As the poem progresses, I turn to uncanny imagery, allowing the body to expand beyond the confines of the dressing room and mirror. I now look in the mirror and discover I no longer fit this way of thinking!