The speaker lists the ways the world treats women unfairly, and she does it with open sarcasm. A short skirt matters more than a smart mind. Bare shoulders are "distracting," yet cat calls get brushed off as compliments. Tampons are priced like luxuries. Violence against women is excused as a way of teaching them "their place," and the poem turns to children in Nigeria to widen its view of suffering. The mood is angry and impatient, with a bitter edge in lines like "Oh poor you."
The second half turns on the listener. The speaker accuses them of wondering why women and children are so guarded, when the answer is already laid out. Then she asks whether they have ever questioned the world themselves. She says she has, and that the answer isn't what they expect. The ending is deliberately open, which leaves the reader unsettled and a little challenged rather than comforted.