Woman Poem Subject

Women yearn for their voices to speak loud enough for the entire world to hear. Women crave for their voices to travel the nations in a society where they are expected to turn the volume all the way down. The world expects females to stay quiet and ignore the pain brought onto them from sexual crime. They do not dare stand up for what they believe in or discuss their experiences that bring them pain. Poets such as Ana Castillo and Lawrence Ferlinghetti describe parts of life that society often ignores. E. E. Cummings supports the ideas of Castillo and Ferlinghetti by appropriating a more disturbing mindset. These poets demonstrate the way in which women obtained a supposable way to behave and react to situations that have caused them harm
or have the potential to. Women follow specific expectations. Society presents the idea that they need women to act appropriately. Women stereotypically do not speak their minds. Poet, Ana Castillo, uses her poem “Women Don’t Riot” to showcase her frustration towards women who continue to stay silent about harm brought onto them. For example: “raped, beaten, harassed, which means every last one sooner or later; … we don’t won’t ever rise up in arms” (Castillo 26-32), displaying her frustration towards women who continuously listen to a society that says to stay quiet. Castillo develops anger towards the women who bow down to ridiculous expectations. She believes that if women stand united and fight together, society’s ignorance might fade, leading to a lower risk of sex crime. The world wants women to keep being afraid of what will happen to them if they speak the truth about the sexual crime being committed against them. Castillo wishes the expectation to remain silent would end because women continue to suffer from it while men continue to get away with it. She also voices the fact that if women do not start speaking up, sooner than later, every single female will be harmed by the crime in this world. Every daughter that is yet to come, has an inevitable harm due to more and more generations falling into the idea of staying silent just because society hopes for sexual crime to stay in the dark. Lawrence Ferlinghetti uses his poem, “The World is a Beautiful Place” to showcase life for what it truly is. For example, “The world is a beautiful place / to be born into / … / if you don’t mind a touch of hell” (Ferlinghetti 1-6), relating to Castillo’s display of a raging world of sexual abuse and sexual crime committed against women. While there are pieces of “hell” in everyone’s world, women fight for their “hell” to even be recognized. While Ferlinghetti proceeds to depict a world that is not as beautiful as people pretend it is, Castillo discreetly discusses the issues women fight against. Society assumes women will keep their voices low. E. E. Cummings uses a poem “she being Brand” to describe a male and female, both having sex for the first time. Throughout the poem, the female is described as a car being driven for the first time. She is objectified. He uses words such as, “radiator” (8), “clutch” (11), “gears” (17), “accelerator” (22), to describe different parts of the female he experiences this relationship with. Men repeatedly describe women as objects; they talk about them as if they have little to no value. The expectation from females tends to be expressed as the thought that being objectified is normal. There is nothing wrong with it. Boys will be boys. Our world regulates conflicting social norms, causing our brains to be fogged and overwhelmed with expectations. However, men wish for the world to view them as masculine or manly; therefore, if the roles were reversed, being objectified quickly takes away from that thought and the men might grow angry. Consequently, women do not want to be objectified, but for different reasons. The worldly view to ignore being objectified takes away important and delicate details to every woman.
The value of a woman seems to decrease more every single day.
Often, when a man objectifies a woman, he takes away her human qualities. He dehumanizes her. Once a woman does not have her natural human abilities, it becomes easier for predators to harm and attack women. Predators tend to have harmful intentions, whether it be to kill, rape, molest, etc. the intentions cause pain. As a man continues to belittle and strip a woman of her humanity, the attacks become easier. Castillo uses “Women Don’t Riot” to take a stand against the idea of staying silent when it comes to the harm the predators bring onto women by saying, “She’ll die like an ant beneath a passing heel. / Today it was her. Next time who.” (Castillo 56-57), relating the idea that when women are objectified, it should not be ignored because when they stay silent, the act of being dehumanized puts them in more danger. Castillo recognizes the reality of the women that die and the women that did not fight back and the women that stayed silent. She demands a change in the heart of women in order to allow them to stand together and realize that the absurd ideas to remain silent so that more women or young girls do not continue to die. Women that fight these battles risk other women’s lives by staying silent because if they rose above and ignored society, predators might be stopped more easily. Regardless of a presumption, women should be courageous and go against societal views and
wants. Women are presumed to look and dress a certain way so that the men around them are not tempted or distracted. Castillo uses her poem. “The Suede Coat” to describe clothing that mothers would not allow their daughters to wear. Parents commonly have the brief discussion with their daughters to be cautious of the clothes that they should or should not be wearing due to the higher risk of sexual crime Castillo writes accordingly, “the narrow shirts with high slits glimpsed the thigh / they fit your daughter of delicate hips. (Suede 4-5), describing that tight skirts and accentuated hips cause negativity among society because of the potential danger they automatically put themselves in. Frequently, when a sex crime occurs, one of the first questions asked is, “What was she wearing?”, leading to the idea that women need to be aware of the material on their bodies because if something fits too tightly or looks too short because men see it as an invitation to prey. Later in the poem, it says, “You never told, of course, what we of course knew” (10) emphasizes the idea that when women tell each other or discuss the topic of outfit choices, when they say, “you might want to wear something else” or “maybe you should cover up more”, the explanation tends to be unnecessary. Decisions on an outfit tend to become natural in picking a more “appropriate” look, “taught as she’s been” (Women 54), confirming that girls are taught certain ideas and certain behaviors and the way they dress is one of them. Although women should be comfortable to wear the clothes they wish, society uses their bodies to justify harmful actions. Women possess an adopted idea to have their lives together, their emotions need to remain together; rather than, scrambled.
Commonly, when a woman experiences sexual harm, the emotions that come along tend to be messy. Ordinarily, the insecurity and hurt causes them to feel dirty, ashamed, unworthy, etc.; thus, leading to society viewing and treating them as an outcast. Ferlinghetti uses “The World is a Beautiful Place” to exemplify the reality of our ugly world. People naturally convince themselves that horrific and disgusting events occur, allowing themselves to live their lives in a way that tends to sound more appealing. The life of updating awareness becomes overwhelming; therefore, society ignores these types of situations. He first states “even in heaven / they don’t sing / all the time” (Ferlinghetti 9-11), emphasizing the idea that even after the earthly life, the pain remains. Later, he illuminates the emotions with, “Oh the world is a beautiful place / … / if you don’t mind / a few dead minds” (20-23), allowing the reader to imagine a depressed and broken soul. In an instance of any type of sex crime, women tend to sink into a depression due to the pressure of ignoring the emotions they experience. Moreover, society continues to shun women who unravel emotionally and these women experience more pain. The world forces them to live behind a facade of a mentally healthy and stable woman who effortlessly tends to her stereotypical life of staying well put together
for the sake of her children, home, husband, etc. For years, women will continually deal with society’s screams and demands to remain hushed. Men take advantage of women; women ignore the significance of speaking up because of false expectations. Every woman is thrown into a pool full of crime and pain. In a world overwhelmed with rape, molestation, and sexual assault cases that are unheard of, it is necessary to change the mindset of current generations and generations to come. Poets Ana Castillo, E. E. Cummings, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti provide perfect examples to support the idea that the expectation placed upon women to stay silent in harmful situations needs to end because the crimes are not decreasing.