Strong and outstanding Political and Feminist poet, Adrienne Cecile Rich, captivated her audience with her true and soft words. She is a prime example of uncovering hidden struggles for more than one community and responsible for delivering so many eye-opening pages to read. The most stable way to describe her tremendous gravitational pull would be to quote the woman herself, “Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage”. She is a creative individual to me because of her courage with standing up for Women’s Rights for so long, and unveiling what should be in everyone’s line of view to begin with.
May 16, 1929, Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the oldest daughter to Arnold Rice Rich and Helen Elizabeth Rich. Her father, Arnold was the Pathology Chairman at the John Hopkins Medical School, with her mother being a composer and concert pianist before she married. Her father had always encouraged her to read and write her own stories and mostly poetry, gaining knowledge from his library that was stacked full with John Keats, William Blake, Matthew Arnold and more. Adrienne and her younger sister were homeschooled by their mother, after their father had planned to create a prodigy out of Adrienne, feeling very ambitious about the future of their daughter.
Adrienne and her sister were homeschooled until Adrienne was at the age to start fourth grade at a public school. She attended high school at Roland Park Country School, an all girls school for intellectually ambitious students. After graduating, Rich attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts; a liberal arts college for women. At Radcliffe, Rich zoned in on poetry and learning the craft of writing. While co...
... middle of paper ...
...Web. .
"Jacket Copy." Poet Adrienne Rich, 82, Has Died. N.p., n.d. Web. .
"Leaflets." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. .
""Neccessities of Life" by Adrienne Rich." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation, n.d. Web. .
"The Paris Review." The Paris Review RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. .
"Rich's Life and Career--by Deborah Pope." Rich's Life and Career--by Deborah Pope. N.p., n.d. Web. .
"The Will to Change." Goodreads. N.p., n.d. Web. .
High school took a toll on Aubrey, as many of her friends grouped together and decided she was the newfound spawn of satan- outcasting what was once a loving relationship with a swift “you can’t sit with us.” She then graduated in 2013 somewhere in the middle of her class since her freshmen year was not very successful. Aubrey’s parents began talking to her about colleges’ and when they should start visiting them. Aubrey, having experienced the process with her sister, wanted nothing to do with colleges, and avoided talking about it like a woman of 1666 avoided the plague. Finally, Aubrey and her family decided on Western Michigan University, enrolling her in the Frostic School of Art, she studied Art Education. During this time, her last living Grandfather began a steady decline towards deaths. At the age of 89 he passed away, leaving the Kounelis family the owners of his house in Portage, MI; which happened to be where Aubrey’s father grew up. Aubrey lead a peaceful life, trying to go with the flows of fate decided the path of her education. All in all, Aubrey’s greatest wish was to remain
Zoe Leonard, an AID’s activist and founder of feminist collectives “Fierce Pussy”, is the original creator of the impactful poem “I Want A Dyke For President”. Through her piece, Leonard expresses her desire for a presidential candidate who has gone through the same struggles as the people he/she hopes to lead. Leonard not only expresses the need for a candidate who understands struggle, but she also is addressing the injustice that goes on in our country. Her overall goal she hoped to establish when writing this poem is to create awareness of the consistent stereotypical “leader” that always runs for office. Although the poem is recreated by an actor, Leonard’s tone in the poem directed to everyday citizens and voters is not necessarily
Evelyn was born on May 1, 1924 in Washington, DC. Her father, William Boyd, had many jobs to help support her family. Her mother, Julia Boyd, was a secretary and also support her family. When she was just five years old, she and her family lived through the Great Depression which caused her father to have many jobs. A little after, her parents separated. Her mother had an older sister and moved in with her and brought Evelyn as well. She began to attend Elementary, Junior high, and high school as she got older. She wanted to get an education and want to decide on what her career may be. The high school she attended was Dunbar high and was aspired by two Math teachers, Ulysses Basset and Mary Cromwell. This was the start of her discovering her career. When she graduated from high school, she attended Smith College with much her from herself and her family. Her mother sis...
This investigation will examine a few key works by the anonymous female artist group know in popular culture as the Guerrilla Girls. In this essay it will reveal several prominent themes within the groups works that uncover the racial and gender inequalities in politics, art and pop culture with the use of humor. These collaborating artists work and operate with a variety of mediums, their works display a strong message concerned with activism connected by humor allowing the Guerrilla Girls to communicate and resonate a more powerful message to the viewer. The ways in which this collaborating group has employed many questions and facts against the hierarchy and historical ideologies which have exploited women and their roles in art. This investigation will allow the reader to identify three areas in which the Guerrilla Girls apply a certain forms of humor to transform society’s view on the prominent issue of gender in the art world. These specific ploys that are performed by the Guerrilla Girls are in the way they dress, the masks they wear, pseudonymous names of dead women artists and the witty factual evidence in their works. These are all examples to evoke audiences in challenging not only the art society which dictates the value and worth of women in art but also to confront yourself and your own beliefs in a way that makes audiences rethink these growing issues.
This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, “And what can one do?” This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ...
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality were dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had. In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient women, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty emotionless shell. In men’s eyes this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
In her article, Fuller explains how the current society constricts women’s rights in an effort to show the inequalities between the men and women. For instance, she feels that “such woman as these, rich in genius, of most tender sympathies, and capable of high virtue, and a chastened harmony, ought not find themselves in a place so narrow” (Fuller 741). Margaret Fuller explains that all women, even those with “rich genius,” find themselves at a disadvantage because of the society’s inequality. She also feels that the woman are just as “capable of high virtue” as the men, and do not deserve to be in “a place so narrow.” In addition, Fuller is aware that the women can “find their way to purer air, but the world will not take off the brand it has set upon them” (741). Margaret Fuller uses this passage to explain that it possible for women to have their ideas become public, but it would b...
Carnegie, Andrew. "The Gospel of Wealth." Mountain View College Reader. Neuleib, Janice. Cain S., Kathleen. Ruffus, Stephen. Boston: 501 Boylston Street, Suite 900. 2013 Print.
Images of women throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have both shaped women’s outlook on their lives in the workplace, at home, and in politics, and have also encouraged change for them as individuals. While often times women are seen as weak individuals that have minor influence on society, artistic evaluations and various writings throughout history have successfully proved otherwise.
One of the most influential writers Adrienne Rich once said, “She is afraid that her own truths are not good enough.” Adrienne Rich talks about women’s role and issues in her essay called “Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying”. She describes how women during the 1977 lied about everything. They lied about their appearance, their job, their happiness, and even about their relationship. Adrienne Rich is one of the most powerful writers, who identifies herself as lesbian feminists. Her work has been acknowledged and appreciated mainly in her poems. Throughout her decades of work as a writer-activist, Rich uses essays, speeches, and conference papers, magazine, articles book reviews, and personal reflection to articulate with stunning complexity issues of women’s freedom, individual identify and their roles in society. In her essay “Women and Honor: Some Notes of Lying” she articulate that women lie because of patriarchy and should be more truthful; however I partially agree and disagree with her statement. I believe that women today, in 2009 are more independent, self aware, and are careless about their surroundings and who they please.
On January 29. 1954 Oprah Gail Winfrey was born to unwed teenage parents in Kosciusko, Mississippi. For the first six years of her life her grandmother raised her on a Mississippi farm. While in her grandmother’s care she was taught to read at a very early age. This grew into a love of reading that she still has today.
Several people regard women as inferior figures in this global world. Women have challenged the traditional female roles and have gradually climbed up the ladder of equality. They portray a distinct perspective that proves that womanhood can accomplish anything they set their mind to and search for equal gender status. The poems celebrate femininity and highlights the traits necessary for a women to be successful. The ladies in the poems are female-figures that carry themselves with high self-esteem and fearlessness. This essay identifies various literary techniques that describe feminine strength in Angelou and Clifton.
Society has redefined the role of woman by their works thru poetry that has changed their life
Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She is widely known for her involvement in contemporary women 's movement as a poet and theorist. She has published nineteen volumes of poetry. A strong resistance to racism and militarism echoes through her work. The poem "Aunt Jennifer 's Tigers" is about the trials of an older woman in distress because her marriage is in trouble, and she is too afraid to leave her husband. The most clear point in the poem is the ongoing contrast between the fictional Tigers and Aunt Jennifer.
Contemporary female poets are a very powerful group of female poets that with their poems shows major events and issues in society. Contemporary female poets usually all have an underlying theme of politics, women rights, life events, and sexuality. Contemporary means living or occurring at the same time and some contemporary female poets are, Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Adrienne Rich, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks were all writing in the late 1900s. The Women Rights movement and the Civil Rights movement were two events that occurred during the time of the late 1900s. These two movements was heavily incorporated in each Brooks’, Rich’s, and Giovanni’s life and influenced their writings. Each of these women put their personal feelings about political issues in their poems, which makes the theme of their work politics. The theme of these three women work is different aspects of politics, such as women empowerment and women rights, and racial pride. “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” by Adrienne Rich, “Nikki-Rosa” by Nikki Giovanni, and “The Mother” by Gwendolyn Brooks are the three poems that each represent the theme of politics regarding women rights and empowerment, and racial pride.