Most critics focus mainly on Adrienne Rich’s feminism; however, she describes herself differently. In an interview with Michael Klein her first concern is with politics:
I came out first as a political poet, even before The Dream of a Common Language, under the taboo against so-called political poetry in the US, which was comparable to the taboo against homosexuality. In other words, it wasn't done. And this is, of course, the only country in the world where that has been true. Go to Latin America, to the Middle East, to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, and you find the political poet and a poetry that addresses public affairs and public discourse, conflict, oppression, and resistance. That poetry is seen as normal. And it is honored (A Rich Life).
Even Diving into the Wreck plays a more general note of individuality than of feminism; in the words of Judith Lewin, ‘In Rich’s 1972 poem “Diving into the Wreck,” the lyrical voice is that of a diver, who, as her body descends in the water, resists the distraction of undersea life in order to pursue her goal, both the exploration of a sunken ship and the exploration of self’(54).
Nevertheless it is the feminist side of Rich that provokes most discussion. Monica Fagan presents Rich’s belief in a kind of feminine bonding asserting that in her essay "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence" Rich argues that whether or not girls and women desire physical genital contact with one another, friendship and camaraderie can fuse with eroticism to form an intimate bonding among them. Rich suggests that this "lesbian continuum," as she refers to the bonding, has "many more forms of primary intensity among women, including the bonding against male tyranny, the sharing of a rich inner life, ...
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... which corporeal stimulation, the incitement to discourse the intensification of pleasures, the gathering of particular knowledge and the empowering of controls and resistances, are associated with one another, in accordance with a number of major strategies of power and knowledge ( qtd. in Halperin 258).
Rich also has concerns other than feminist issues. Piotr Gwiazda asserts that in an interview with Bill Moyers Rich comments that the title poem of her 1991 volume An Atlas of the Difficult World, “reflects on the condition of my country which I wrote very consciously as a citizen poet, looking at the geography, the history, the people of my country.” She was inspired by the Persian Gulf War of 1991, which on a different occasion she presents as the first Bush administration’s plan to turn the attention of the people away from domestic “anger and despair” (165).
I think from the attitude of the diver, he was suicidal. As he dove into the sea, he does so at a high speed and with reckless abandon, taking to account all the details of everything he sees as he plunged deeper into the sea. “swiftly descended/free falling, weightless”. He was doing all he could to forget about life as he descends “…. Lost images/fadingly remembered.” Initially in his descent into the ocean, the diver, having decided to end his life, treated the images in the sea as if they would be the last things he will see before his death, so I think he thought it best to savor his last moments while he had the time. When he got to the ship, he described all that was there. While I read the poem, I couldn’t help but conjure those images in my mind. The ship was very quiet and cold when he entered it but the silence drew him in and he was eager to go in, not minding the cold because at that moment he was suicidal and didn’t care about life. With the help of a flashlight, he saw chairs moving slowly and he labeled the movement as a “sad slow dance”. From this, I think the speaker is trying to point out that there are sad memories on the ship. There is no story of how the ship got to the bottom of the sea, but it seems the ship used to be a place of fun, celebration, and happiness. Now that it is wrecked and in the bottom of the sea, the
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
In this paper, I plan to explore and gain some insight on Audre Lorde’s personal background and what motivated her to compose a number of empowering and highly respected literary works such as “Poetry is Not a Luxury”. In “Poetry is Not a Luxury”, Lorde not only gives voice to people especially women who are underrepresented, but also strongly encourages one to step out of their comfort zone and utilize writing or poetry to express and free oneself of repressed emotions. I am greatly interested in broadening my knowledge and understanding of the themes that are most prominent in Lorde’s works such as feminism, sexism and racism. It is my hope that after knowing more about her that I would also be inspired to translate my thoughts and feelings
The. Bhavani, Kum-Kum. “Complexity, Activism, Optimism: An Interview with Angela Y. Davis.” Palgrave Macmillan Journal. Feminist Review - The. 1989.
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Hooks begins by stating that Feminism in the United States did not emerge as a result of victimized, underprivileged women who faced sexist oppression so much so they have internalized it , but in fact by bourgeois upper-class white women whose idea's of equality were far different. She begins this criticism with Betty Friedan, a leading figure in the women's movement and the author of the classic The Feminine Mystique claiming that the book ignored the difficulty and even the existence of non-white, poor women with the assumption that her concerns were harmonious wi...
“Let us resolve to think of transcendental mobility—as a mobile. The poem as a mobile of words and signs, dangled over the crib of culture, as to stimulate the mind to imagine new combinations.” – Leonard Schwartz
Until “Diving Into the Wreck” in 1973, Rich had not yet shared her political views with the world. It is thought that the views she shared in poems during this time were formed through her love of African-American literature. However, these poems were frequently disliked by other feminist writers. They believed Rich had gone too far and that her poems had become ugly and much too extreme. Although Adrienne was an extremely influential in the feminist movement, she did not participate in more traditional forms of protest. In “Diving Into the Wreck” Adrienne exemplified her feminist viewpoints in a less extreme form. Her exposure of inequality between men and women propelled the feminist movement, before and after women had gained the right to vote. Rich continued to fight patriarchal society, even when many people saw no problem with
Much of Adrienne Rich’s poetry is applauded for its rhythm and form, which helps emphasize the meaning of each poem. The freely placed lines and unique structure do not break up the poem, instead they bring power and significance to the unique features of her individual poems, stressing the meaning of the poem to the reader. Concretely, her poems have much imagery, and, also, most of the time, lack comment or conclusion to the emotions and purpose of her work. The structure, form, and rhythm of Rich’s poetry work together flawlessly to help portray the meaning of the poem, separate from just the images themselves. We can see Rich’s conscious effort to use form to portray meaning in many of her poems, but more specifically in Planetarium, Power, and For an Occupant.
Adichie was born in Nigeria and is most known for giving a TEDxTalk in 2013 about modern feminism. After the overwhelming success of the talk, such as having millions of views on YouTube and being featured in the song “Flawless” by Beyoncé, she decided to publish the speech into an expanded essay named “We Should All Be Feminists.” In this essay, Adichie talks about her life and encounters of sexism from a young age, especially her introduction to the word “feminist” occurring at fourteen. She is having a normal day, playing and arguing with her friend Okoloma, until he “harmlessly” quips, “`You know, you’re a feminist’” (8), which in Nigeria, is not a compliment. She also spends a third of the essay addressing the fact all negativity towards gender inequality has the same root: unwavering tradition. She questions, “What if, in raising our children, we (the parents) focus on ability instead of gender… interest instead of gender” (36)? Simply, if negativity towards the opposite sex is eradicated in a new generation, there will be no more inequality to worry about. She also parallels Wollstonecraft in commenting on the fascinating diversity of males and females. She claims that if men are undeniably strong physically, women should be held in the same
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Poets from every part of the world from all times of history have written about the
Echols, Alice. Daring to be bad: Radical feminism in America, 1967-1975. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota P, 1989.
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.
Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000. Print.