Phenomenal Woman

In today’s society, women are put down for being different and not following the “Barbie stereotype.” Men and women have always had conflicting differences since the beginning of time. Societal and natural given characteristics to both genders whether they are mental or physical have always been quite different amongst the two sexes and now those borders are finally being tested. Slowly but surely women are gaining power and respect. In Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman,” she demonstrates the love a woman can have for herself even though she is not considered beautiful by society. Through the use of the themes self-confidence, body language, and defining oneself as well as several different stylistic techniques Angelou paints a very relatable mindset that most women strive for.

The issues women have with self-confidence can be seen at a young age. It usually begins when girls hit puberty where half of their bodies start to fill out and the others just kind of stay the same. As girls start to become aware of these changes, the boys do to, which lead the boys to giving these girls attention while other girls question if they are not good enough to deserve the same. Angelou has great self-esteem, confidence in her mannerisms, and a deep wisdom of being a woman. She is empowered by womanhood: “I’m a woman, phenomenally” (line 10 & 11 ). By her own admission, Maya is a sort of a super hero without the physic . She is “not… built to suit a fashion model's size” (2) and has a huge personality. She knows that she perplexes “pretty women” (1) and draws men to her. The way she coolly strolls into a room and becomes the attention of all the men demonstrates her composure. Angelou knows though that it is not because she is ...

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...” is the mindset that women should strive for in their lives. Everyone suffers from self-confidence issues. Even for me, after reading this poem I felt inspired by Angelou’s wise words. In sixty lines, Angelou defines how to feel like the title of the poem. It does not contain any makeup, diet, hair, or fashion advice that is found in women’s magazines that so much money is spent on daily. The core of the poem is about attitude. In a woman’s attitude, she finds dignity, sensuality, and skill to hold her head up high. “Phenomenal Woman” portrays the most essential aspect of beauty – it begins in the mind. The theme of this poem is not flawlessness, rather a woman can be the “perfect” her through her attitude, and precisely how she is her true self in the moment. Then, everything else will fall into place, since she is a unique phenomenal woman all of her own.