What Do Women Want and My Shoes: Addonizio and Simic Addonizio’s poetry, known for its harsh, street-wise narrators and a wicked sense of wit, has received significant recognition since it first appeared as “The Philosopher’s Club” (1944), a collection of unflinching poems on subjects ranging from mortality to love. Kim Addonizio’s poem, “What Do Women Want” explores the risk that women have of being stereotyped. By employing the literal devices of imagery and metaphor, Addonizio is able to convey the message that what women really want is to be understood. Though her harsh and honest style. Presenting us with this image, she is making a reference to the kinds of stereotypes associated women that might wear such a dress. Addonizio
also provides us with a very vivid image of what she will do in the dress. For instance, she says she will “walk past Thrifty’s and the hardware store” and past the Guerra brothers/slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly. (11-12) She adds that she would also “like I’m the only women on earth and I can have my pick” (14-5). Clearly, she is working with the image that is often associated with modern women. Charles Simic addresses his admiration for the shoes’ quality of being humble by comparing them with his “inner life”, and expresses his pursuit of “the only true likeness of himself” in the spiritual world. The first stanza begins with an extended metaphor followed by mixed metaphors, through which the certain condition of the pair of shoes is emphasized: Shoes, secret face of my inner life: Two gaping toothless mouths, two partly decomposed animal skins Smelling of mice nests. (1-4) Throughout the poem, Simic keeps making comparisons between the worn pair of shoes and his “inner life” from the material level to the spiritual level, in the process of which he expresses his admiration to the quality of being humble, and what it means to his pursuit of forming “the only true likeness” of himself.
Kim Addonizio's poetry highlights the microscopic detail into the mortality of the human condition, rebellion, and love. Her themes ranged from sexual sensation to rock n roll rebellion, which was all delivered in a witty format. Addonizio’s poetic meter is delivered in a syncopated blues rhythmic measure comparable to that of the lyrics of the classic blues artists like Skip James where a continuing series of musical notes are overlapped by a repetition of lines that gradually or minorly change through progression. This style is most notable through her fixed form poetry, such as sonnets. So it is only natural that her lyrical poetry is complimented well in accordance of the blues band playing as she simultaneously reads. Addonizio's physique,
Throughout history women have learned to find a voice against men through writing. Writing has been a medium where women have learned to speak their minds and allow their ideas to be broadcasted to the world. Women have used writing to discuss issues, such as discrimination, inequality, sexual frustrations, and many more that they have dealt with. In the poem, “A Loyal Woman’s No”, written by Lucy Larcom. She gives power to women to say no to men. Her poem discusses the issues that many women face. They face issues of men taking advantage of them, men objectifying them and using them. However, Larcom’s poem shows a clear progress of women standing up against men, and being firm in saying no to them. Larcom has given women the ability to stand up to man and show the true power that women have over men. Many women fear standing up to men due to the repercussions of their actions, however, Lucy Larcom uses the symbolism of nature and her rhetoric to show a woman’s true power against men and say no and to free themselves of the rigid grasp that so many men have over women.
Stereotypes. Something that many women are subjected to in society and are forced to accept it like it is something that should happen. “What do women want”(Addonizio) examines the stereotypes most women face when wearing certain clothing, and the objectification of women, that is frowned upon but all women secretly want. It points out the objectification and stereotypes that women are subjected to, challenges them, and connects them to everyday life.
During the Art Deco era the calla lily became one of the most popular flowers around. Whether in florist shops or on artist canvases the calla lily became a recurring theme. Like many flowers before it the calla lily came to be more than a flower on its own but it represented the idea of femininity. The calla lily was used by artists such as Tamara de Lempicka, Diego Rivera and Georgia O’Keeffe as a symbol of femininity and feminism. Through examining their works, in relation to their own lives and the events of the day, I will explore how the calla lily came to represent a new type on femininity and feminism.
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 woman, 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.
Women are seen as an object like in the poem “My last Duchess” by Robert Browning. The main character is a man who is talking to someone about his previous wife. Off the first few lines the reader can see he likes to show off the power and money he has. Then he says there is a curtain in front of her picture; which means
This essay will be focusing on women who worked during the world war two and their roles in the community. Not only would it focus on their roles it will also look at the fashion of these women; what they wore to work during the war, after the war and what is being worn to work nowadays. The research on the fashion change relates to my work the most as i’ve tried to portray the changes in the fashion of these working class women, what it means and how it shows off women as a being. Even though most of the women that worked during the second world war were said to be in the middle-class range this essay will focus on the working-class females in the society. One of the major subject matter in this essay will be the “Rosie the Riveter” poster although created by various artist during the World War II, the meanings in each posters mirrored the next. Also this essay will reflect on some of the numerous female war artists that used women to portray strength, elegance and raw femininity.
Fashion has always dictated what gender stereotypes should wear and how they should present themselves to the world with their fashion, these rules and ideals are constantly changing and reversing, occasionally blurring the lines between the two. Gender roles have lessened and obscured in modern society due to subcultures and immediate availability of clothing, the gender ideals do however still exist and designers often heavily rely on these assumptions. Advertising companies often use these gender stereotypes to promote their clients' clothing as well which, in turn, only serves to strengthen traditional ideas of what men and women should wear. In this essay I aim to discuss the ever changing gender divide and how fashion reacts to these alterations and views and reflects the ideals at the time.
Hence, in the contemporary fashion industry, the sexualisation and objectification of women’s bodies remain, which means female models and their bodies are sexualized as a beautiful object offering pleasure to others. It is noted that sexualization also means the frequent erotic presentation of women’s bodies in the public spaces (Gill, 2007). Fashion media are more likely to disseminate beauty and images of women’s bodies, which provides a lot of opportunities for people to see the female body as an object. It is worth noticing that men still are dominant in the fashion industry, although this industry is mostly catering for women. For instance, most of head designers who are the main image-makers in the industry are men while women are at the bottom of this industry (Wilson, 2005). More importantly, models’ bodies are always viewed by others in this industry. Their bodies are displayed in the catwalk shows, in the fashion magazines, in the campaigns on the streets, etc. As a consequence, gazed by dominant men in this industry and many consumers all over the world, women need to be read as objects for meeting their demands. Also, female models selected by dominant men need to be meet the standard of beauty that formulated by these men. Their bodies need to be coded sexually with specific meanings by men as well. As Gill (2007)
As a spokesperson for feminism, many of Kruger’s pieces during this time dealt with representations of femininity, and often attacked stereotypes. She would use photographs of women in "static or supine poses, displayed according to cliched conventions of popular representation” (____62) and would contrast these pictures with a feminist statement overtop. In her 1981 design known as “Your gaze hits the side of my face”, a female statue is shown facing away from the viewer, not making eye contact, and exhibiting the “male gaze” so often seen in the media. Kruger explores how damaging the male gaze can be by using the woman as a statue, which enforces the idea of men confining women by believing they are nothing more than sexual objects to be appreciated visually (___pandamoniam fap). In another work titled “We don’t need another hero” (1985), a young girl pokes and looks amazed by the muscles of a young boy. Showing that even as a child, females are trained to look at men as powerful, and men are trained to be strong. Wanting to change the restrictive definitions of gender, Kruger states “we don’t need another hero” to express that we do not need to continue fitting into these molds (___). For the 1989 reproductive rights protest and the March for Women’s Lives in Washington, D.C., Kruger created Your Body Is a Battleground
In order to provide a detailed analysis of the poem Glimpses of Women in Overalls it is vital to first establish the context in which it is written. Karen Press was born during the Apartheid era in South African and it can be said that she was therefore much influence by what she witnessed first-hand. To begin one should first observe the title of the poem and note the usage of the word “Women” – meaning more than one woman. Therefore the word choice expresses an observation of not only one, but numerous women throughout the poem.
Christina Rossetti's poem, “In An Artist’s Studio”, explores how men foster a need for control by creating unrealistic expectations for women through their fantasies. Through the use of repetition, contrast of imagery, and symbolism, Rossetti guides us through the gallery inside of an artist’s mind, portraying the fantasies that give him a sense of control over the women he creates.
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.
image of themselves in real life. They are almost computer-generated women like in the movie Simone. Indeed, with the technology we have now, advertisers can transform a product into perfection, at the same time, misleading the consumer into seeing it as “real”, and thus permanently providing impossible standards (Ingham). More and more women are becoming dissatisfied with themselves trying to be this fantasy person created by the men in our society. This distorted view of reality, portrayed by advertisemen...
Women fifty years ago faced equality and standard issues similar to equality and society standard issues today. A woman now faces the difficulty of hearing that she can “be herself” and express herself as she pleases without judgment. In Lesley Gore’s 1963 song, “You Don’t Own Me” she addresses many of her frustrations with society’s view of women in a way similar to Colbie Caillat’s 2014 song, “Try”. Gore and Caillat approach similar topics in different ways, Gore protests directly to those whom she feels the attack is coming from, whereas Caillat protests to those who are being attacked with her, declaring that they don’t have to listen to the lies they are being told.