Theater & Arts
THIS WOMEN’S Month, Vantage celebrates all the intricacies of what it means to be a woman. Including pieces by generation-defining poets such as Maya Angelou and Anne Sexton, the words from these female poets are powerful ones that enlighten, comfort, and inspire.
We’ve named five poems on the female experience that can hold your hand as you navigate young womanhood.
Read this when you’re ever in doubt of your worth and need reminding of your phenomenality:
Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
This poem by highly-acclaimed writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou perfectly captures the way all women should see themselves. The most striking characteristic of this piece is the manner in which it praises the female body. What sets it apart is its lack of sexualization; women’s bodies are not seen through the male gaze, and there is nothing derogatory about Angelou’s descriptions. Instead, she emphasizes the strength, confidence, and poise women effortlessly have–qualities that are too often overlooked in favor of sexual innuendos. She writes:
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Read this when you’re sick of the unrealistic beauty standards imposed on women:
When a Man Tells Me I’m Beautiful by Naina Kataria
You may have never heard of Naina Kataria–a young poet hailing from Delhi, India–but after reading this piece, she’ll most likely be on your radar. In this poem, she takes a stand for women all over the world by calling out the patriarchy for shaming women’s perfectly natural body hair. With striking imagery and careful word choice, she slams hypocritical double standards. She laments:
He doesn’t know of the hot wax and the laser
whose only purpose is to
replace your innocent skin
with its own brand of womanhood
Read this the next time you’re bleeding and a man says menstruation “grosses him out”:
poem in praise of menstruation by Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton’s perspective on the menstrual cycle is very different from the norm. For too long, society has ingrained in us the idea that there is something about periods to be ashamed of. Instead of being embarrassed or disgusted by it, she assures everyone that the process is nothing short of remarkable. She uses interesting words to describe menstruation: Ancient, faithful, and brave. As Clifton eloquently puts it:
if there is in
the universe such a river if
there is some where water
more powerful than this wild
water
pray that it flows also
through animals
beautiful and faithful and ancient
and female and brave
Read this when you’re in the mood for a longform piece that encapsulates just about everything a woman can go through:
The Glass Essay by Anne Carson
This 36-page long poem tackles countless themes universal (although not necessarily exclusive) to women, such as unrequited love, identity, the role of women in society, and the enduring relevance of the works of Emily Brontë. The most prominent theme is feminist anger towards the patriarchal society women have to suffer in every aspect of their lives. She writes about the transactional and skewed relationship she has with men:
it would be sweet to have a friend to tell things to at night,
without the terrible sex price to pay.
This is a childish idea, I know.
My education, I have to admit, has been gappy.
The basic rules of male-female relations
were imparted atmospherically in our family
Read this when you’re impatiently waiting to fall in love and dangerously close to settling for something or someone not meant for you:
Admonitions To A Special Person by Anne Sexton
Some say young womanhood would not be complete without the experience of lusting and longing for a relationship. This short but meaty piece by Anne Sexton cautions us to not rush into love by pointing out that anything less than the feeling of being swallowed wholly by the emotion shouldn’t be enough for us. The right love is something that is unstoppable. She writes:
Love? Be it man. Be it woman.
It must be a wave you want to glide in on,
give your body to it, give your laugh to it,
give, when the gravelly sand takes you,
your tears to the land. To love another is something
like prayer and can’t be planned, you just fall
into its arms because your belief undoes your disbelief.
It’s not easy being a woman in a world that continually has a preference for men. These poems are a testament to the struggles women have faced for decades. It’s high time female poets are given the recognition they deserve, especially in the instances when they voice out what other women are afraid to say—or when we simply don’t have the words to say it.
