Not long ago, Maya Angelou’s words in Phenomenal Woman described the quintessential perspective I was looking for in my journey towards defining the feminist view in a literature class with a strong female theme.   “Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.  I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size but when I start to tell them, they think I’m telling lies.  I say.  It’s in the reach of my arms, the span of my hips, the stride of my step, the curl of my lips.  I’m a woman phenomenally.  Phenomenal woman, that’s me.”  This poem merely scratched the surface on the voyage I was about to embark on into the collective women’s soul; a soul that is a delicate balance of culture, family roots, sense of self, body image, and intellectual and academic achievement.

                In 19 Varieties of a Gazelle, by Naomi Shihab Nye, I got my first glimpse of how strongly culture can define a woman’s sense of self and family connection.   I began by reflecting on the complicated history that connects 9/11 to her heritage.  Nye says, “For people who love the Middle East and have an ongoing devotion to cross-cultural understanding, the day felt sickeningly tragic in more ways than one.  A huge shadow had been cast across the lives of so many innocent people and an ancient culture’s pride.” (pg xv.)  For Nye, everything she had known her entire life stemmed from her father’s love for the Palestinian culture.  In ten minutes on a cold September morning, her entire identity was taken from her and replaced with violence, stereotyping and judgment.  Her struggle to regain that identity is a defining point in her life, and made her into the educated and opinionated woman that she is today.

                In Push by Sapphire, the ideal woman changes form.  Precious Jones does not struggle to spread her family’s ideals and morals, instead she struggles to become literate, and remove herself from the sexual and physical violence she has been subjected to or most of her life.  With Precious, being a woman is being able to identify yourself as a mother, a student, a face with a name--not just another D.S.S. case number.  Education is what defines Precious’ soul.  “Open your notebook Precious.”  “I’m tired,” I says.  “I know you are but you can’t stop now Precious, you gotta push.”  “And I do.”  Although precious finds herself through her educational opportunities, she still had to come to terms with the events in her life, and toxic relationships that she was a part of.  Precious Jones defied the odds and pushed towards a better life for her and her children, while maturing into the woman that no one ever thought she could be.

                By exploring Nye and Sapphires works, I allowed myself to begin to delve deeper into my own thoughts on what being a woman meant.  In Precious’ case, it was the idea of breaking the cycle of abuse.  This idea is one that begins an in-depth discussion of the effort and strength it takes to heal from trauma resulting from horrific mental, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and whether or not you can really ever lose that identity and take on a new one.  In Nye’s vision towards womanhood, it was the fear of losing her Palestinian heritage, that started her on a motivated journey into her own feminist discoveries.  My view on the “feminist ideal” has changed, and I wonder if it was ever relevant for this class anyway.  Instead of using politically correct terms, I would rather embrace the knowledge that I have gained from hearing these stories, biographical or not.  

The Shawl

                Motherhood plays an important role in The Shawl, by Cynthia Ozick.  Woven throughout the story is the reoccurring theme of Rosa’s identity, found within the unbreakable bond that is formed between mother and child.  Rosa’s defines her “present life” as her time spent in Jewish ghettos, being marched to and housed in various concentration camps, and most importantly her time spent nurturing her young child Magda, under extremely harsh circumstances.  “Rosa gave almost all her food to Magda, Stella gave nothing; Stella was ravenous, a growing child herself.  Stella did not menstruate.  Rosa did not menstruate.  Rosa was ravenous, but also not: she learned from Magda how to drink the taste of a finger in one’s mouth.”(pg 5)  Rosa’s literary role as a mother is like that of any other, she finds herself sacrificing everything to provide for her child.  She strives to give nourishment where none can be found, tries to protect her daily from being seen by the S.S. soldiers who will take her life, and vows to create a life for her outside of the camp when the war is over.  Sadly, Rosa is unable to make the ultimate sacrifice for her child, giving her own life, which haunts her for the next forty years.  Over time, Rosa is not able to move on from the death of her beloved daughter.  Instead, she continues to live a life of pain, masked by lengthy letters creating an imaginary life her daughter never lived.  “Rosa wanted to explain to Magda still more about the jugs and the drawings on the walls, and the old things in the store, things that nobody cared about, broken chairs with carved birds, long strings of glass beads, gloves and wormy muffs abandoned in drawers.” (pg 69)  Although Rosas survival did not depend on the physical existence of Magda, the emotional and mental relationship she kept sustained her mother-like role for the remainder of her life.

When the Emperor Was Divine

                When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka, begins by painting a vivid picture of life in America circa 1940 for the average Japanese-American family.  However, as the reader delves deeper, it is apparent that what is happening to this family is not average at all, but instead a tragic symbol of the actions of a racist and paranoid government, in a post Pearl Harbor world.

                Though all the characters introduced at the beginning of the novel (Mother, Brother, and Sister) hold much importance to the theme of strength and loss of humanity, the Mother best reflects the entire emotional journey one would take when losing their identity and becoming prisoner of a government who claims they have your best interest at hand, yet deny you of any and all civil rights earned as a citizen of the United States of America.

In order to express the range of emotion the mother is going through, Otsuka uses the first chapter to allow the mother time to reflect on what was happening, while displaying the immense reaction she was having to the thought of the unknown future of her husband and children.   “The bird spread his wings and flew off into the night.  She went back inside the kitchen and took out a bottle of plum wine from beneath the sink.  Without the bird in the cage, the house felt empty.  She sat down on the floor and put the bottle to her lips.” (pg. 48) Mother would not let the unidentified inevitable negate her responsibility to her children, and eventually her husband.  Instead she carries on, deciding to let the future come to her.

What’s In a Name?

                Push , by Sapphire, tells the horrific tale of Precious Jones, a victim of incest, horrific physical, sexual, and emotional violence who eventually gives birth to two of her father’s children, while searching for a destiny that breaks the vicious cycle of abuse that has left her poverty stricken, homeless and illiterate. 

                Language and emotion play a pivotal role in Precious’s interpretation of the experiences she has had in her life.  Through the intentional lack of structure, grammar, and other basic literary rules, Sapphire allows the reader to become a part of Precious’s innermost thoughts, fears, and regrets. 

“I left back when I was twelve because I had a baby for my fahver.  That was in 1983.  I was out of school for a year.  This be my second baby.  My daughter got Down Sinder.  She’s retarded.  I had got left back in the second grade too, when I was seven, “cause I couldn’t read (and I still peed on myself).”(pg.4) 

Emotion is another device that Sapphire uses to piece together the memories of cruelty that Precious went through, and hope for the life that she aspires to have, especially regarding her education.   Sapphire allows Precious to communicate her feelings in a variety of ways, for example in her journal.  Here we see the moving voyage Precious takes as she begins the painful process of recalling memories that have been suppressed, all while beginning her expedition into literacy.

 “Ms. Rain say more now, much more.  She wan more from me.  More than 15 minutes an she write back.  Say walk wif it.  The journal?  I say.  Yeah, she says, Walk wif da journl.  Everywhere you go, journl journal go.  You know I go walk with Abdul etc., take journal, write stuff in journal.”(pg.98) 

Precious Jones overcame extraordinary odds and allowed her innate motivation to lead her to a better life for her and her children.  Although she can be seen as a compilation of many of the travesties reported to state agencies all over the country, Precious Jones is a survivor.

Patria’s Timeline

1938:  Goes away to convent

1940:  Decides she wants to be a nun

Falls in love with Pedrito and gets married.

Has two successful pregnancies, but loses her third baby.

Patria begins to lose faith in God and her marriage.

Patria goes on pilgrimage which leads to the Virgin Mary speaking to her.

Patria regains her faith and strengthens her marriage to Pedrito.

1959:  Patria decides to join her sisters in the resistance.  She also discovers she is pregnant, and learns how strongly Pedrito is against the underground forces.

Jan-March 1960:  Patria’s son, sisters, and other close family members are arrested by Trujillo.

Patria forms a relationship with her half sister Margarita who allows care packages to be delivered to her ailing sisters in jail.

Nelson, her son, gets pardoned after Patria fights for his release.

Fall 1960:  Patria’s husband gives her permission to visit her brother-in-laws in prison.

November 1960:  Patria, Minerva and Mate, along with their driver Rufino are murdered upon their return from the prison.

Let Freedom Ring

                Throughout In The Time of Butterflies, the idea of freedom, by way of rebelling against the government, is a central theme and fuels many of the characters to fulfill their own personal destinies.  The oldest sister, Patria, is a good example of a character whose freedom not only lies in the end of her government’s oppression, but is also intertwined in her complicated marriage and strong religious beliefs.   

                Patria’s religious beliefs influenced every part of her life, including her decision to ultimately join the resistance, and how she dealt with the untimely arrest of members of her family, including her own son.  “My crown of thorns was woven of thoughts for my boy.  His body I had talcumed, fed, bathed.  His body now broken as if it were no more than a bag of bones…Together Dede and I would pray a rosary.  Afterwards we played our old childhood game, opening the Bible and teasing a fortune out of whatever verse our hands landed on.”(pg. 201) 

                 Through Patria’s relationship with God, she was shielded from the horrific acts that were being committed by her government, and at times denied that such terror could be bestowed on her country by a God that she sometimes feared, but loved so much.   Through personal loss however, Patria discovered that her God might not be leading her down the path that she believed was meant for her.  “I wondered if the dead child were not a punishment for my having turned my back on my religious calling?  I went over and over my life to this point, complicating the threads with my fingers, knotting everything.”(pg. 52)

                Patria’s ultimate fate lay in the hands of the persons who murdered her for standing up for what she believed in.   I do believe, however, that she was granted a great justice in Julia Alvarez’s interpretation of her life.  The ability to choose her freedom.

Life Education

                I Am An Emotional Creature presents an intriguing perspective on the journey that adolescent girls from all around the world take towards ultimately becoming a woman in adulthood.  Eve Ensler uses this literary platform to describe the various paths young girls travel from assorted and often diverse points of view that might otherwise never be told.  Ensler uses the epilogue as her chance to convey the ideals that she believes to be an integral part of becoming a well rounded female young adult in today’s society.  For example, in “Manifesta to Young Women and Girls” she begins by describing the roles that one’s culture may place on them:  “Find a man, seek protection, the world is scary.  Don’t go out, you are weak, don’t care so much…Don’t cry so much, and you can’t trust anyone.” (pg. 83)  Ensler then goes on to put forth her ideas, such as “Everyone’s making everything up.  There is no one in charge except for those who pretend to be.  No one is coming.  No one is going to rescue you.” (pg. 91)  There is a noticeable difference between what is being placed on girls, and what Ensler wants them to take away from the experience of reading her book.  The missing link between these two significant messages is how to get the areas to come together in a comprehensive manner that young girls can relate to.  Perhaps transforming the meaning of the pieces into a more expanded piece of writing might make them seem more real to girls from all different places on the globe.  Presenting these ideas in a way that is closer to the realities and environments that these girls spend their lives in might allow them to learn from others mistakes and shape their own futures away from the constraints of society.

I AM AN EMOTIONAL CREATURE, TOO.

Eve Ensler uses I Am an Emotional Creature to launch the reader into the secret world of adolescent and teenage girls all around the world.  In “WHAT I WISH I COULD SAY TO MY MOTHER,” Ensler uses a young girl’s voice to express her desire to explore her relationship with her mother.  “I don’t know you.  I’m pregnant.  Listen to me.  I’m gay and I am not the devil.  You can trust me.  I know you are unhappy.  I don’t want to keep taking care of you.”(pg. 18)  These are bold yet honest statements, and brought forth a feeling from me that that I was not expecting.   When first discovering the overall theme of heartache, self awareness, wonder, specific fears and general observations about life, I found myself wishing for the perfect adolescent experience.

 Here is what I wish someone said to me:

Respect yourself.

You are beautiful, be excited about life.

Get healthy, manage your stress, run.

You can do it,

You can do anything.

It is okay to be pretty and smart.

Take advantage of your resources

Stay in school.

Education will unlock doors that your choices have closed.

It gets better.

Love will set you free.

The Vagina Monoblogs Part Two

                Eve Ensler not only celebrates vaginas in The Vagina Monologues, but she also sheds light on the terrible epidemic of violence against women.  Ensler uses her literary platform as a way to examine the inexplicable horrors that have been inflicted on women all over the world.  In “Vagina Fact”, it’s explained that “In the nineteenth century, girls who learned to develop orgasmic capacity by masturbation were regarded as medical problems.  Often they were “treated” or “corrected” by amputation or cautery of the clitoris…” (pg 65)  To be able to create an idea to help women cherish themselves while teaching them powerful historical events, no matter how atrocious, is something that is not easily accomplished, however Ensler is able to use both instances as something to be celebrated.   Through piecing the interviews, monologues, and violent facts together, she allows the reader to understand how far we have come as a gender.  From the modest 1950’s, to the feminist era, we learn that although we have come far in some respects, there are still places and cultures that do not want to cultivate and love the female body.  In “The Vagina Was My Village”, a disturbing account is described.  “Not since I heard the skin tear and made lemon screeching sounds, not since a piece of my vagina came off in my hand, a part of the lip, now one side of the lip is completely gone.” (pg 62)  By letting the reader discover the tragedies that have surrounded women in the past and present, Ensler lets us see the significant impact The Vagina Monologues made on the feminist ideal of the infamous “vagina.”

The Vagina Monoblogs

            Vajayjay.  I love this word, and used it repeatedly in any context I could, even when it had no place and made no sense.  The word always brought some reaction out of people.  They would laugh, look uncomfortable, tell me it was “cute”, or in my mother’s case, tell me “it wasn’t funny.”  Eve Ensler uses The Vagina Monologues to start a revolution.  She explores the impact of the word vagina through an avenue that includes numerous cross generational interviews, in depth questions, and most importantly performing the pieces in a public forum.  It is essential, in Enslers opinion, that the monologues be performed in public to give vaginas, and more specifically woman, a voice.  Women from a multitude of decades and from all over the world are featured in this collection, and their various cultural, generational and traditional ideals about are brought to the forefront.  When discussing her interview of a group of women between the ages of sixty five and seventy five Ensler says “Unfortunately, most of the women in this age group had very little conscious relationship with their vaginas.  I felt terribly lucky to have grown up in the feminine era.  One woman who was seventy-two had never even seen her vagina.”(pg 23)  The suggestion that an entire age group of women experienced an almost sexual suppression is shocking, especially when compared to “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy.”  What better way to explore Ensler’s reasoning for bringing the monologues to the stage and making the vagina an entity all its own, then to shed light on the transformation the vagina has made over the past fifty years.  “I love vaginas.  I love women.  I do not see them as separate things.  Women pay me to dominate them, to excite them, to make them come.  I did not start out like this.”(pg 105)  When brought to the world’s stage, The Vagina Monologues provides more than eroticism and what some would consider crude language and images.  Instead, it lets us feel more comfortable as women.

The River Massacre

                 Uncovering the true inspiration and history of Danticat’s Haitian roots can only be exposed by digging deep into the countries past and discovering the many horrendous events that intertwine and slowly reveal themselves throughout Krik? Krak!  When beginning my journey into this literary piece, I was severely handicapped when it came to the vast array of knowledge that is needed to truly begin to reveal Haiti’s history, and the stories of the characters told within Danticat’s Krik? Krak!

In “Nineteen Thirty Seven”, the account of what happened at the Massacre River is told through the eyes of the female narrator, whose recollection of her pilgrimage to the sacred place is precisely recalled.  “When I was five years old, we went on a pilgrimage to the Massacre River, which I had expected to be still crimson with blood, but was as clear as any water that I had ever seen.”(pg. 41)  After researching the history of what is known as the Massacre of 1937, or the Parsley Massacre, the narrator’s memories became real in my mind.  This was no longer just a part of the story, but rather a factual event that impacts and divides the islands of the Dominican Republic and Haiti to this very day.

                By combining fictional characters with real life events, Danticat’s literary tale tells a much more effective and emotional chronicle of the trials and tribulations her ancestors encountered.   “Weighted down by my body inside hers, she leaped from Dominican soil into the water, and out again on the Haitian side of the river.  She glowed red when she came out, blood clinging to her skin, which at that moment looked as though it were in flames.”(pg. 49

The Language of Freedom

                Throughout Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak! the force of language is undeniable.  When language, words, and descriptions aren’t painting a heart breaking and sometimes horrific self portrait of one’s journey by boat from war-torn Haiti to the promising beaches of America, like in “Children of the Sea”, it is delving into the inner workings of an impoverished yet disturbingly common household, and allows us to understand the harsh reality of the relationships of those living in these conditions, as it does in “Wall of Fire Rising.”

                Throughout “Wall of Fire Rising,” the heavy impact that words can have is felt even when they are not said aloud.  Guy’s personal feelings of insecurity are never brought to him head on by his wife Lili, yet he is constantly yearning to be good enough for his family.  In a time in Haitian history where jobs were scarce and security was practically nonexistent, this was a profound load to bear.

“When things were really bad for the family, they boiled sugarcane pulp to make what Lili called her special sweet water tea.  It was supposed to suppress gas and kill the vermin in the stomach that made poor children hungry…That night, anyway, things were good.  Everyone had eaten enough to put all their hunger vermin to sleep.” (pg. 58)

As Guy’s feelings of inadequacy rise, his thirst to escape these feelings grew just as fast.  These emotions are shadowed by his son’s inspirational school monologue, which he practices as his father struggles with his bleak future.  Danticat uses Little Guys words to catapult his father into an idealistic world, where revolutionary thoughts and change were in sight.  However, these thoughts ended with death.  “Your new lines are wonderful son.  They’re every bit as affecting as the old.  He tapped the boy’s shoulder and walked out of the house.” (pg. 71)  By motivating Guy to succumb to his own destructive thoughts, Little Guys words freed his father from a fruitless life of scattered labor, and insufficient love.  Language set him free.

America The Beautiful

Patriotism in this country leaves much to be desired these days.  In the beginning, you couldn’t turn a corner without noticing something red, white, or blue, or “United We Stand”, or “Never Forgotten”.  How quickly we forget.  Nye has never forgotten, as September 11, 2001 has defined a part of her life, career, and REdefined her family.   

                “For Mohammed on the Mountain,” the undeniable connection and to her father’s family and country is evident.  “Believe me, Uncle, my father is closer to you than you know.  When he tends plants, he walks slowly.  His steps sing of the hills.  And when he stirs the thick coffee and grinds the cardamom seed you think he feels like an American?  You think he forgets the call to prayer?”  There is some sense of tradition here, but more of an unidentifiable question of where her father belongs.  If he immigrated to the United States, did his family turn their back on him?  Did they think he lost sight of his religion, culture, and Palestinian identity?  And if he did, could they forgive him?  Nye asks the same questions of her Uncle who fled to the mountains, never to be seen again.   “Are you angry with us?  Do you think my father forgot you when he packed his satchel and boarded the ship?”(pg.27)  Nye gently describes her father’s relationship with Palestine through his strong roots and great respect for tradition that he brought with him to America.  Perhaps there is something to be learned from him, and his love of a country where only his memories remain.

An Analytical View of Making a Mistake.

                19 Varieties of Gazelle by Naomi Shihab Nye is an intricately woven literary song that loudly responds to the horrific events of 9/11 through a collection of poems.  Nye uses her vast knowledge of the Palestinian culture, along with unique stories of her families past to unite American ideals with Middle Eastern values that have been seemingly lost through wrongful media portrayals and stereotypes.

                Nye proclaims that “poetry humanizes us.”  Throughout this collection, this is certainly the case.  In the introduction, Nye delves deep into the complicated history that connects 9/11 to her heritage.  “For people who love the Middle East and have an ongoing devotion to cross-cultural understanding, the day felt sickeningly tragic in more ways than one.  A huge shadow had been cast across the lives of so many innocent people and an ancient culture’s pride (pg. xv).”   The shadow that she describes is long, dark and unforgiving in the post 9/11 world.  The lack of understanding that began amounted to numerous “sickeningly tragic” effects, they were seen through stereotyping, violence, and even hatred of the Middle Eastern people as a whole. 

                In “Palestinians Have Given up Parties”, Nye juxtaposes the violent picture that America had painted of Middle Eastern, and more specifically Palestinian, culture.  “Where does fighting come into this story?  Fighting got lost from somewhere else.  It is not what we like:  to eat, to drink, to fight (pg. 60).”  Nye expresses the peaceful and joyful time here, reminding the reader of times where celebrations were the norm, whether it be a marriage celebration or someone returning from a long journey.  Happiness is evident, yet the reality of what has happened quickly returns here.  “The bombs break everyone’s sentences in half.  Who made them?  Do you know anyone who makes them?  The ancient taxi driver shakes his head back and forth from Jerusalem to Jericho (pg.61).”  

                Did I stereotype?  Did I even know what I was talking about when propaganda spewed from my mouth all of those years ago, defending my countries actions?  Slowly, Naomi Shihab Nye is helping me recognize, almost ten years later, that maybe I was wrong.  About what?  I am not sure yet, but am sort of excited to find out.

Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman

by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.

I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   

But when I start to tell them,

They think I’m telling lies.

I say,

It’s in the reach of my arms,

The span of my hips,   

The stride of my step,   

The curl of my lips.   

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,   

That’s me.

I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,   

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.   

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.   

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.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   

What they see in me.

They try so much

But they can’t touch

My inner mystery.

When I try to show them,   

They say they still can’t see.   

I say,

It’s in the arch of my back,   

The sun of my smile,

The ride of my breasts,

The grace of my style.

I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.   

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.   

When you see me passing,

It ought to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,   

The bend of my hair,   

the palm of my hand,   

The need for my care.   

’Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.