Fight
for the Right: A Historical Perspective
In
both of the poems “Singapore” by Mary Oliver and “On the Subway” by Sharon Olds
there is an exploration of the personal struggles of two women who are traveling
alone and away from home. These women separately
have chance encounters with strangers who are from very different cultural and
social status then themselves. Their personal
reactions to these strangers are a sign of the challenges that faced women at
this time in history as they fought to prove their equality. In the 1980’s, women were uniting to gain
equal rights with men. Although women
were conquering male dominant tasks, such as the first woman to travel in
space, they were still viewed as weak and vulnerable. Women who sought to advance their education
and professional careers were thought to be the exception and not the
rule. When examining these poems from a
historical perspective “literary historians and cultural critics assert that
one must have a rich understanding of the time in which the poet lived” (South
University Online, 2010, para. 3). Although
women share the same physical form, there is a diverse difference between how
they perceive others and the world around them.
This
can be based on nothing more than a first impression, as is the case in these
poems. These altered perceptions represent
the struggle that women faced to appear strong and capable in order to gain
equality with men, while their attitudes displayed weakness and vulnerability.[SL1]
Cultural
diversity often plays a pivotal role in how people judge one another; f irst
impressions directly affect how people react and feel during a given
situation. This fact is true of the era
of these poems as well as current times.
The judgments that are drawn based on cultural differences then dictate
how each woman reacts to a perfect stranger in a chance encounter. A first impression is seen in “On the Subway”
(Olds, 2011) when the speaker describes the boy on the subway as “He has/the
casual cold look of a mugger” (Olds, 2011, lines 5-6). The speaker continues to describe the boy as
if only muggers possess this look. The boy has said nothing to the speaker, yet
her impression of him leaves her fearing for her life and feeling very
vulnerable, “he could take my coat so easily, my briefcase, my life” (Olds, 2011,
line 15). During this time in history
crime was prevalent and due to gang activity African American males fell into
the stereotype of criminals. Being aware
of these stereotypes brought on a fear in women when faced with this type of
situation. These cultural and societal
facts left women falling victim to a feeling of vulnerability which conflicted
with the movement to gain their equality.
In addition, the poem “Singapore” (Oliver, 1990)
further explores the struggles of woman as a woman walks into an airport
bathroom to find another woman washing ashtrays in the toilet of an airport
bathroom. She is repulsed and
embarrassed by what she sees, “When the woman turned I could not answer her
face. Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together, and neither could
win” (Oliver, 1990[SL2] , line15). The perceived embarrassment is likely a felt
emotion on the part of the speaker as seeing this woman washing in a toilet goes
against the stereotype that women were trying to escape. The speaker stares at the woman as she runs
down an inner commentary attempting to talk herself into an explanation that is
happy and in keeping with her cultural standards, “I want to rise up from the
crust and slop and fly down the river” (Oliver, 1990, line 29-30). The crust and slop describe her impression of
the woman and she is trying to resolve a camaraderie with someone from a very
different socioeconomic standard. This
type of cultural diversity represents a challenge for woman to appear united
and strong as they fight for equality.
Both
of these poems show the challenges that women of the 1980’s and 1990’s
faced. Cultural and social standards can
play a large part in how woman form judgments and react to the world around
them. And sadly, these same stereotypes
in cultural and societal status still flourish today. Judgmental reactions create an air of vulnerability
and weakness, which did not promote the fight of the women in this era to
achieve the same rights as men.
[SL2]See
the APA lecture on what year to use.
Nice job, Chellie! Your paper is well
written- one of the best that I’ve read in awhile.
Assignment 3 Grading Criteria
|
Maximum
Points
|
Paper
provides an introduction that explains the topic and draws the reader in.
|
4/4
|
Paper
demonstrates a clear knowledge of the historical/cultural perspective.
|
4/4
|
Paper demonstrates an
understanding of poetry as a literary genre.
|
4/4
|
Essay
identifies and expands upon a thesis that explores the chosen poem/s in
depth.
|
4/4
|
Paper
provides supporting details that offer reasons, examples, and
quotations from the poem(s).
|
4/4
|
Ideas
in paper are ordered logically with appropriate connections within and
between paragraphs.
|
4/4
|
Paper
has an ending that smoothly and fully concludes the piece.
|
4/4
|
Paper is free or virtually free of
grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors.
|
4/4
|
Paper meets minimum length
requirement.
|
4/4
|
Paper is formatted in correct APA
style.
|
4/4
|
Total:
|
40/40
|
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