Feminism has been an awakening in my life. It made clear all the injustice I have been bearing since childhood. It made me realise that I was wronged and that I deserved justice. However, since the wrongs happened years ago, I couldn't muster the strength to speak up against them. I developed PTSD and reel under it till today. However, there was a moment when I opened up about everything in front of my family members to break the generational cycle that normalised domestic violence and sexual assault. Where did I get this confidence from? Feminism and words that describe its various facets.
I was a literature student so poetry came naturally to my way. I was not interested in poetry about nature, humanism or other theories. The poems that impacted me were feminist poems that delivered the idea of freedom and equality in varied ways. As I read the feminist poets, my belief in feminism was validated and became even stronger. I am no longer ashamed or nervous about speaking against patriarchy irrespective of whom I am criticizing. You cannot differentiate a patriarchal mindset based on relationships or age. A patriarchal mindset is wrong no matter how much it is ignored or justified. If it remains unquestioned, it will easily pass on to the next generation too.
Do you know how my belief in feminism became so strong? Because of the poets, I learned and related to them. Because of their scathing words that criticised patriarchy. The vivid description of women as distinct from how male authors represented women ignited unbiased opinion in me and made a strong feminist out of me.
Here are some of the female poets whose words inspired me.
Sylvia Plath
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Sylvia Plath's poem that hit me hard was Lady Lazarus. The way she created a female version of Lazarus which otherwise didn't even exist is so intriguing. She turned over the old myths and put women at the centre too. In the poem, she talks about suicide and death and tells how she owns what she does with her life. One of my favourite lines from the poem is :
"Out of the ash
I rise with my red hair
And I eat men like air."
Kamala Das
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Another influencing poet I love is
Kamala Das. She was a fierce writer who didn't feel any shame in describing women as the holders of their agency. She often alludes to the naked bodies of women and writes impactful poems on them. She criticises the present rule of patriarchy by giving bodily autonomy to women.
One of the poems written by her that left a great impact was An Introduction, In the poem she fiercely condemns patriarchy by first describing it as the injustice women face and then saying that women have an agency of their own.
"It is I who laugh, it is I who make love
And then, feel shame, it is I who lie dying
With a rattle in my throat. I am sinner,
I am saint. I am the beloved and the
Betrayed. I have no joys that are not yours, no
Aches which are not yours. I too call myself I."
Emily Dickinson
Another very versatile poet who wrote about different themes like love, death and nature. But her feminist poems stand out among all the other poems she wrote. My favourite is She Rose to his Requirement.
"She rose to His Requirement – dropt
The Playthings of Her Life
To take the honorable Work
Of Woman, and of Wife –"
Amrita Pritam
One of the most unapologetic ports of her time is Amrita Pritam. She was ahead of her time and wrote poems about partition, sexuality, feminism, religion and other aspects of society. She also had to face a lot of criticism for her poetry but nothing stopped her from creating a legacy. The most favourite lines of her exceptional poetry are from Virgin
“To fulfill our union
I had to kill the virgin.
And kill her, I did.
Such murders are sanctioned by the law
Only the humiliation accompanying them is illegal
So I drank the poison of humiliation.”
Maya Angelou
Another poet spilling fierce feminism from her pen is Maya Angelou. You must have known her for the famous poem 'I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings'. She is best known for her poems and autobiographies that turned the readers' attention towards the lives of Black people from slavery to rebellion. She was outspoken and fierce and kept working despite her racial differences. My favourite poem of her's apart from Caged Bird is Phenomenal Women
"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’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me."
Even though these poets are long gone their poems resonate with the current times. The definition of feminism and women empowerment portrayed by the poets above are still relevant in our patriarchal society. This only shows that patriarchy hasn't changed but women have grown in terms of their mindset. The change is in the offing. Individual fights for rights and sisterhood are the weapons of women to fight against patriarchy. Just like the fierce women above, women will not stop fighting.
Views expressed are the author's own.
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