Fight for the Right: A Historical Perspective

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. 

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 [SL1]Excellent.

 [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