Bread And Roses Analysis

Music was used as a weapon to fight for rights and had a great impact on boycotts, strikes and protests. Most labor songs were written with the intention to unite workers and strengthen them to fight for the causes they believed in. These songs were written in the spur of the moment, in response to current political conditions. The song Bread and Roses sung by Judy Collins was originally a poem written by James Oppenheim during the Bread and Roses labor strike of 1912. The Bread and Roses labor strike protests occurred in textile mills in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where woman were fighting for equal wages and better working conditions. Many who participated in the strike were women, children and immigrants. This song is politically feminist
The first line of the second paragraph “As we come marching, marching, we battle, too, for men -- For they are women's children, and we mother them again”, these lines indicate that the women are not only fighting for their rights but are also fighting for their children’s rights who are not female but are still treated unfairly at work, they may be immigrants. “Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes -- Hearts starve as well as bodies”, talks about how one starves out of hunger and one’s hearts also starves without given the respect they deserve. The chorus of this poem “Give us Bread, but give us Roses.”, indicates that women fight for fair work wages, the same as men get and in addition to fair wages they are also fighting for respect from their employers and fellow male workers. “The rising of the women means the rising of the race”, this line may mean that as women rise in protest of equal wages for themselves and other races, such as immigrants who should also be allowed the benefit equal pay. This poem is more focused of feminism but also touches parts of immigrant and African American employees as