Lucille Clifton's 'Homage To My Hips'
The Power of Hips
Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and psychologically, but some resist those ideas through literature. Lucille Clifton is an example of a woman who resists those ideas through her works. In a male-dominated world, the males make the decisions for the females that does not have a say in those decisions. However, Clifton explains in her poem “Homage to My Hips” that her hips “are free hips,/ they don’t like to be held back./ These hips have never been enslaved,/ they go where they want to go./ They do what they want to do./ These hips are mighty hips” (Clifton 5-11). The way she talks about her hips being “free” and “mighty” states that she is a free woman who will not be held down by the chains of male authority; meaning that she can do whatever and go wherever she wants because she is a strong woman with her own free will. …show more content…
Maya Angelou is another example of a woman who expresses the power that females possess in a male-dominated society. In her poem “Phenomenal Woman,” she speaks about how the “span of [her] hips/ [and] the stride of [her] step” (Angelou 7-8) makes her a phenomenal woman who, like Clifton, uses imagery of female features to express the pride of being a woman. They both use the same simple words such as “hips” to express the strong nature of a woman and how these hips can even “put a spell on a man and/ spin him like a top” (Clifton14-15). Stating that her hips can even place a spell on a male and spin him like a top is giving the impression that by only moving her hips in a certain way like the stride in Angelou’s step, can make that male or any male, do whatever she wants him to
Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and psychologically, but some resist those ideas through literature. Lucille Clifton is an example of a woman who resists those ideas through her works. In a male-dominated world, the males make the decisions for the females that does not have a say in those decisions. However, Clifton explains in her poem “Homage to My Hips” that her hips “are free hips,/ they don’t like to be held back./ These hips have never been enslaved,/ they go where they want to go./ They do what they want to do./ These hips are mighty hips” (Clifton 5-11). The way she talks about her hips being “free” and “mighty” states that she is a free woman who will not be held down by the chains of male authority; meaning that she can do whatever and go wherever she wants because she is a strong woman with her own free will. …show more content…
Maya Angelou is another example of a woman who expresses the power that females possess in a male-dominated society. In her poem “Phenomenal Woman,” she speaks about how the “span of [her] hips/ [and] the stride of [her] step” (Angelou 7-8) makes her a phenomenal woman who, like Clifton, uses imagery of female features to express the pride of being a woman. They both use the same simple words such as “hips” to express the strong nature of a woman and how these hips can even “put a spell on a man and/ spin him like a top” (Clifton14-15). Stating that her hips can even place a spell on a male and spin him like a top is giving the impression that by only moving her hips in a certain way like the stride in Angelou’s step, can make that male or any male, do whatever she wants him to