Lucille Clifton's 'Homage To My Hips'

By many, poetry is looked upon as being a language of its own. It’s a way of creatively expressing unique emotions, thoughts, and beliefs with the use of many literary devices. American poetry has been the most important form of writing throughout history. Many famous authors, such as Lucille Clifton, used poetry to document the most major times in history in which they lived, such as the Feminist Movement in the 1960s. During this time, women experienced a significant amount of gender discrimination and harassment, which inspired Lucille Clifton to incorporporate metaphors, similes, and symbolism in many of her poems to raise awareness about the power of women.
Named after her great-grandmother, Thelma Lucille Clifton was introduced to the
Clifton uses her “hips” as a form of symbolism to highlight the strengths that women possess in the world. Clifton notes; “These hips are big hips. / they need space to move around in / they don’t fit into little petty places. these hips / are free hips”(1-6). Clifton is strongly using the symbolism of hips to illustrate that women should not be belittled just because they are women. Also, she wants people to understand that women should have the equal opportunities that men have in society. Throughout lines 7-10, Clifton explains, “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”. Clifton believes that nothing can stop a woman from doing whatever she wants to do. It is evident that she believes women have the power to control their own lives despite the disapproval of others. In lines 11-15, the tone of the poem strongly shifts from Clifton’s aggressiveness, to more of a softer, subdued tone. Clifton ends the poem with, “these hips are mighty hips. / these hips are magic hips. / i have known them / to put a spell on a man and / spin him like a top”. This emphasizes the power women possess over men and their ability to control men in order to receive what they are longing