[ SECRET POST #2874 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2874 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.



__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.













Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 074 secrets from Secret Submission Post #411.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 4 - random images ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i57.tinypic.com/w8p66v.jpg

[diet_poison]

Hm. I kind of agree, unless I'm missing something...I haven't read that poem before (oops).

[(Anonymous)]

You are missing something. The poem is saying that the author isn't beautiful but she's still attractive because of her confidence and healthy self-esteem.

It has nothing to do with what the OP is saying.

[siofrabunnies]

Well, sexuality is a kind of power. And, historically, it was pretty much the only one most women had a shot at wielding. If your only choice is "I'm so awesome that/because everyone wants to fuck me", it's still better than not having any power. True, there have always been female soldiers, intellectuals, rulers, landowners, etc, but they were very much the exception.

I'm glad that it's changing. Slowly, but it's improving. Women are now holding real positions in government, business, science. We're not allowed to only be nurses, teachers, or housewives, and nothing else. But, just because we've accessed new kinds of power, doesn't mean we have to give up sexuality. Sex as empowerment shouldn't be a bad thing; it just shouldn't be a woman's only option.

And, well, I personally wouldn't mind that poem from a male perspective. What I want is for women to be put up to mens' level, not man to be dragged down to where women have been. I want men and women who wield sexuality, swords, political power, money, swagger, charm, torches, whatever.

[(Anonymous)]

This! Although I more want to see poems about a man's sexuality from a female POV, than poems about a man's sexuality from that same man's POV. Masculine sexuality is mentioned way too little when it comes to explicit appreciation of it by a third party, I guess precisely because people *do* think sexuality is a inferior type of power due to being associated with women and that explicitly talking about a man's sex appeal.

Of course, appreciation of men's sex appeal that's just kind of there but not talked about is all over the place with male heroes like James Bond and all the current superheroes and stuff who can get any woman to sleep with them, who have awesome bulging muscles, blah blah blah. But whenever someone actually starts talking about exactly what about the man's body or the way they move or the clothes they wear makes them so sexy, everyone gets all embarrassed and awkward and self-conscious and act like it's hilarious, as if the men are being treated like women or something. It's all so dumb.

[hallokatzchen]

"Sex as empowerment shouldn't be a bad thing; it just shouldn't be a woman's only option."

Thank you! Thank you so much for saying this! ♥

OP

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree. I believe that using sexuality as "power" actually keeps women in a subservient, pleasing, lesser position to men in that a) not all women have access to it. Very young girls don't, although sometimes they try to use sex as power because they're taught that female power must be sexual from a young age, and that backfires on them. Older women who no longer embody commercial/conventional ideals of what is sexually desirable by men don't have that kind of power either. It's a kind of power that only exist with a narrow framework. b) It's a power that exists because women who use it mould their sexuality into something pleasing for men. It's forces women to subvert their true sexual selves into something artificial, commercial, etc.

Why do you think so many women are starving themselves and getting plastic surgery? Because they think it's the only route to power.

Sexuality is personal. It should be celebrated on a personal level, not used for power, not USED for anything other than pleasure.

[(Anonymous)]

I think some people would argue, though, that black women have a very different experience in regards to desirability in that white women have often been held up as the ideal and black women have had to fight to be seen as beautiful, desirable, worth loving, etc.

It's why a lot of black women will defend black female love interests -- because it was a role denied to them for so long and being "just friends" wasn't a progressive position but rather because they were perceived as "undesirable."

I don't know that I necessarily agree (I'm not black mind you but I'm not white either), but I think that's how some black women feel and I think that the poem is (at least partially) reflective of this -- that black women are just as beautiful, feminine, and desirable as white women (who have been held up as the pinnacle of femininity in Western cultures).

[(Anonymous)]

It's definitely reflective of this, and deliberately so. It has the potential to speak to any woman who feels she's been rendered undesirable by Western beauty standards, but it's at its heart written about being a large, black woman in the latter part of the 20th Century, and about being desirable and worthy of desire not in spite of those specific qualities, but because of all of her qualities.

[(Anonymous)]

That makes me see that poem differently and appreciate it, thanks for that insight. Although there are a lot of non-desirable white women as well, I see the difference you mean.

I always thought it was pretty stupid before, for the reasons the OP said.

[kallanda_lee]

I'm honestly reading this as a poem about confidence, not looks or sexuality but maybe that's me?

[(Anonymous)]

+100

[a_potato]

Nope, I think you're spot-on. Here's the last stanza:

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

It's a poem about owning yourself, and about the power that stems from that. It's also a response to being told that you don't look or act the way you're "supposed" to.

[dreemyweird]

I can't agree. It's not about looks, that much is true, and it IS about confidence, but I also definitely see sexuality being the main theme or at least A main theme. "The fellows stand or fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, a hive of honey bees"? Nope, that's not just confidence.

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you! That's exactly what I thought too.

[(Anonymous)]

Not just you. OP completely misread the poem.

[fingalsanteater]

If I could make people flock to me or do my bidding based on my sexuality, I would exploit that shit in a heartbeat. I'm so tired of people (men and women) telling other women how to feel about their sexuality.

[intrigueing]

Well, that's what this poem's example is. It's not supposed to be detailing the sum total of all of a woman's possible sources of worth or power, it uses a particular example -- what pretty women without confidence don't understand is so special about a not-so-pretty woman with it -- so of course she mentions her sexuality. That's how poems work. They use metaphors, mention something specific (charisma, including sexuality) to send a broadly applicable message (about confidence). The message works much better that way because it causes the reader to picture a very clear, vivid image in their mind's eye (can't you all just see that female narrator, teeth flashing and lips curling?) rather than some dry all-purpose concept.

I mean, I suppose she could've used a different example, but this is a pretty excellent one, given stereotypical feminine ideals and all.

I think a version of it would work just fine if it was about a man, tbh. It wouldn't work if you just switched the pronouns, no, because the poem relies on subverting stereotypes, but the meaning would still totally work. And I don't know about the male narrator, since men are expected to brag about themselves and women aren't, which would make a difference, but a poem that talks about a man's charm similarly to this one certainly wouldn't sound "ridiculous" to me.

[a_potato]

When this poem was written has to be taken into account. It was during a time when women were feeling more free to express themselves sexually, and also during a time when black women were feeling more free to adopt their own notions of beauty as opposed to the societal (read: white) standard. Power and confidence viewed through the lens of attraction makes more sense in that context (and it really is more about confidence, than anything else).

Also, the fact that it speaks to one sort of power, or one sort of consequence of confidence, does not mean that it's denying any other source of power. And while it's definitely true that women definitely tend to be reduced to their sexuality, and it's also true that that's a problem, the answer isn't to brush aside or stop acknowledging the power of sexuality -- it's to add other sources of power to it. It's not, and shouldn't be, a zero-sum game.

I'd also note that your version with the roles reversed doesn't actually sound ridiculous at all, because men do derive power from being able to attract women. The fantasy of women falling all over themselves to get a particular man pops up constantly in fiction, and it's something that a lot of men aspire to.

[(Anonymous)]

Why wouldn't a poem about a woman's sexuality work if it was gender reversed?

Now I'm remembering that there was a song by Little Richard a long while ago called "The Girl Can't Help It" that was gender-flipped by Bonnie Raitt to a song called "The Boy Can't Help It" which was actually a lot better and sounded fresher and more unique.

[solticisekf]

re the poem - if being a woman is the thing that makes someone proud, it's really sad. Half the population managed it, so it's not phenomenal.

[chardmonster]

Yes, that's certainly the sense I draw from Angelou's work. An uncomplicated focus on female sexuality to the exclusion of all other sources of female empowerment.

"I know why the caged gogo girl dances" is my favorite.

[dreemyweird]

Although I have to second the things said upthread (that this is not necessarily a harmful attitude and that sexuality can be one of the sources of power, regardless of your gender), I must say that the trope where women use their sexuality in this way bores me to tears. It's not... harmful, per se, it's just boring and has been overdone so, so badly.

I appreciate that it was written in a different time. And that black folks have a different experience with these things. So I suppose I understand why some black women may find this catharctic/why it could have been popular back then. Why it would be popular nowadays/among white women? No idea. I think it may have something to do with the general liking for the "sexually powerful!!!" female figure in fiction, and that's, well, that's not terribly interesting nor terribly progressive.

[(Anonymous)]

I think sexuality is an aspect of the power the poem talks about, but it's not the only thing. I actually think it speaks more of body confidence than who wants to fuck who.

[(Anonymous)]

If sexuality is power, i think it a shit one. No on the aspect of quantity, quality, well it depends.