For almost all of Marge Piercy's works that I have read, she has written about body image and women. She grew up in a time that was hard for women to really flourish and do what they wished. Because of this, it had a huge impact on her poetry due to the suppression she experienced.
Throughout poems such as Barbie Doll, we see that she is writing about body image. This is a main theme in most of her poems.
Marge Piercy's other main theme is suppression of women. In her time, as stated earlier, women were seen as inferior to men. Marge knew that this was very untrue, and that women had and still have potential to do great things. In 'The Friend', her friend is telling her that she must change her body image to be beautiful. Sadly, it is predicted that Marge's poems, mostly based on body image and suppression, were due to how she was treated as a child. In lengthier biographies that I read about her, it claimed that this is true. In others, they did not mention anything like that.
In general, I found that most of Piercy's writings were her own thoughts and feelings transformed onto paper. I really enjoyed reading them, but they got old after a while. Essentially, I did enjoy her writings.
Marge Piercy comes across as a a very motivated, inspired poet. I feel like a lot of her poems stem not only from the environment around her (namely relating to women's roles in society) but also from personal experience. Some of her poems, such as "Barbie Doll" and "My Mother's Body" express strong emotions such as bitterness and pain, but I can't help to think that these intense feelings must be stemming from somewhere (though I could be completely mistaken, seeing as she supposedly had an excellent childhood).
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoyed reading her work. It's not difficult to get through, and has a nice rhythm to it. The meaning of her work is also pretty obvious for the most part, so I can enjoy the poem and simultaneously analyze it (which doesn't happen frequently).
I found Marge Piercy's poetry to be very interesting mainly because of the subject matter. Women's bodies and body image is a recurring theme in a lot of modern literature, however I think Piercy explores it in a completely unique way. The pressures she writes about are real pressures faced by women in today's society. I feel as if women's literature gets a bad reputation though, as it is somewhat unrelatable to half the population.
ReplyDeleteThe poem I enjoyed most by Marge Piercy was the one about her dream in which she is packing a suitcase full of clothes and cats and they keep disappearing. It was written in a dream like state in which strange things kept occurring but the speaker didn't find them strange at all - she just kept packing and re-packing her clothes and cats. I agree that some of Piercy's other poems are unique in the way that they express expectations and body images for women. As a high school girl, it's pretty easy to relate to the theme of body image and I think it's interesting how it's expressed in her poems, especially "Barbie Doll".
ReplyDeleteI think that many of Piercy’s poems have a strong relevance, especially today where the media portrays the body image through the use of models. This is issue especially prevalent for women today, and this is the first time that I have seen a poem speak about this issue. I think it is great that Peircy addresses these issues in her poems, as this is often not talked about and maybe those struggling with body image can relate to her poems.
ReplyDeleteI've covered a lot about body image and such in some of my other classes, and I think it's an extremely important issue. It's great that Piercy will talk about it in her poetry. The media really changes the way we look at ourselves and eachother and it's good to have some perspective from the other side of the fence- the one that doesn't demand perfection.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the themes that Marge Piercy's are very easy to relate to. I also think that both genders feel the pressure of body image whether it be from peers or from themselves. I think this is a modern issue that not many poets from this list have covered, although supression of women has been. I can understand how the same themes got boring when repeated too much, but I think her own personal experience with body image adds something extra that's needed for something like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really important topic I think that Marge Piercy is talking about. I think the idea of body image is a very big topic in the world right now and many women are affected by it. She has taken from her own experience too, and brought it into this topic, which makes it very personal and many will be able to relate to it. I think Meaghan has a good point about the poems getting old. Although I do love the topic and think it should be out there, I would appreciate it if she would maybe switch up the themes somewhat, because after a while the idea of women being inferior to men gets very monotonous and then it doesn't seem like that big of a deal anymore to me.
ReplyDeleteSociety's obsession with body image is certainly prevalent in many of Piercy's poems and can be somewhat unnerving when she presents the emotional and physical measures and sacrifices made by girls to be accepted by whoever they fear rejection from (a mother, society in general) as seen in "Barbie Doll" and "My Mother's Body." I think this is definitely Piercy's attempt to make society understand the pressures it puts on people to be "perfect" and how detrimental such pressure can be on an individual's life. Very powerful ideas.
ReplyDeleteI found her poems interesting about body image and gender role. I agree that these poems are still relevent today. We have celeberties and eating disorders that relate to body image issues. As for inqualities with men and women that is also relevent today. There are double standards for sports, sex, jobs, and dress codes. Such as women are not viewed as massive athletes, if they have sex before marriage they are viewed as sluts, and they still get paid less to the dollar than men. I liked that there was a strong relevence to my everyday life with gender roles because it gave me a better drive to read her poems. I also found the poems were simple and straightforward to read but had powerful ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree with my classmates that Piercy's poems about body image are very poignant and relevant to our lives, particularly those of girls. They emphasize the innocence and self-worth that society often takes away from young girls. The poem "Barbie Doll" represents this perfectly; the girl spoken of in the poem was happy with her looks until a classmate pointed it out. The classmate represents the media, pointing to our flaws and ignoring our strengths. The ending, where she is pretty only in death, shows the futility of trying to make yourself something that you're not.
ReplyDeleteI most responded to that particular poem, but I felt that all of her poems were poignant and easily understood.
As I mentioned in another blog post, one of the most important aspects of poetry if it is written well is its potential to get us to experience emotions relating to events or situations that we haven't necessarily individually been a part of. However, an equally important aspect of poetry is in its ability to bring attention to social issues such as girls' self-images. Piercy's poetry is beautifully constructed in a way that highlights the emotions felt by those involved, allowing the reader to actually feel what it is like to be suppressed as a woman.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brendan that poetry, if it is written effectively should spark emotion from the reader, and equally as important should address or bring attention to certain social issues. In the case of Piercy, her poetry, in part cause its beautifully written evokes the emotions of the reader. I enjoyed her writing because what she was writing for was both relevant and bold. In addition, her masterful writing helps to develop upon what she is trying to say.
ReplyDeleteI think Piercy's poetry touches upon a very important theme. Body image is a common issue in today's society and Piercy's poems portray this issue well. Her use of figurative language helps to display the emotions that women feel because of the pressure put on the to have the perfect body. Her poems are a powerful protest to the suppression of women.
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