What is your opinion of this...?

Question

I want to get someopnions of this peice of poetry I found by Ani Difranco, what do you beleive she is trying to say about women?

Here is the link (it won't all fit in this box)

http://www.danah.org/Ani/PuddleDive/MyIQ.html

Answer 1

She, as a child, is given the rorscach test. She learns that society demands a level of conformity when they tell her "different is wrong".

" I woke up one morning....like a warning...I live in a breakable body" She has an experience in which she remembers that she is not immortal.

"takeable body"--perhaps she was raped

"silence is violence"--she thinks one needs to express herself, in order to not abuse herself.

Answer 2

She is probably saying as much about the progress of her life from childhood to adulthood as anything. The widening stretch marks gives a clue of several childbirths. Being covered with blood signifies the Mense. She is saying that transition is hard and unsatisfying, and certainly unfulfilling. That is what I got in a quick scan. Others may feel differently.

Answer 3

Simple; she feels confined in the restrains of her own body and recognizes what it means to have 'others' project their ideas on her about what it means to be female. Her high intellect and soul are what she recognizes as the truth..not all the oppressive rubbish she was taught about being female. She's basically descibing how potentially debilitating societal convention can be...and is smart enough to see through all the nonsense.

Answer 4

She certainly doesn't like her perceived status as a woman. I'd recommend that she stop reading feminist victim literature and start reading things that celebrate femininity and women in general.

My overall response to the poem is merely "Paranoia will destroy ya."

Answer 5

I liked most of it, she definitely has something to say. I felt like the girl in the poem is conflicted about becoming a woman, and that things aren't always what they seem.