Homage To My Hips Don T Lie Poem

Improved Essays
This project was written by me and in my own words, except for quotations from published and unpublished sources which are clearly indicated and acknowledged as such. I have not committed plagiarism when completing this work, nor have I collaborated with other student in the preparation of this work.

Chintan Jani
Professor Amanda Meyer
English 102-05
21 September 2016
Hips Don’t Lie
When issues like body-shaming are hindering many from being happy with who they are, Jes Baker in Things ‘No One Will Tell Fat Girls’ says “The second you stop looking for someone else in the mirror and start looking at you is the second you will start to appreciate what you are. You are perfect”. Similarly, Lucille Clifton in ‘homage to my hips’, uses “these hips are free hips” to show other women that they do not need to fit in with the rest of the world to be happy, they can be proud and comfortable with who they are and have no need to abide by anyone’s rules.
Homage to my hips presents a very bold and positive scenario. Lucille right off the bat makes her point by stating “these hips are big hips.” (1) for it was rare for someone to claim things of that nature and praise themselves during the time when being
…show more content…
The strong figurative use of ‘hips’ shows the bigger picture about women and not only just their hips but the way how freely they move with delight and there is no shame but just joy. It also goes to show that being ashamed of something that is a part of Poem also lacks the very capitalization and rules that normal poems follow and lines like “I have known to put a spell in a man and spin him like a top” (13-15) only solidifies that the author wants the reader to know that they are better than men because she knows the kind of power her hips hold, that they can be in control of their own life and if they desire can have the world at their

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    In the articles, “In Defense of Liz Lemon” by Emily Nussbaum and “The Fashion Industry: Free to Be an Individual” by Hannah Berry, both discuss how women can choose to step out of the typical stereotype on how women should be portrayed and be who they truly want to be. For centuries, there has been an unspoken code on how women should act, dress, and behave. However, through the years women have started to step out of those roles to embrace who they are truly are. Considering that women are becoming more powerful and successful than ever before, one would have to agree that women no longer stand in the shadows of men in the workplace or at home. Women are now becoming more comfortable in who they are by showing their personality and confidence in the way they act, dress and communicate to others.…

    • 1208 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    These insecurities constantly immersed women in a concern that they would not be valuable enough for their husband. Creating these distortions in body image was the reason “natural beauty became displaced by artificial beauty” (Hansen & Reed, 1986, p. 63). The outcome of this adaption held the place that “individuals were made to become emotionally vulnerable, constantly monitoring themselves for bodily imperfections which could no longer be regarded as natural” (Featherstone, 1982, p. 20). A paradigm of this drastic outlook on body image was in the Victorian era, when women had corsets synched to their waists, so that they gave the illusion of having an immaculate hourglass figure. Women were defined by the dimensions of their compressed waist and proportionate figure.…

    • 1555 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For centuries people have been plagued with feelings of need to meet societies harsh expectations of ‘attractiveness’. Whether that means diets, body altering clothing, or surgeries most people still live with the guilt and dissatisfaction that accompany these unrealistic expectations. Katherine Haines, the author, wrote her essay on this disease. It is just that, this mentality is a disease, and that is just what Haines is trying to tell. While Haines desire for writing this excerpt are honorable, they are not fully agreeable.…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people today, including myself have been self-conscious about how they look. In a video by Cameron Russel, she talks about how looks are not everything. We over look simple joys in life because we are unhappy with the way are bodies are viewed. Cameron gives us hope in her video because she knows exactly how many people feel about their bodies and maybe even more because she is a model. In her video she talks about her life growing up and how she was lucky to become a model.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The promoting of the pin thin trend is not only dangerous but highly irresponsible and society should demand better standards for our youth. Ms. Bardo is not only informing her audience, but is persuading them to acknowledge, get informed and to act. This essay flows with cultural and social context and the situations that are birthed from this issue. For example, this involves the situations of other cultures negatively responding to outside influences of body shaming regardless of their long preserved cultural beliefs.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the article "Ruminations of a Feminist Fitness Instructor" by Alisa L. Valdes, she talks about how society has shaped how women view their body and how they can't view their imperfections as beauty. As a feminist aerobics instructor, she tries to motivate women to not stress over what society and media refer to as the perfect body. Women already have to deal with the lack of inequality in the workforce, we don't need to be worrying about body image as well.…

    • 82 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beauty matters. Well, at least for some. From the clothes you choose to wear (and the ones you don’t) to the items you own, everything surrounding you changes how people perceive you, even things completely out of someone’s control. Pressures to adhere to societal norms can cause long-term harm for certain people, but others can take this concept in stride. Due to different upbringings, along with different environmental influences, it allows for a range of perspectives.…

    • 1601 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plus-Size Fashion, Fatness, and Disability In the search for my own liberation as someone who identifies as fat, I find that fat empowerment ideals that are reliant on aesthetic beauty fail to account for the diversity and complexity of the bodies, opinions, and preferences of fat people. Empowerment for the fat community is overwhelmingly entrenched in fashion and beauty. Despite the important discourse put forth by fat women in particular that challenges societal norms—such as the unapologetic reclamation of the F word, fat—empowerment through beauty alone stops the body positivity movement short of all that it could challenge and limits our ability to imagine new avenues of empowerment that problematize not only the west’s fixation on beauty,…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cofer In America

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Growing up in America, Cofer did not see herself as the type of girl the boys would like, so she did what she could to hide herself from their harsh criticism. In her adult life, Cofer finds other means to judge her self-worth other than her appearance. She bases her worth on her writings and the respect she receives from people who view her “as an individual,” not an outcast. The Story of My Body, shows how judgmental society can be just because of someone’s appearance.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Rebecca J. Donatelle, the author of “Enhancing Your Body Image,” feels that society affects individual’s self-esteem in various ways, to prove how the body should be maintain, and giving the attention that is wanted in society. In another article, ”Skin Deep: Seeking Self-Esteem Through Surgery,” Camille Sweeney, agrees that today’s generation are persuaded to get their ideal body image, but she also disagrees Donatelle’s point of view, how parents should let their children embrace how they feel about their own body. Both authors share the common theme of body image and the effects it has on adolescents. After reading these articles carefully, each author gives their perspective on how body image can be used in a negative and in a positive view in society.…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. Valdes-Rodriguez is implying that Cubans are interested in woman based on their body first instead of their mind. After reading this passage I can infer the beauty traits that are more favorable with Cubans are women that are there just to look good and nothing else. The author mentioned that the Cubans like to carry themselves like a man. What I took from that sentence is that they wouldn’t want woman to be more intellectual, to make more money than then, or looking more professional than them.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ruining Body Image

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Is the Media Ruining Our Perception of Body Image? Body image is the most universal topic that every person, despite age and gender, is able to comprehend. Body image is defined as the subjective picture or mental image of one’s own body; and this image can be influenced based on society expectations, cultural traditions, availability of basic needs, such as, food or water, and the representation the media is able to convey to most individuals. Although every person has their own body image, it is still somewhat taboo in most areas to discuss what image should and should not be considered healthy or ‘ideal’.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, a women’s view of body image could be changed. Adrienne Rich says in her book Of Women Born, Some contemporary theorists suggest that girls and women are increasingly able to ‘perform’ gender in a self-conscious manner. Accepting Judith Butler’s view that gender is to a great extent enacted or preformed, there is a possibility that, in the relative freedom of the postmodern world and armed with a postmodern consciousness, women will be able to variously accept, subvert or resist the normative enactment of the…

    • 1410 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Overview of the Film The film Real Women Have Curves directed by Patricia Cardoso tells the coming of age story of Ana Garcia. Ana is a Mexican American teenager that is discovering her womanhood, and struggles with pursuing the life she wants to live versus her parents. The relationship between Ana and her mother unfolds because they have different values, interest and expectations of women. As a first generation Mexican American, Ana distances herself from the traditional Latino culture, and assimilates into the American culture (Cardoso 2002).…

    • 1053 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Eating Disorders in Modern Society “Just at the time that girls begin to construct identity, they are more likely to suffer losses in self-esteem” ("The Facts About Girls in Canada"). Women face many challenges in society, a number of which are concerned with one 's self-esteem and body image. Body image has a large impact on women, especially thought who are particularly sensitive about weight and thinness. Many people consider skinniness to be a mark of beauty, however, women who are not considered skinny often fall under the category of unattractive. Women who are not necessarily thin feel self-conscious because they do not fall into society’s typical archetype of a beautiful, thin woman, a stereotype that is based on media and pop culture.…

    • 1573 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays