2021 Blog Posts

Within the collection of poetry of “The Work of a Common Woman” by Judy Grahn, “The Psychoanalysis of Edward the Dyke” really stands out to me as a unique poem. Written more like prose, the poem is a satirical story which points out the ridiculousness of the medical community’s treatment of transgender people, and LGBT people more generally. There was a lot of overlap between this story’s themes and Susan Stryker’s second chapter of “Transgender History,” in which Stryker talks about some of the prejudices LGBT people face in getting the medical treatment they need. Because these two pieces of writing are in such strong conversation with one another, I thought it would be worth examining how they compliment each other, in order to understand why Grahn’s poem is so effective in shedding light on some of the unfortunate realities that Stryker points out in “Transgender History.”

As Stryker notes in the section “The Social Power of Medicine,” the advancement of surgery so that it was not a death sentence was very significant to transgender people who felt compelled to physically change their bodies to better reflect their identities. However, in the middle decades of the 19^th century, there was really no concept of these “elective surgeries” as we may call them today. As such, surgeries at this time required a pre-requisite of “sickness.” This created a dilemma among transgender people, where they had an opportunity to receive the operation they needed, but in order to do so needed to accept the medical (and societal) diagnosis that transgender people were “mentally ill” in order to receive treatment, a diagnosis that was absolutely false.

Though the later research of Ulrich, Kertbeny, and Hirschfield have contributed to a better understanding of the biological realities of transgender people, many of the prejudices and generalizations still remain. The prejudiced psychoanalysis of Edward by the doctor within the story is meant to represent a long-standing trend for not just transgender/LGBT people, but other minorities as well. The poem is characterized by the doctor’s shortness and quick generalization of Edward without listening to the whole story, treating her more as a case study than as a person. His diagnoses are not painted by his evaluation of Edward, but by his views of LGBT people based on long standing stereotypes, like when he assumes that Edward has multiple lovers, that she has penis envy, and that she exhibits the Freudian idea that she wants “to kill her mother.”

The fact that these attitudes could still be held by medical/psychiatric professionals when Grahn wrote her poetry collection in the 1960’s and 1970’s, well after the origins of widespread transgender medical prejudices that seemingly began in the middle of the 19^th century or perhaps even earlier, shows just how deeply systemic discrimination can impact minority livelihoods. Though her poem is obviously slightly exaggerated for satirical effect, what Grahn is trying to get at is just how much these prejudices can persist in a community even after they’ve been disproven, and how harmful these prejudices can be towards LGBT people who are trying to discover their unique identities. This is brought home by Edward’s declaration towards the end of the poem about herself that she is “vile,” because whenever she turns to someone like the doctor in the poem for help, they tell her she’s suffering from a “deadly affliction” and that she’s “sick.” Taken within the context of the LGBT history Stryker examines, Grahn is shedding a light on the systemic issues that have persisted over time for LGBT people that need to be rectified.

While initially reading “IV. Carol, in the park, chewing on straws,” by Judy Grahn, I envisioned the woman of focus within the piece, as disinterested with her life, putting on a persona to please others. After re-reading and pairing it with Adrienne Rich’s poem “Diving into the Wreck,” I believe both speakers in each poem, ironically, have a desire to face hardships, in order to grow and reach a sense of purpose. In particular, the narration is in third person, therefore it directly shows not only an outside perspective of Carol but also her inner monologue. This is ultimately examined in lines 13-21, where the speaker states,

On weekends, she dreams of becoming a tree;
A tree that dreams it is ground up
And sent to the paper factory, where it
Lies helpless in sheets, until it dreams
Of becoming a paper airplane, and rises
On its own current; where it turns into a
Bird, a great coasting bird that dreams of becoming
More free, even, than that—a feather, finally, or
A piece of air with lightning in it (1).

Grahn gives the reader an insight in this specific excerpt, where Carol’s deepest desires are unveiled. Line 13 begins her inner monologue as she dreams of becoming another, in particular, something that is inanimate. The tone of the speaker in line 13 is almost nostalgic, yet in line 14 it is drastically different. She then wishes that she was “a tree that…is ground up.” The switch of her tone from holding a positive connotation to a more gruesome one is quite shocking. From this immediate juxtaposition, I believe that Carol has an inclination towards death and suffering. Furthering this desire for suffering, in lines 15-16, it states, “And sent to the paper factory, where it lies helpless in sheets.” However, I do not firmly believe that this desire for suffering results in her ‘end,’ but instead, her personal growth. Directly shown in the following lines, the speaker shows Carol’s longing for change and growth. It states, “…until it dreams of becoming a paper airplane, and rises on its own current. Not only does this line show her desire for newness, but also her ability to be independent. By having the paper airplane form and be able to “rise on its own current,” Carol will not be at anyone’s disposure. The final three lines of the excerpt are riveting, as the speaker explicitly shows Carol’s longing for freedom and her ultimate means to do so. It is stated, “…where it turns into a bird, a great coasting bird that dreams of becoming more free, even, than that—a feather, finally, or a piece of air with lightning in it.” The overarching transformation of a tree to a feather heightens the amount of change Carol wants to have within her life. The smaller changes within, of tree to paper, paper to paper airplane, airplane to bird, and bird to feather, show the hardships and steps of changing, enveloped within the larger transformation.
Rich’s narration of “Diving into the Wreck” is similar, as the speaker gives the reader an insight into a wreck she discovers, and ultimately keeps going back to. In my blog post prior, I made a connection between the wreck itself and the speaker’s feelings regarding the wreck. I believed that the ‘wreck’ meant the speaker’s past and that the speaker wants to use the wreck as a learning experience for growth.

In the seventh stanza, Rich states,
The thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty (102).
If the reader were to assume that the ‘wreck’ means the speaker’s past, then the disregard for the story of the past only heightens the speaker’s distaste for being stuck within the past. Through the metaphor of “the drowning face always staring,” the reader can infer that the past is always lingering. By positioning the face “towards the sun,” this demonstrates how the speaker has the ability to use the past to their advantage. However, this has not been done yet and the reader can assume through Rich’s explanation of this image, being “the evidence of damage.” Both Rich and Grahn depict their speakers as longing for change and ironically, wanting to face hardships along the way, in order for their ultimate growth.

Judy Grahn’s poem, “VI. Margaret, seen through a picture window” is from her series “The Common Woman” which describes multiple different women and their lives. Using the phrase “common Woman” in each poem emphasizes the fact that they are all similar based on the fact that they are all women and all have their own struggles. However, each woman is uniquely different in their struggles. By using a simile at the end of most of the poems to compare the common woman to something else shows the diversity that exists within every woman. Margaret, the woman from this specific poem, experiences life as a woman in a patriarchal society; being shamed for an abortion, fired for speaking up, and criticized and mocked by her husband. Grahn conveys the inner and outer pressures of her life that have worn her down so that now she is “a little blue around the edges” (line 16), a little numb and burnt out. The reader can feel the numbness from the description of Margaret “staring at the empty magazine pages” (lines 17-18) and “wander(ing) from room to room” (line 22). These actions enforce the desensitized role Margaret now plays. She seems to have succumbed to the overbearing pressures and “lusts for changes” (line 21) she no longer has the willpower to make.

Grahn compares a common woman in this poem to a new moon. A new moon cannot be seen from earth during its orbit, although just because it cannot be seen physically does not diminish its power and representation. Similarly, just because one does not necessarily see issues of the mind does not mean they are not there. Margaret’s behavior and thoughts reflect an eating disorder and/or depression, yet no one may notice them at a glance. After repeatedly being beat down as a woman she is forced to yield and her mind and body physically feel the affects of the harassment of daily life.

Another way of reading the new moon could be read as the woman being as common as a new moon, therefore not very common at all. Additionally, the comparison of “as solemn as a monkey” (line 23) is satirical and ironic as one does not think of a monkey as a serious animal thanks to cartoon stereotypes, however, monkeys do not typically look happy in real life. The conflicting attributes leave the reader questioning what the definition of a common woman truly is, similarly to the other poems.

Grahn uses these poems to express the individuality of women and how life has shaped them to be who they are rather than conforming to the expectations of their gender stereotypes. These woman hold power in who they are and the reader has to accept them for the good and the bad.

Adrienne Rich’s Dialogue looks at an interaction between Rich and another woman. The poem starts with some imagery of the woman sitting during their long conversation, a shift in the poem occurs when the narrator gets up to make a cup of tea. This shift is mostly seen at the end of the first stanza and carries through to the end of the poem. Rich utilizes enjambment as well as certain punctuation within the lines in order to create pauses and alter the flow of the poem. Rich also uses parentheses in order to show the narrators thoughts about what the woman  had to say. The words that are said are all in italics, starting in the first stanza and all of the second stanza.

The second stanza is full of “I” and question words. She is talking about what she had done in her past and how it made her feel. This retrospective conversation is vague but it can be inferred that she is talking about her feelings or lack thereof for someone. She is confronting her past and trying to make some sense of it, even if there isn’t a strong resolution that comes out of it. These lines come across as an internal dialogue, but could also be words shared from the woman. The ambiguity of this poem is something that makes it so striking and engaging.

After reading Adrienne Rich’s poem Diving into the Wreck I was  immediately drawn to the vulnerability of diving into an ocean. My skin tingles as I recall diving in the Caribbean surrounded by the tepid water and sinking into the depths.  Similarly, I ran into a shipwreck and was surrounded by murky obscurity with the unknown staring back at me. When someone is diving into darkness all things seem equal. No one is stronger or weaker than the other person.  In the fourth stanza, the narrator says:  

First, the air is blue, and then 

it is bluer and then green and then 

black I am blacking out 

The ocean is an abyss where one can feel universally free and escape the oppression that they are receiving from the world above. As one sinks lower and lower the weight of oppression is lifted. All souls are equal.  Rich uses darkness as a spiritually uplifting message versus how the Bible refers to it as death. The narrator is no longer afraid of being alone in an underworld and believes the domain of darkness creates equality. 

In the sixth stanza, the narrator says 

I came to explore the wreck. 

The words are purposes. 

The words are maps. 

I came to see the damage that was done.  

The narrator “came to explore the wreck” which perhaps is a metaphor for human suffering. Shipwrecks usually contain human suffering and as a diver explores this suffering it is the words and the maps that reveal the sadness. The wreck is left to be remembered and available to be revisited again.

 

Self discovery is, by nature of the words, discovery of oneself. In “Diving Into the Wreck” Adrienne Rich uses language to portray the theme of discovery through isolation. The first stanza use of the line “I put on” establishes the narrator as both powerful and alone with them completing this dive. The narrator then continues the permeating sense of isolation with the following line

“I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone”.

The beginning of line 8 once again uses “I” but contrast the narrator with Cousteau, a famous diver, making their solo trip in contrast sound difficult and non glamourous. However while Cousteau has an “assiduous team” the line break separates Cousteau from his team a making him alone in this poem even among his team. The end of the stanza once again emphasizes the narrators isolation with “but here alone” contrasting her difficult self discovery with Cousteau extravagant dive. While Cousteau has a team he is alone where the narrator being alone can be seen as humbling in contrast.

Then as the narrator begins her dive to explore the wreck she continues with her usage of I as follows “I came to explore the wreck”, ” the thing I came for.” Her exploration of the wreck can be seen as her exploration of her own trauma and self and how she alone can accomplish the self discovery needed. She alone examines the ship in careful detail.

When the narrator does switch from using I it is in describing her new form after her self discovery.

“And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
above the wreck.”

The use of we comes after the narrators description of themselves have changed and rather than represent we as a multitude of others it is used to transcribe their identity. We is neither female or male as the narrator transcends these concepts in their isolated self discovery.

 

The poem “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich is an extended metaphor for the long-standing oppression of women throughout history. In the beginning and end of the poem a “book of myths” (1, 92) is mentioned. This book is where the speaker learned a lot about the history of the wreck she is exploring. The wreck in this poem isn’t a literal shipwreck, but a metaphor for the oppression of women and the damage it has caused. Thinking of the wreck in this context, the book of myths seems to be a script that women are supposed to follow. This script lays out gender norms such as the clothes women should wear and the way they should act.

In the final stanza of the poem Rich writes, “a book of myths / in which / our names do not appear” (92-94). Clearly this book does not mention the speaker or anyone else she is lumping in with her by saying “our names” (94). These people the book fails to mention are women throughout history. This can be deduced by analyzing the way in which Rich describes what was found in the wreck. Not only was there damage down there, but also treasure that was left to rot. Rich writes, “the evidence of damage / worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty / the ribs of the disaster / curving their assertion / among the tentative hunters” (66-70). Clearly there is damage within this wreck, but there is also the shadow of beauty. This beauty is the stories of women that have been stamped down by men and “left to rot” (82). Not only are these beautiful stories forgotten about, but the women’s names are also left out of a book that is supposed to guide them in adhering to societies standards. By saying “our names do not appear” (94), Rich is commenting on how the accomplishments of women are seldom talked about and their names are not mentioned when they should be. This instills in women the belief that they are less important than men and shouldn’t aim too high because they won’t be remembered for anything either way.

Because Rich is discussing how women’s names are often forgotten, it draws my attention to the only name mentioned in the poem. She writes, “not like Cousteau with his / assiduous team / aboard the sun-flooded schooner” (9-12). Jacques Cousteau was a French naval officer and explorer who studied the sea. I think it’s important to note that the only name Rich mentions in this poem is his name, further emphasizing her point that women and their accomplishments are often forgotten about while men and their accomplishments are always remembered.

“I thought I told you about the girl sleeping with me whether I injoyed it or not. I can’t say that I injoyed it very much. I don’t care about her sleeping with me again. I don’t know what kind of excitement I refer to now. I presume I know at the time. I can’t recalled.”(186)

Addie Brown and Rebecca Primus’ relationship, analyzed in No Kisses Like Yours, points to a deeper understanding of female relationships in the 19th century. The two women, both African American living in Hartford, provide insight into their intimate relationship through their recovered letters. This quote comes from a point in the letters where Rebecca is telling Addie about a woman she met while teaching in the American south. She wrote about the women’s desire to have “bosom sex” with her, a sex act that Addie is familiar with. Rebecca shares a bed with this woman, indicated by her writing that this is where bosom sex is expected to occur. Addie responds jealously to this information causing Rebecca to respond with the above quote. She responds rather defensively to Addie’s jealousy and puts on an air of impartiality. She acts as if she can’t remember her own desire from the night she slept with the woman and reassures Addie that it was no big deal.

Their relationship is difficult to apply contemporary examples of queerness to as LGBTQ identities hold a very different place in our culture than in the 19th century. At the time, middle-class white women also enjoyed “romantic” friendships with other women- including kissing, terms of endearment, and bed-sharing. Addie and Rebecca’s relationship differentiates from white female relationships as they clearly display examples of eroticism in their letters. This quote explicitly points to their eroticism as Addie feels jealous after Rebecca expresses her interest in another woman and subsequently denies her excitement later.

“I can’t say that I injoyed it very much. I don’t care about her sleeping with me again. I don’t know what kind of excitement I refer to now.” In this line, Rebecca feigns amnesia and can’t seem to recall why she slept with the woman in the first place. She seems to have felt some excitement for the other woman at some point if she was willing to sleep with her and possibly encounter the sexual intimacy that comes from sharing a bed with Addie.

Through this retort to jealousy, we can understand Rebecca and Addie’s relationship as queer and sexual- with examples of them feeling both sexual attraction and jealousy. This quote, in particular, expresses their commitment to each other and solidifies that sleeping with another woman would imply sex acts that Addie and Rebecca frequently experienced.

“Dialogue” by Adrienne Rich communicates confusion and contemplation about one’s sexuality and marital life. The speaker emits uncertainty to herself or to another as she reflects on her troubles. It is clearly something that has bothered her for a time considering the third to last line in the first stanza which states “and this is what I live through over and over” (Rich, lines 8-9). The line suggests that these thoughts have been either vocalized or dwelled on repeatedly/frequently. In addition, throughout the poem the speaker appears to be repressing her feelings about her sexuality and the unsettling sensation that something is wrong. Rich portrays the inner emotions and doubts of the speaker in order to reveal the difficulties and social pressure someone outside of the heterosexual norm might experience.
Examples of the repression can be found in the second stanza, specifically in lines 11-14; “I do not know/ who I was when I did those things/or who I said I was/or whether I willed to feel/what I had read about.” The second stanza is all in italics, conveying that perhaps the speaker is lost in her thoughts or reliving the moments she is referring to in the stanza. Additionally, the repetition of “I” frequents the lines so much so that the reader can feel the speaker getting caught up in her thoughts. The “I’s” can also be looked at as a search into her identity and what “I” can truly be defined as in terms of sexual orientation, pronouns, and even a sense of internalized homophobia. The subject of her concern seems to be referring to the popular happy heterosexual married couple fantasy she “read about” before her marriage. Now in the relationship she expresses doubt and confusion about the intimacy and/or general relationship. “I do not know/who I was when I did those things” focusing on “things” alludes to sex. However, in this case, not knowing who she was did not mean she was lost in the moment but rather conveys the confusion as to why she was suppose to enjoy it as she now looks upon it filled with doubt and/or regret. “Who I said I was” suggests her claim as heterosexual may be questionable. Lastly, “or whether I willed to feel/what I had read about” expresses her want to feel what society insisted, however, the use of the word “willed” strongly suggests that she was forcing herself to do something she did not like.
The speaker, while expressing her thoughts, is repressing her emotions and truthfully her understanding. She knows she is different from what is expected of her by society and her reaction reveals the uncertainty and confusion she feels about her changing identity. Rich’s poem speaks to those who feel similarly while also connecting other readers by using emotions of doubt and confusion.

In Those Years
In those years, people will say, we lost track
of the meaning of we, of you
we found ourselves *

reduced to I 
and the whole thing became silly, ironic, terrible:
we were trying to live a personal life
and, yes, that was the only life
we could bear witness to

But the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged
into our personal weather
They were headed somewhere else but their beaks and pinions drove
along the shore, through the rags of fog
where we stood, saying I

I think this passage* is about individuality and being caught up with oneself as opposed to looking outwards into the world. There is a focus on introspection as seen with the words “we” and “you” as opposed to “I”. The first line speaks to a contemplative stance that looks back on a time where individuality became the prime focus and became all-consuming (we see this in the wording “we lost track”). The second line speaks to what was lost, which was a collectivist view (we see this with the use of “we” and “you”). The third line is so interesting because it both implies a collective “ourselves” but also implies an individual finding of oneself, as the sentence uses “ourselves” instead of “ourself”, implying this discovery is individualistic.  

The passage relates to the entirety of the piece in the way that the whole piece shares a theme of a dichotomy between collectivism and individualism. The first stanza is used to introduce the second stanza, which focuses on “personal life” being the only focus of one’s life and perhaps one’s existence. Perhaps this solitary existence symbolizes a coping mechanism for queer individuals who feel alone in their sexual orientation and identity because they exist in a time where heteronormativity was overpowering. The words, “that was the only life we could bear witness to” indicates how one’s oppressive, ignorant, and uneducated external environment affects one’s knowledge about one’s queerness, convincing them that something is inherently wrong with them. This then leads into the third stanza, which focuses on how, as much as one tries to remain ‘in hiding’ and isolated because of fear of how others will view and treat them,  past wide-held beliefs about queerness will constantly affect how someone exists in the world, whether that ‘advice’ is welcome by the individual or not (“But the great dark birds of history screamed and plunged into our personal weather”). 

I think this poem relates to our class discussions and concepts in that it focuses on how one’s identity, specifically one’s sexual orientation, is impacted by those who came before (“history”) as well as experiences of abnormality and isolation that can come with identifying as a member of the LGBTQ individual. It speaks to the exhaustion and fountain of emotions that comes with the all-encompassing and overwhelming feelings of confusion (“we lost track of the meaning”) and of feeling like an outcast (“reduced to I and the whole thing became silly, ironic, terrible”).