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Erykah Badu's song "Bag Lady" is a prime example of the healing power of music, and the lessons that can be taught through music. Erykah Badu's "Bag Lady" serves as a wake up call for women across the world. From the first verse of the song until the last verse when the song begins to fade, Badu's words evoke feelings of emotion that women can relate to. Badu's lyrics also help women find some type of inner peace to get over their problems, in a way that will best help them free their spirit.
Badu's first verse says "bag lady, you gon' hurt your back/ Draggin' all them bags like that/ I guess nobody ever told you/ All you must hold on to is you, is you, is you"(Badu). This verse says that there is no since in holding on to the pain, anger and disappointment that manifests itself on our bodies, when the end result will most likely be the same. Women often end up with a chronic illness or one of many life threatening diseases because of a tendency to hold on to so many "bags" or aggression. When Badu says "All you must hold on to is you, is you, is you"(Badu) she is saying that women should not worry about things that they cannot control, and that their primary concern should be themselves, because worrying about situations or problems that can not be changed continuously brings a person down.
Erykah Badu's second verse says "One day all them bags gon' get in your way" (Badu) repeating it three times and then proceeding to the last line of the verse which says "So pack light"(Badu). Through this verse, Badu is emphasizing the fact that women must learn how to let go of the excess baggage that pulls them down, regardless of what it may be, in order to survive. When Badu says "So pack light" (Badu) she means that women shou...
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...ol Erykah wants women to let it go because it only causes them to disrespect and not love themselves. Badu goes on to talk about the other types of women like those who settle for less or use their bodies in demoralizing ways and how they should let it go because it leads to negative outcomes. Badu wants women to wake up and realize that they are somebody, and they are here for a reason, and their purpose is not to worship a man, but to worship themselves. Erykah Badu's is also telling women to search themselves, be honest, and ask themselves what is in their bag. Erykah Badu emphasizes that women should do whatever they have to do whether it be praying, crying, screaming, therapy, church, or yoga, let it go! Let it go! Let it go!
Works Cited
Badu, Erykah. "Bag Lady." By Erykah Badu. Rec. 2000. `Bag Lady'. Universal/Mercury, July 9, 2001.
The readers are apt to feel confused in the contrasting ways the woman in this poem has been depicted. The lady described in the poem leads to contrasting lives during the day and night. She is a normal girl in her Cadillac in the day while in her pink Mustang she is a prostitute driving on highways in the night. In the poem the imagery of body recurs frequently as “moving in the dust” and “every time she is touched”. The reference to woman’s body could possibly be the metaphor for the derogatory ways women’s labor, especially the physical labor is represented. The contrast between day and night possibly highlights the two contrasting ways the women are represented in society.
The Western and African culture believe that all women should be silent, they were not allowed to say what 's on their mind. Women’s opinions didn’t matter they were considered to be useless. They were accepted to be housegirls, where females had to cook, clean and nurture their children if they had any. Abina was a housegirl, and her daily routines were to do house chores, cook, get water and firewood. Sometimes she would go to the market to get vegetables. If she didn’t follow her master’s orders, she would get threatened. Many other women would be beaten and abuse if they didn’t follow the rules and regulations. In the book, Abina states, “ I had been sold, and I had no will of my own, and I could not look after my body and health”(Getz and Clarke 92). This quote seems to be saying that women during the 19th century were doing so many tasks for other people and they didn’t have the time to take care of themselves. If you don’t take care of yourself it can affect your health, you start to get weak, and catch all sorts of diseases. When you are low in energy, there is no way you can work. Your health always comes first no matter what the situation is. If you can’t take care of yourself what makes you think you can take care of other people. The Western and African culture apparently don’t care how women were being treated if they did woman like Abina wouldn’t
In stanza five, the mother leaves the house and leaves her son at home alone. The mother is said to be ‘off to nurse and invalid called the world.’ This is to do with the theory of consumption. The mother has gone out to consume materialistic items that will in turn keep the consumer-based economy ‘healthy.’ If she and the millions of other members of the consumer society fail to do this, the consumer economy will ‘sicken.’
Nina Simone used music to challenge, provoke, incite, and inform the masses during the period that we know as the Civil Rights Era. In the songs” Four Women”, “Young Gifted and Black”, and Mississippi God Damn”, Nina Simone musically maps a personal "intersectionality" as it relates to being a black American female artist. Kimberly Crenshaw defines "intersectionality" as an inability for black women to separate race, class and gender. Nina Simone’s music directly addresses this paradigm. While she is celebrated as a prolific artist her political and social activism is understated despite her front- line presence in the movement. According to Ruth Feldstein “Nina Simone recast black activism in the 1960’s.” Feldstein goes on to say that “Simone was known to have supported the struggle for black freedom in the United States much earlier, and in a more outspoken manner around the world than had many other African American entertainers.”
Yellow Woman and the story of an hour by Kate Choplin have some feminist themes in common. Silko and Mrs. Mallard exhibited Characteristics that conflicted with their natural roles in life. They seemed to be confined by their marriage. With prospects of not being married again, they exhibited feelings of freedom and exhilaration instead of unhappiness.
Since Muslims have to clean themselves before offering prayers, the narrators grandmother takes her stockings and shoe off in order to wash her feet. As she is approaching the sink and is about to place her feet, a matron woman exclaims, "You can't do that" and the other women turns to the narrator and shouts "Tell her she can't do that". The granddaughter thinks there is nothing wrong because what she is doing is wudhu (cleaning oneself before prayers). Since the grandmother does not speak English, she has no idea what is going on. While on the other hand the granddaughter understands people's frowning gesture and responds by saying what she is doing is not dirty. She understands that is a sacred ritual but not everyone understands as they are non-Muslims. Mohja Kahf wrote this poem as a reflection of her own experiences. Through her poem she wanted to make realize that in order to gain peace, one must understand other cultures while simultaneously learning and respecting it instead of having a narrow perspective. She wanted people to care for one another rather than stereotyping one race or
There is one thing that all the women, be they human or god, in The
The second stanza introduces the reader to Aunt Jennifer. It stresses the struggle and determination it takes for Aunt Jennifer to create her work of art under the "massive weight of Uncle's wedding band." Aunt Jennifer is not only trapped by her husband, but as the wedding ring symbolizes, by the culture that reinforces the marriage. Her tigers are above men, but Aunt Jennifer is held down by her marr...
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Erin George’s A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women sheds light on her life at the Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women (FCCW) where she was sentenced for the rest of her life for first-degree murder. It is one of the few books that take the reader on a journey of a lifer, from the day of sentencing to the day of hoping to being bunked adjacent to her best friend in the geriatric ward.
‘’The woman thing’’ by Audre Lorde reflects more on her life as a woman, this poem relates to the writers work and also has the theme of feminism attached it. The writers role in this poem is to help the women in discovering their womanhood just as the title say’s ‘’the woman thing.’’ The poem is free verse and doesn’t have a rhyme to it and has twenty-five lines.
It is comprised of contradictory phrases such as, “change so that nothing with change (Szymborska, 2000, pg. 161).” The woman’s role in this poem seems to be the typical female persona of having kids, being submissive to the male, and reading Ladies Home Journal for fun in her down time. The woman is “Naïve, but gives the best advice. Weak, but takes on anything. A screw loose and tough as nails.” Naïve, weak, and a screw loose could be how a male describes her, but she would say that she gives the best advice, has the willpower to take on anything, and is as tough as nails. The last two lines of the poem read, “She must love him, or she’s just plain stubborn. For better, for worse, for Heaven’s sake.” For better, for worse is taken out of a traditional marriage ceremony and since they are married, she is bound to him forever and it his her duty to love and please him. Although this described role of the wife is not as common of a tradition today, because gender roles are not as defined in the post modern era, there are still multiple male figures around the world who believe that this is still the utmost duty of the
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Several people regard women as inferior figures in this global world. Women have challenged the traditional female roles and have gradually climbed up the ladder of equality. They portray a distinct perspective that proves that womanhood can accomplish anything they set their mind to and search for equal gender status. The poems celebrate femininity and highlights the traits necessary for a women to be successful. The ladies in the poems are female-figures that carry themselves with high self-esteem and fearlessness. This essay identifies various literary techniques that describe feminine strength in Angelou and Clifton.