Exploring female empowerment through poetry

"I wrote this poem because I noticed how my friends and I are not taken as seriously in co-ed environments, which is something I normally do not experience due to our all-girls school," Jhonni said.  "To me, this poem represents the female experience.  Other people prefer for women to stay quiet and look pretty, not caring for our opinions and ideas that are as worthy as those of anyone else.  This...

"I chose this poem in homage to its author, Sor Juan Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695), a Mexican-Spanish poet," Sra. García said.  "Sor Juana was a nun who lived in Mexico during colonial time, and, refusing to accept her destiny of not being able to receive an education due to her gender, decided to enter a convent where she could read and exercise her mind.  In many of her works, she defended her ...

"I wrote my poem “Her Story” because I wanted to redefine the word history and give power to women," Claire said.  "Throughout history, women have been oppressed.  Even in the word 'his - story,' women are excluded.  I wrote my poem to portray female empowerment and distort this obsolete norm.  We must look to the future rather than the past and empower young girls to write their own storie...

"I am very inspired by Dickinson's work because she was fearless enough to go against society's expectations of how women should behave," Kathleen said.  "This poem shows resistance to being shut down by men and expresses feminism because instead of allowing others to turn you away you must fight for yourself."   “They shut me up in Prose” Emily Dickinson   They shut me up in Prose ...

"For me, Maya Angelou's 'Phenomenal Woman' is a perfect expression of female empowerment because she touches on the topics that are used to degrade the status of women and she turns these things into a source of power," Joi said.  "I like how Angelou writes of experiencing confidence in herself and seeing her femininity as a vital part of who she is.  Although Maya Angelou has written poetry per...