The poem Phenomenal Woman - Essay Example

Shantae Dyson C. Mitchell 102-526 Feb. 16, Phenomenal Woman Introduction The poem d Phenomenal Woman was created by Maya Angelou and in this poem the poet talks about several themes that are related to the woman of America. One theme that is quite widely highlighted by the poet is the theme of self confidence. The poet has used various devices to explore the theme of self confidence in the poem. BodyThe poem pays great significance on the self confidence of the female population of America and throughout the poem; the author has used various words to reflect upon the theme of self confidence.

One of the most prominent exhibitions of the theme of self confidence in the poem is the title of the poem itself. The very word “phenomenal” reflects the use of the theme self confidence in the poem. The poet has not only used the word phenomenal in the title of the poem, she has used the word almost in every stanza of the poem (Angelou 11-13). The poet has tried to convey the message that an individual (especially targeting the female gender) should have confidence in them and in what they are.

The theme of self confidence is directly related to the theme of American Identity and the main purpose due to which the poet has used the theme of self confidence is to appeal to the female gender of America who experience ample amount of insecurities. The media of America has played a major role in making the female gender of America feel insecure. In American advertisement, an American women or the benchmark American female is portrayed as someone who is quite skinny and has a size zero and the media portrays that such women are considered as beautiful in the society.

The main purpose behind creating this piece of art was to inform the American females that it is not necessary that one need to maintain size zero and one does not need to have the perfect curves in order to look beautiful. The poet states that in order to stand out in the society, all a female American woman needs to be is self confident about themselves and they do not need to look cute and they do not even need to look similar to fashion models portrayed in media (line 2). She further argues that men do no not fall for looks of fashion models and they do not get attracted by females who look similar to fashion model.

She states that the male gender is more attracted to how self confident a female is. In order to reflect upon which kind of females men get attracted to she uses examples such as “stride of my step” (Angelou 8) and “the flash of my teeth” (Angelou 23).Conclusion In the poem titled “Phenomenal Women”, the poet reflects upon the importance of being self confidence for the woman of the American society and the poet tries to reject the notion that female gender of American needs to look like super models that are portrayed by media in order to look attractive to the male gender.

Works CitedAngelou, Maya. "Phenomenal Woman." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2014. .