Author: Charlotte Turner

The title of my poem is “Women.” The one I found was written by someone named Elliot, and it was initially titled “Roe v Wade- And The World Caught Fire.” I found the original poem on a thread of many different poems about Roe v Wade being overturned. While reading through the lyrics, I looked for ones that expressed how outraged women were about this and phrases that seemed to be expressing how I felt too. After I chose the poem I was going to use, I just started cutting out words or phrases that caught my eye. When I started arranging them, I noticed that I could set up my poem to have two different perspectives; a man’s and a woman’s. As you read my poem, the first column of words is meant to be a man speaking, while the second column is a woman. When planning, I thought that the men’s perspective should come first and the women’s should sound like an echo or afterthought because that’s often how these decisions are made. We often find that men in powerful positions use their power to make poor, thoughtless decisions about topics that don’t involve them. So that is what I wanted my poem to express- men trying to make situations about themselves and getting involved in business that is not theirs. We have seen this happen countless times, but now this can be a life or death situation for women. A felony and two to twenty year prison sentence now follow the act of attempting to receive an abortion. Abortions are healthcare and now it is illegal for women to seek out that healthcare. So now what are women supposed to do? Do they try to receive an abortion for their ectopic pregnancy and face a felony or do they let themselves die? The law, created by men, says to let them die. 

For the Distinguished Voices in Literature Event, the author for this event was Benjamin Garcia. He is a poet and most commonly known for his book, Thrown in the Throat, which was a winner of The National Poetry Series. During this event, he read many of his poems from this particular book and then he read a few new things that he has been working on. One thing he kept mentioning throughout the event was about how he likes to make his writing fun or bring some type of enjoyment to it. Even if the reader cannot relate to or understand his writing, he wants people to get something out of it. I did end up enjoying all of his poems and I really liked his writing style. Before each poem, he would give a little background about it, which definitely made a difference when it came to understanding his writing. 

One thing that really stood out in his writing was the different messages he was trying to get across. In the poems from Thrown in the Throat, he included a lot of profanity. To me, I thought it brought humor to his poems. He went on to explain how to use these words were profanity but profanity to him was discrimination and violence in the world. I really loved the way he compared these. This really made me think about how there are so many bigger issues in the world and something as little as a curse word could be a huge problem for someone. Additionally, I thought that having a book of poems with so many curse words could be a huge risk. When I say risk, I mean a risk in the sense of the ability to be able to sell the book. He said that having poems with this much profanity narrows down the market to which he can sell to. I found it brave that he was willing to  still include the profanity to his poems because he thought that it belonged and gave a stronger message and in return, he had a smaller market of people who would buy his book. 

At the end of the event, there was a Q and A. I really loved this part because I was able to hear him answer questions from other people and there was some stuff that hadn’t even crossed my mind yet. One part I found very interesting was when he was talking about how he got published. Originally, I had not realized how hard and expensive it was to become a published author. He said that each time he went to submit his writing, he had to pay at least twenty dollars. For someone who isn’t even published yet, that has to be very difficult financially. I can see where for many authors this can be frustrating and make you lose hope. But for Garcia, he talked about how after he realized that it was reasonable to keep paying that much to submit his writing, he would only submit his writing one time a year and it was only for a prize that he really wanted. After ten years of doing this, he finally had his work published. I found it really inspiring that he was willing to keep doing this for such a long period of time. For myself, I feel like after just a year or two, I would feel extremely discouraged and probably would stop trying. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the event and am looking forward to more events like this in the future.

In Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, the character Beneatha brings a feminist perspective to that play that was written in 1959. In the 1950s, men were expected to be the head of the household, and the sole provider, while women were expected to be the homemaker and take care of the children (Anderson). Beneatha is a twenty-year-old woman of color who decided to continue her education to become a doctor. During the 1950s, only 1.2% of women pursued a college education, and only 2% of those women were black (Anderson). Additionally, almost 0% of those women were pursuing a degree in science-related fields (Anderson). Most women were looking for a wealthy man and financial security during this time. Beneatha’s brother, Walter, even says, “If you so crazy ’bout messing ’round with sick people—then go be a nurse like other women—or just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry, 13). Even her brother thinks she should settle for a lower-level career because that is “like other women.” Despite everyone around her having traditional views, Beneatha’s feminist perspective continues throughout the play.

Beneatha is described as “about twenty, as slim and intense as her brother. She is not as pretty as her sister-in-law, but her lean, almost intellectual face has a handsomeness of its own.” (Hansberry, 35). The definition of handsome is (of a man) good-looking (Oxford). Beneatha’s face is described as “intellectual” and having a “handsomeness of its own.” Hansberry is giving Beneatha these masculine qualities because women were not supposed to be known for their intellectual ability and instead for their ability to apply makeup or cook a meal. Also, Hansberry says Beneatha is “as slim and intense as her brother.” Beneatha is being compared to a male rather than a female, but when she is compared to Ruth, she’s described as “not as pretty.” Her knowledge caused her to lose some of her beauty, making her more masculine because women did not need knowledge; they required beauty. Lastly, Beneatha is pursuing a degree to become a doctor. Very few women received a college education, let alone a Ph.D., during this time. The man she is seeing, George Murchinson, does not believe that she is going to be a doctor. Beneatha says, “First, I’m going to be a doctor, and George, for one, still thinks that’s pretty funny.” (Hansberry, 50). George sees becoming a doctor as a job that a man would pursue rather than a woman, and as a rich man himself, he would not understand why Beneatha would need a career at all. Many women do not seek out employment and especially careers as a doctor. However, Beneatha still wants to enroll in medical school to become a doctor. 

Beneatha feminist perspective also pertains to money and the security of marriage. Beneatha is currently seeing a man, George Murchinson, who is very wealthy. Mama and Ruth bombard Beneatha with many questions about George, and Beneatha responds with, “Oh, I just mean I couldn’t ever be serious about George. He’s- he’s so shallow.” (Hansberry, 48). Beneatha is looking past the financial security that this potential marriage would bring her and is looking at the qualities that George has. She realizes he is shallow and not a man she would want to marry. Mama and Ruth find it insane that Beneatha would not marry him, at least for the financial security he would bring to her and the whole family. Beneatha grows frustrated with her family’s comments and says, “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet- if I ever get married.” (Hansberry, 50). Mama and Ruth are stunned by this statement because they have different viewpoints on how marriage can bring financial security to a woman and her family. Beneatha is focused on becoming a doctor and securing her career first rather than marrying a wealthy man who can financially secure her. Additionally, Mama receives a ten-thousand-dollar life insurance check, and Beneatha has not expected a penny of it, unlike her brother, Walter. In a conversation between her and Walter, Beneatha says, “That money belongs to Mama, Walter, and it’s for her to decide if she wants to buy a house or a rocket ship or just nail it up somewhere and look at it. It’s hers. Not ours- hers.” (Hansberry, 37). In this scene, Walter brings up the cost of Beneatha going to medical school. Beneatha has no desire to use her mother’s money because she knows that money is not meant for her, Ruth, Walter, or Travis but for Mama to do something she wants with it rather than using it on bills, business investments, or medical school tuition. Beneatha is confident that she will be able to afford the cost of medical school and does not want to touch her mother’s money.

1. If Ruth had similar views as Beneatha, do you think that she would have still married Walter? Explain.
2. Based on the views that Beneatha has, how is her idea of the “American Dream” different from the idea of it that Walter has? 

Work Cited

Anderson, Barbara. “Women in College During The 1950s.” Social Change Interviews, 30 Mar. 2020, https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/sc-interviews/2020/03/30/women-in-college-during-the-1950s/. 

Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Vintage Books, 1994.

“Oxford Languages and Google – English.” Oxford Languages, https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.

Hi! My name is Charlotte Turner. I am a junior, Speech and Hearing Science major. I’m from Rochester, NY. I just started getting into reading again and I have been loving the Colleen Hoover books. I love going to the gym and lifting with my housemates. Also, I just got a golden doodle puppy named Ellie over winter break!