While reading Homegoing, I found myself repeatedly feeling like something was missing from my understanding of the book. It was difficult to answer questions concerning homophobic culture in Ghana versus Britain when I didn’t have any initial cultural background about Asante and Fante culture, geography, language, and dynamics. While in class, I watched as weContinue reading “Tommy Pico and the Kumeyaay Nation: A Brief Historical and Cultural Context”
Category Archives: Poem
Leda and the Swan: A Twisted Blueprint
by: Hank Bernhardt The idea of gender is not a concept humans must follow. When thinking biologically men and women are different in ways far more numerous than just genitalia. Whether it is muscle mass or sensory abilities, biological boys are different then biological girls. In the case of The Round House the male charactersContinue reading “Leda and the Swan: A Twisted Blueprint”
The Angel’s Dead, but We’re Still in the House: How rejecting a gender archetype is just as limiting as conforming to it
by Kathryn Kaiser Before I comment on the nature of archetypes in our society, two things have to be made clear. First, an archetype is defined as a “perfect example” according to Merriam Webster. An archetype is unique from a stereotype since it is the pinnacle of what a good woman, man, student, child, etc.Continue reading “The Angel’s Dead, but We’re Still in the House: How rejecting a gender archetype is just as limiting as conforming to it “
Educate Yourself
While speaking at the San Francisco Public Library, Tommy Pico reads a poem commissioned by his father. He recites from the poem “I See the Fire that Burns Within You”: “[A]ll [Native Americans] ever are a metaphor, or a cautionary tale, or a spirit guide. Nothing contemporary. Nothing breathing. Nothing alive” speaks to the ideaContinue reading “Educate Yourself”
The Visual Delight of Poetry
By Nora Cornell • December 1, 202 Danez Smith is a poet who understands aesthetics. All poets do, on some level –poetry is built on descriptions and images, using “created beauty” to translate ideas. But Smith takes it to a new level, especially in their written work. Poems in both Homie and Don’t Call UsContinue reading “The Visual Delight of Poetry”
Women in the Perspective of Coventry Patmore: Passive and Pure
“The Angel in the House” created the standard for women’s behavior in the Victorian era (mid 1800s-1900s) by men, for their own pleasure and benefit. The title of the poem came to describe the domesticated and submissive woman that men craved during that era.
Toxic Masculinity: How Toxic?
by Charlotte Chute In class, we discussed the Taylor Mali poems and how this poet induces emotion through his unique writing style. Mali uses more of an informal style of writing which sounds more personal and is much more individualistic, especially when he performs. We read two of his poems, one titled Tony Steinberg: BraveContinue reading “Toxic Masculinity: How Toxic?”
Rising Like Smoke: Middle School Masculinity in Mali’s Poetry
By Nora Cornell • October 8, 2020 I believe Taylor Mali’s “Tony Steinberg” poem is an ode to middle school masculinity at its best. A strange topic, to be sure, and perhaps not Mali’s intended one, but “Brave Seventh-Grade Viking Warrior” exudes the earnest and near-excessive energy characteristic of a healthy and encouraging middle schoolContinue reading “Rising Like Smoke: Middle School Masculinity in Mali’s Poetry”
On Taylor Mali’s Poems: “The Penis Warriors” and “Tony Steinberg: Brave Seventh-Grade Warrior”
By Aksel Reid These two poems reveal the positive effects of an all-male school full of teens and pre-teens learning how to grow up. The idea that all masculinity is toxic masculinity is dismantled in these poems as Mali reveals stories from his life experiences of boys becoming comfortable in their masculine skin while stillContinue reading “On Taylor Mali’s Poems: “The Penis Warriors” and “Tony Steinberg: Brave Seventh-Grade Warrior””
Rape culture’s long-standing history: Leda, Zeus, and Greek mythology
by: Georgia Pettygrove The term “rape culture” is used often in when discussing sexual assalut and in media and literature, but what does it actually mean? Simply put, the term “rape culture” describes a societal acceptance of sexual assualt. The United Nations Women’s website’s article on standing up to rape culture describes it as “theContinue reading “Rape culture’s long-standing history: Leda, Zeus, and Greek mythology”
Constructions of Gender in Literature 