i am not that woman poem essay

I am not that Woman By Kishwar Naheed – Summary, Theme, Analysis and Questions and Answers

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I am not that Woman By Kishwar Naheed

I Am Not That Woman is a poem advocating for women’s liberation. By examining the treatment of women in a variety of eastern cultures, Naheed boldly concludes that women are oppressed and deserve respect. You can read the full poem here. I Am Not That Woman compares both overt and covert forms of female oppression in contemporary culture. Naheed makes the case that women deserve respect and are not commodities through a somewhat feminist worldview. Women are clearly repressed throughout a major portion of the east, where they are imprisoned behind closed doors and told they can never achieve anything in life. While this cannot be extended to all countries and cities, many eastern civilizations retain this mentality to this day. While this overt persecution may not exist in the west, Naheed asserts that women are victimised covertly in western cultures through their worth being related to their bodies. Women’s beauty is frequently exploited in ads in order to promote a range of items, and Naheed makes an excellent point that this is also a form of oppression. Connecting a woman’s worth and self-esteem to her body is in and of itself an act of oppression. I am not that Woman is an inspirational poetry that reminds the world that women deserve respect, and even more crucially, that women should value and proudly respect themselves.

I am not that Woman Analysis

The opening stanza discusses women’s persecution in both western and eastern cultures. Naheed adopts the voice of a female character , which can easily be interpreted as her own, particularly given her origins in the eastern hemisphere. She is adamantly opposed to being identified as the woman who sells socks and shoes. This is a term that refers to a model or actress who agrees to be shot in expensive apparel in order to promote a commercial product. In today’s society, especially for women, showing one’s body has become a means of eliciting amazement and acclaim from others around us. Almost every girl in the western world, if not the entire world, is obsessed with improving her external appearance in order to flaunt it when she goes out. Naheed focuses on this point, attempting to demonstrate that compelling a woman to believe her self-worth is inextricably related to her body is a powerful type of oppression that we as a culture are failing to confront. She then discusses the oppression that occurs in the east, which is equally, if not more, repulsive. Men confine women to their homes and deny them access to the outside world. Even a woman going alone outside is considered impolite and disgraceful in the more severe districts of the east. While it is logical that males would keep their wives within to protect them from the perils of the street, Naheed is emphasising that women are kept indoors because they are considered inferior and a burden. Women are completely objectified to the point where they are no longer considered persons, but merely means of pleasure and fulfilment. Naheed highlights the hypocritical aspect of men being allowed to walk anywhere they like without regard or regard for others, but women are actually confined behind stone in an attempt to quiet their minds.

Naheed takes an uplifting stance, comparing womankind to a beacon of light in the night. She asserts that no matter how hard the men try to keep her inside, no matter how hard they try to replace her flowers of hope and aspiration with thorns and chains of contempt and oppression, they will be unable to silence her mind, because she is not the type of woman who can be duped into believing that she is only worth her beauty, that her body defines her status as someone who is somehow inferior to men. Naheed employs a metaphor in the second stanza, referring to herself, or rather, to all womankind, as light. Additionally, Naheed used symbolism here, alluding to her character as the flowers in her lap and the limits and harsh words directed at her as embers and chains.

While the third and fourth stanzas appear to refer to a lady literally sold into slavery, a closer investigation of eastern culture reveals that Naheed is referring to forced marriages. Daughters and women are regarded a burden in eastern society since they lack career options and are thus completely dependent on their carers for the most, if not the entirety, of their life. More importantly, when a girl is’married off” by her parents, her parents are expected to provide a sizable dowry to the groom, which frequently amounts to thousands of dollars worth of furniture and clothing. Women are viewed as a burden in eastern cultures for this reason. Naheed is nearly vehement in asserting that they trade off women, telling them it is not pure to remain unmarried for an extended period of time, and cheerfully absolving themselves of further financial support. She asserts that while this female ego may have been coerced into drowning by being sold as a burden in marriage, she continues to reject their characterization of her. She can walk on water while drowning is a lovely metaphor for her refusal to give up in the face of apparent insurmountable odds. She will not be suffocated by their doubts and assertions about her ability. Naheed closes the fourth stanza by noting that the enslaved minds of those who degrade women will never be liberated. They may be attempting to suffocate her mind, but they are also suffocating their own.

The final stanza elaborates on the feminine persona’s refusal to be that half-naked woman advertising items on a billboard. She is expressing her refusal to degrade herself and her body, to objectify it for the sake of others. She declares that she will now let her character to bloom freely by honouring herself as a mother and a chaste human being.

I Am Not That Woman is a liberating poem emphasising the need of women of all cultures respecting themselves and resisting all forms of oppression. Naheed demystifies the pernicious worldview prevalent in many eastern civilizations, which views women as mere burdens and things. Naheed Instills the notion that women are mothers, that they are a beacon of light in the darkness, and that they are so much more than their bodies. Naheed encourages us to focus on what is within of us and to respect our bodies and who we are as individuals, especially in this superficial culture.

Poetic Devices

There are numerous loud consonant sounds in this poem. Consider the frequency with which the letter C occurs. On the verge of being a cacophony , one might almost say. Additionally, the varied line lengths contribute to this impression of discord , which contributes to the poem’s tone. The poem employs figurative language to create several potent and compelling metaphors. For instance, the first stanza has the line “ free as the breeze .” This is a personification example.

Questions and Answers

Q. 1. How has been women portrayed by the poet?

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Poetry Analysis: Kishwar Naheed’s “I am not that Woman”

The poem”I am not that woman” exemplifies the stereotyping of women in a patriarchal society .As she is limited to the domestic domain and household chores, she iterates that her reputation is not limited to selling socks and shoes, for she too possess an intellect .The speaker asserts that she possesses an individuality that the man tries to conceal in walls of stone, while he wandered around free as the breeze. The speaker claims that he can only imprison her physical being and not her spiritual self for her voice could be heard. It could not be smothered or stifled by stone. The phrase ‘that woman’ in the title of the poem mocks at the general conception of women in a male- chauvinistic society.

Selling you socks and shoes!

Remember me, I am the one you hid

In your walls of stone, while you roamed

Free as the breeze, not knowing

That my voice cannot be smothered by stones,

She is rather, the woman who has been crushed by the rigid constraints of custom and irrational barriers of tradition. Nevertheless, light cannot be hidden in darkness and manifest itself. A woman is the epitome of light (knowledge) As the saying goes: “If a man is educated, an individual is educated but if a woman is educated, the whole family is educated.” She is the lap that ensures security, caring and sharing. The Man takes flowers from her only to leave her thorns and embers rendering life a horrid experience for her. The idea of ‘embers’ implies how she endures hell right on earth. However, Man is ignorant to the fact that chains cannot smother her fragrance, as it is beyond worldly confinement. Tangible objects cannot deteriorate her intangible worth.

I am the woman

Whom you bought and sold

In the name of my own chastity

Not knowing

That I can walk on water

When I am drowning.

She states that she was the woman who was a slave. She is the one who was commercialized. She was praised in ideals, but practically she had no merit. She was a victim of reification. As Virgnia Woolf asserts in “A Room of One’s Own”: Imaginatively she is of the highest importance: practically she is completely insignificant. She … pervades poetry from cover to cover. She is all but absent from history .” A price was set even on her chastity. When attempts were made to drown her, the people in question underestimated her powers as she could even walk on water. The poetess refers to the practice is some third world countries, were women were deemed to be a burden and therefore drowned at birth. Also, in these countries, a woman is associated with dowry, so that she becomes a liability for her parents. The parents regard themselves as free after ridding themselves of the burden, according to the speaker. Hoever,they were trapped forever as they dwelled in a nation with ‘captive minds’ rooted in superstition and the darkness of irrationality.

I am the one you married off

To get rid of a burden

That a nation of captive minds

Cannot be free.

The speaker revilts gains a male consumerist society that relegated her as she claims:

I am the commodity you traded in,

My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty.

Her chastity is not regarded, her motherhood is not respected and her loyalty is not reciprocated. It is now high time for her to be flower-free:to fully blossom realizing herself. To let her fragrance emanate permeating others life with meaning. She retorts now triumphantly that she is not ‘that’ woman. :

“The woman on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes-

No, no, I am not that woman!”

©Rukhaya MK 2010

Others , Poetry

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January 7, 2016 at 5:52 pm

Really nice poem….you have a strong desire

December 31, 2016 at 6:31 am

Awesome poem

June 20, 2017 at 12:36 pm

It was a great poem and u r analysis of the poem is awesome

February 15, 2018 at 2:50 am

Hai to can explain in this lesson

February 19, 2018 at 6:59 am

I really loved it

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I Am Not That Woman: Summary & Analysis

Introduction.

"I am not that woman" is a feminist poem, written by Kishwar Naheed. As an Indo - Pakistani woman, she has described the plight of women in third-world countries in a poignant way. But the poem is not just idle brooding over the fate of women; it is a strong declaration by a woman who has had enough and is now prepared to stand and break free of everything that shackles her. The poem is a ray of hope and confidence to women, with an empowering undertone that women are capable of rising above all the shackles if they have the willpower; while mockingly pointing fingers at the duplicity and double-dealings of a misogynistic society.

About The Writer

Kishwar Naheed is an Urdu feminist poet. She was born and brought up in India and moved to Pakistan during the Partition. She saw the sufferings of women during the Partition with her own eyes, which left a deep impression on her and inspired her to become a feminist. She has won several awards for her poems.

Background of the Poem

The poem is based upon the deep-rooted stereotypes and prejudices against women in Eastern culture. The various customs and traditions in Eastern culture are always biased towards women. They are all invisible shackles created to control women and always keep them under male dominance, all done in the name of "protecting women". These stereotypes and customs are picked up and mocked by the poet in this poem.

The theme of the poem is women's emancipation and empowerment. The poet picks upon the prevailing regressive notions about women, mocks them and bravely declares that such backward notions can no longer be used to shackle women. She also takes a dig at the hypocrisy and double standards of men, who treat women differently according to their own preferences. Women, with their confidence and willpower, can rise above any such cultural restrictions and unfair standards. The poem proclaims that women have enough strength to rise and live their lives under their own conditions, without the need to conform to any outdated norms.

The poem is written in the first person. The poet speaks about herself in the poem. The poet uses herself as a specimen for all of the women who suffer under the patriarchal construct of Eastern countries. She speaks from first-hand experience and generalizes it to all the women around her. She speaks about herself, but she speaks for all her women counterparts. She seems to be addressing or rather "reminding" the men who made her life miserable, or it can be thought that she is addressing the patriarchal nature of society itself instead of men.

The tone of the poem is quite brave and even mocking in nature. The poet uses a mocking tone as she picks up and mockingly reminds men about their archaic views about women, which is common in society. She sounds very bold and courageous as she proudly declares that men had no idea of her strength, as she has risen above all that nonsense and is now a proud independent woman. So, the tone of the poet is a mixture of mockery, satire, bravery and courage.

The mood of the poem is that of aplomb and determination. Though the poem has a tinge of melancholy, when the plight of women is described; the predominant mood of the poem is boldness and resolution, when the poet says that she (a woman) can advance and rise above all.

The language of the poem is extremely simple. All the words used are words

of daily usage. No complicated words or phrases are used. The simplicity of the language makes the poem more realistic and relatable.

Since the poem is in the first person, the central character of the poem is the poet herself. But since the poem speaks about all women, the central character can be said to be any woman, who has suffered atrocities at the hands of patriarchy. The poet is directly addressing the men (or rather the patriarchal society) in the poem. So, the characters in the poem can be thought of as the poet and the men in her life. Or it can be generalized as women addressing the patriarchal nature of society.

The poem lacks a uniform structure. The stanzas are unevenly divided. There are five stanzas in the poem. They are of varying lengths, with 5,6 or 10 lines in them. There is no specific meter or rhyme scheme also. But, these oddities are no obstacle in understanding or enjoying the poem. The poem follows a unique pattern, wherein the poet first speaks about a constraint and then speaks about how it didn't bind her.

The poet uses a few powerful allegories to put her point across. The allegories used in the poem are all real and grounded. They stimulate the reader and give a clear "vision" of what the poet wants to say, without exaggeration.

The imagery used in the poem is as follows:

1. The image of a woman on an advertising poster is used to call up and mock the hypocrisy of men and the double standards with which they treat women.

2. The restrictions put upon women are compared to stone walls, heavy weights and chains.

3. The sufferings which women are subjected to are compared to darkness, thorns and fire embers.

4. Words like a free breeze, light, flowers and walking on water are used to convey freedom and liberty.

I Am Not That Woman's Summary

The poem is all about the age-old constraints imposed on women, supported by big empty talks of culture and traditions. The poet proceeds in a smooth and gradual manner as she picks up and mocks all the tribulations she had to undergo, while also proudly asserting that those things have not curbed her fierce spirit. The poet picks up on the double crossing of men, who enjoy the sight of beautiful actresses and call them cheap, while the women who suffer under their dominance are called "good and cultured". The poet speaks of the ill-treatment she had to go through to be a "good and cultured" woman in the eyes of men and society.

The poem opens with the poet saying that she is not that woman on the advertisement posted, who sells socks and shoes. She reminds the men that she is the woman whom men hide in stone walls, while they roam free like the breeze. But, the poet says that the men did not know that her voice couldn't be stopped by the stone.

This stanza points to the hypocrisy of men. They enjoy the sight of beautiful women in the advertisements posted, but keep the women of their family confined in the house. They treat actresses as cheap women and the women of their families as "good, cultured" women. This shows their double standards. Also, they themselves roam freely without any restrictions, while they restrict women to the house, all in the name of protecting them. The poet picks this hypocrisy of men and boldly declares that the men did not know that her voice could not be stopped by stone, meaning that the restrictions did not stop her from raising questions and demanding her freedom.

Next, the poet says that she is the woman who the men crushed under the weight of customs and traditions, meaning that the men used customs and traditions to make women suffer. But, the men did not know that light cannot be hidden in darkness, meaning that her knowledge, skills and confidence could not be kept hidden by tradition, just because she was a woman. She reminds men that they had picked flowers from her lap and planted thorns and embers, meaning the men extracted all good and positive things from her while giving her only bad and negative things in return. The poet says that the men did not know that her fragrance could not be smothered by chains, meaning that just as the fragrance from a flower can't be tied by chains, similarly she also cannot be tied down by customs.

The poet next says that she is the woman who was traded as an object i.e., bought and sold. This atrocity was done in the name of her own chastity. Here the poet is speaking about the custom of arranged marriage and dowry, where daughters are sold to the richest and most prestigious families along with a huge sum of dowry. This tradition is defended by saying that it is done to protect the chastity of women and keep them pure. The feelings and emotions of the woman getting married are not taken into consideration at all. The poet says that the men did not know that she had the ability to walk on water while she appeared to be drowning. This means that her ability to continue progressing in her life despite several restrictions will appear like a miracle to men.

In the penultimate stanza, the poet says that she is the woman who was married off in a hurry, to get rid of a burden. She is again referring to the custom of arranged marriage, wherein parents treat their own daughter as a burden which should be gotten rid of. They marry off their daughter in a hurry and feel that they have completed their responsibility and got rid of a burden.

The parents do not take their daughter's opinion in that matter. The daughter is a liability to her parents, not a loveable child. The poet says that the parents who do this must know that a nation of captive minds can never be free. It implies that a nation which is full of narrow-minded and backward people can never be truly free or independent. The parents may think that they are free once they have married off their daughter, but in reality, they are the prisoners of their own small minds and narrow thinking. Also, a nation filled with such people can never be independent and prosperous, even though it may be free from foreign rule. Here, the poet seems to be taking a dig at the apparent freedom of the subcontinent from British rule.

Lastly, the poet says that she is the commodity who was traded in her chastity, motherhood and loyalty. She means that all these ideals were forced upon her by the patriarchal society. She was just a commodity to be traded between two families. Chastity was expected of her, motherhood was forced upon her and loyalty was imposed on her. Her own desires were never taken into account. And all this was done to make her a good and cultured woman in front of society.

A woman is expected to be loyal to her husband throughout her life and is often forced to become a mother at a young age, even when she doesn't wish to. The only respectable status conferred upon women in a patriarchal society is that of a loyal and chaste wife and a mother. The individuality of women is suppressed and they are treated as commodities with certain specifications. The poet says that she has had enough of it now and now, it is her time to flower free. She means that she will now spring forward with confidence and will blossom freely in life like a flower, without caring about any custom or tradition.

The last line of the poem is again a satirical dig at the false virtuous nature of men, as the poet says that she is not the half-naked woman on the poster, selling socks and shoes.

The poem is sure to pull at the heartstrings of its readers and make them sympathize with the women who live such a restricted life while applauding the courage of the poet. It Will leave a special profound impact on women readers from Eastern countries. The relatability of the poem, along with the daring words of the poet is sure to give a push to the confidence of women and give them hope in life.

Thus, it can be concluded that the poem "I am not that woman" is an apt description of the sad state of women in the Eastern countries, which also points out the deceptiveness of the patriarchal society, besides asserting that women can be free of this bunkum if they have confidence in themselves. The poem is realistic and relatable in its pinpointing of the various suffocating rules of the patriarchal society, while also giving women hope of a breath of fresh air if they have the audacity to question society and break free of its Humburg norms.

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I AM NOT THAT WOMAN - KISHWAR NAHEED - SUMMARY / QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - BBA/ BSC / BCA/ B.COM - ENGLISH NOTES

I AM NOT THAT WOMAN

KISHWAR NAHEED

I am not that Woman is a poem coordinated towards the strengthening of women. Through inspecting the treatment numerous eastern societies maintain towards the female race, Naheed strongly reasons those women are being persecuted and should be respected.

I am Not That Woman is a poem advocating for women's freedom. By looking at the treatment of women in different eastern societies, Naheed strikingly reasons those women are persecuted and deserve respect. I am Not That Woman analyses both obvious and clandestine types of female mistreatment in contemporary culture. Naheed presents the defense that women deserve respect and are not commodities through a fairly women's activist perspective. Women are obviously stifled all through a significant piece of the east, where they are imprisoned behind closed doors and told they accomplish nothing throughout everyday life. While this can't be reached out to all nations and urban areas, numerous eastern civilizations hold this mindset right up to the present day. While this clear abuse may not exist in the west, Naheed declares that women are defrauded secretively in western societies through their value being connected with their bodies. Women's beauty is habitually taken advantage of in advertisements to advance a scope of things, and Naheed makes a superb point that this is also a type of mistreatment. Interfacing a woman's worth and confidence to her body is all by itself a demonstration of persecution. I am not that Woman is an uplifting verse that reminds the world that women respect, and, surprisingly, more urgently, that women ought to esteem and gladly respect themselves.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1) “That woman” referred to in the poem “I am not that woman” is

a) The poet

b) The speaker

c) The woman on the poster

Ans: c) The woman on the poster

2) What does the woman on the poster sell?

Ans: The woman sells socks and shoes on the poster.

3) The opening lines of the poem “I am not that woman selling you socks and Shoes” indicates

a) Humility

b) Submission

Ans: c) Protest

4) How was the woman’s freedom curtailed as mentioned in the first stanza?

Ans: The woman was hidden in the walls of stone.

5) What does the line “I am the one you hid in your walls of stone” indicate about the speaker’s condition?

Ans: She was made a prisoner by the exploiter or she was denied of her freedom.

6) What did the exploiter use to crush the woman?

Ans: Custom and tradition did the exploiter use to crush the woman.

7) What cannot be hidden in darkness according to the speaker?

Ans: Light cannot be hidden in darkness according to the speaker.

8) What cannot smother the speaker’s fragrance?

Ans: Chains cannot smother the speaker’s fragrance.

9) The speaker was bought and sold in the name of

b) Weakness

c) Chastity

Ans: c) Chastity

10) The line “I can walk on water when I am drowning” indicates the speaker’s

b) Confidence and rebellion nature

c) Arrogance

Ans: b) Confidence and rebellion nature

11) Why was the speaker married off?

Ans: The speaker was married off to get rid of a burden.

12) The line “I am the commodity you traded in” indicates that the speaker was considered as

Ans: b) Goods

13) What type of nation cannot be free?

Ans: Captive minds of nation cannot be free.

14)“Now it is time for me to flower free” This line indicates

a) Speaker’s passion for freedom

b) Speaker’s humbleness

c) Readiness to enjoy life materialistically

Ans: a) speaker’s passion for freedom

15) Who does the speaker in the poem complain against?

Ans: Her oppressor or exploiter does the speaker in the poem complain against.

16) How does the poem “I am not that woman” depict several ways of exploitation of woman?

Ans: The poem “I am not that woman” presents the image of a woman, who was exploited by society. It may be her father, her sibling, or even her mother-in-law who smothered her. She was restricted to the four walls of the house. Her exercises were limited exclusively to household work. No one gave any consideration to her voice. She was squashed for the sake of meaningless traditions and custom. That's what the speaker says, people exploited her by picking flowers and on second thought established thorns and embers. The speaker gives the picture of a flower which is chained. She was traded for the sake of virtuousness. She was dealt with more awful than a creature. Indeed, even the parents thought of her as a burden, which brought about early marriage. The woman was viewed as more as a commodity to be exchanged than a person, putting modesty, parenthood, and loyalty at stake.

17) How does the woman oppose her exploitation and assert herself in the poem “I am not that woman”?

Ans: The speaker is extremely aware of her abuse. She would rather not distinguish herself with the woman on the poster, who sells socks and shoes. She is against the idea of lady being treated as a ware in the male overwhelmed society. She needs to remind and alert the exploiter that despite the fact that she has been taken cover behind the walls, her voice can't be covered. She knows that the oppressor wanders aimlessly as the breeze, however she is squashed by the heaviness of traditions and customs. She states that light can't be concealed in darkness. The speaker discusses her parenthood. The exploiter has picked flowers from her lap however established thistles and ashes. She rebels by saying that chains can't cover her aroma. The society regarded her as product, traded her for the sake of her own purity. However, she can stroll on water while suffocating, she is offered to dispose of a burden. She expresses that the nation of hostage minds can't be free. She would rather not be dealt with just in that frame of mind of celibacy parenthood and dependability. She needs to stand up for herself and demonstrate that she has her own character and presence.

18)How has been women portrayed by the poet? Or describe the theme of “I am not that woman”.

Ans: The poem “I am not that Woman” depicts a woman who has been taken advantage of by society. It is conceivable that her dad, sibling, or even mother-in-law smothered her. She was restricted to the house's four walls. Her activities were restricted to home duties. No one paid attention to her voice. She was choked in the purpose of unnecessary traditions and customs. As per the speaker, individuals exploited her by taking flowers and replacing them with thorns and ashes. The speaker utilizes the image of a connected flower. She was bought and sold all the while intending to mislead and misdirect. She was dealt with heartlessly. Indeed, even her parents saw her as a burden, bringing about an early marriage. Women were seen more as a ware to be traded than as individuals, endangering their virginity, parenthood, and loyalty. In this way, the poem deftly delineates numerous methods of female oppression and suppression.

19) How does the poem bring out the hidden potential and rebellion spirit of the speaker?

Ans: The speaker is very much aware about her manipulative circumstance. She is resolved about not being related to the lady on the banner who sells socks and shoes. She is against women being seen as items in a male-ruled society. She wishes to remind and caution the exploiter that, in spite of her disguise behind the walls, her voice can't be quieted. While she knows that the oppressor is just about as free as the breeze, she is squashed under the heaviness of traditions and customs. She declares that darkness can't disguise light. The speaker examines parenthood. The exploiter eliminated flowers off her lap and replaced them with thistles and remains. She rebels, guaranteeing that chains are unequipped for choking out her smell. The society regarded her as a commodity, buying and selling her based on her celibacy. Regardless of the way that she can stroll on water while suffocating, she is offered to let herself free from a burden. She states that a country with subjugated personalities can't be freed. She isn't keen on being dealt with exclusively for virtuousness, parenthood, and faithfulness. She wishes to champion herself and show that she has a particular personality and life. Hence, the poem draws out the speaker's hidden potential and defiant soul, who was previously constrained to capitulate to her oppressor's cravings and wishes.

20) Who is the poet of “I am not that woman”?

Ans: Kishwar Naheed.

I AM NOT THAT WOMAN - KISHWAR NAHEED - SUMMARY / QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - BBA/ BSC / BCA/ B.COM - ENGLISH NOTES

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Bulandshahr Legacy Festival

Kishwar naheed: i am not that woman.

Kishwar Naheed is an eminent Urdu poet known for expressing bold feminist and political concerns. She was born in 1940 in Bulandshahr , Uttar Pradesh (then United Province), into a Sayed Muslim family. Her contribution to the literary field is exemplary. Her gazals and nazms have made many people fall in love with Urdu literature yet again. For generations, this Pakistani poet plays a principal role in speaking about the issues of the oppressed and the condemned of the society, especially the woman and children.

Kishwar Naheed’s work expresses her own experiences and individualistic concerns, and such an intimate utterance is what gathers together the sorrows and travails of all the women of the ‘third world’. Recognized as the Simone de Beauvoir of South Asia, Kishwar Naheed Aapa’s voice of resistance has spread across the ‘Third World’.

“We regard Kishwar Naheed as Aapa because she is the patron saint of not only all women in Pakistan but also the feminist movement across South Asia!”

Raza Naeem, a historian and translator of a few of her works, spells out the prominence of Kishwar Naheed in an interview with Kala Chaupal.

Find the Interview at the end of post.

The bad woman

“I am today because of what I experienced between 1947 and 1949.”

Kishwar Naheed, in an interview with Herald, stated that her experience between 1947 and 1949; had influenced her ideology and writing. The things she saw during those two years had a lasting impression on her mind and her heart. During the Partition riots, some Muslim girls who belonged to Bulandshahr were kidnapped. They either escaped or were rescued from the captivators and got back to Bulandshahr. She has accompanied her mother and sisters to visit few women who were attacked. They were exhausted and broken. She witnessed women who were bruised and soaked in blood. It was then, she apprehended the vulnerability of her section of people.

“That was the moment when I stopped being just a child and became a girl child.”

She was made to wear Burqa at the age of seven. However, she was amused when asked to remove it to avail of the air ticket concession. But as soon as she landed in Lahore, she had to wear the Burqa again.

As a young girl in Bulandshahr, she was inspired by the girls who went to Aligarh Muslim University in those times. She found her ambition to go to college, to read and write from the women under the ‘Burqa’. She was a daring woman who went against her family for her education and to marry the love of her life, Yousuf Kamran.

Kishwar Naheed’s poems are mostly reflective of such incidence, where a woman resists against her social conditions to achieve what she wants. Such women are usually called out as ‘bad’ or ‘sinful’. One of her remarkable poems embraces such titles given to the woman and makes a prominent stance.

ye hum gunahgar aurten

Her iconic autobiography, Burri Aurat ki Katha (‘Story of a Bad Woman’) , is seen not just as the autobiography of a poet but the story of an entire generation. In saying so, Raza Naeem also delineates that the term ‘bad woman’ denotes the modern woman as someone whose biggest crime is her intelligence. Last year on Kishwar Naheed’s 80th birthday, Raza Naeem wrote a personalised tribute to her. He translated the radical Pakistani writer Ahmad Bashir’s long incendiary sketch of Kishwar Naheed. Chhappan Chhuri , is a notorious sketch of Kishwar Naheed, presenting Naheed in her intense and striking character. The book is yet to published in India. But it has been published in The Friday Times in four instalments.

She faced several hardships in her journey as a poet. During Gen Zia-ul-Haq’s dictatorship rule (1981-1986), she wrote her concerns on the political situation in Pakistan and the martial law, critical of the rule. There was a ban on her book and a possibility of her being arrested. She and her children lived under constant surveillance and threat. This incident forced her sons to leave Pakistan. During his reign, her husband, Yousuf Kamran was in jail under martial law.

The familiarity with jail for Kishwar Naheed Aapa goes back to her childhood.

She was seven years old when Partition happened. Her abba (father) – Syed Ibne Hasan , the secretary of All India Muslim League in Bulandshahr, was arrested for distributing sweets at Pakistan’s birth. He was in jail for two years. She belonged to the Sayed family in Bulandshahr with seven children, four girls and three boys. Just before partition, during World War II, there was a shortage of resources. The children were sent to collect rations for the family, since they had easier access.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah wrote to the public that Muslim League needed money and asked people to contribute. She and her siblings sent their pocket money to Jinnah. Every afternoon and evening, her mother, along with other Muslim women, would take a fistful of flour before kneading it. The children would go collecting the flour house to house and deliver it at the local Muslim League office.

Bulandshahr then had two parts – upper and lower (it still has Upar Kot and Moti Bagh Kothiat ). The upper part consisted of Muslims, mainly Sayeds, and few Hindus. They were largely business people. When her father was in jail, his Hindu friends would enquire about the welfare of the family. Everyone in Bulandshahr – the Muslims, Christians, and Hindus spent time together. The children went to each other’s house and still had a slight fear about any uprising.

Once her father was out of jail, with the help of his Hindu friends he reached Pakistan. They were suggested to take a flight to Lahore since the train was unsafe. The family upon reaching Delhi stayed for a while in their Hindu friend’s house. They were able to meet the exorbitant air fee to reach Pakistan by selling her mother’s jewellery.

She saw women were more independent in her new home and this little girl from a small town felt Lahore more liberating. She went on to do Masters in Economics and secure a job in the government service.

An invisible boundary arises in such moments

Kishwar Naheed has visited India several times after Partition. She had been to her grandmother’s place and what was her father’s house. A lot of things that she remembered had vanished.

When Bangladesh was formed (1971) she was in Moscow working for the Information Ministry. A colleague of her (Bangladeshi) had accompanied her. She was surprised to experience the detachment so deeply.

“Yet when we would stand next to each other, even though there was no one between us, we would stand apart. We couldn’t bridge the space between us.”

Kishwar Naheed has witnessed both the partition – British India (1947) and Bangladesh (1971). Now that the partition has become the reality, she suggests that everyone must work towards building a good relationship. During the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, she and her friends argued that war can never solve problems between the two countries.

“It was the same moon that people on both sides of the border see, that the same birds sing both in India and Pakistan. If we cannot stop the birds singing or shut out the moon from shining its light in either of the two countries, then why should Indians and Pakistanis stop meeting each other?”

She believes that love transcends boundaries, while hate stays fighting at the borders. And in her case, her poem is one such tool that aids in spreading peace.

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Retired from the information service as the director-general of Pakistan National Council of the arts in 1998, Kishwar Naheed established an NGO Hawwa Crafts as a cooperative for women artisans.

She has also addressed various issues across the horizon, like the Chinese Revolution, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, 9/11. More recently, she wrote on the murder of the African-American George Floyd – George Floyd – Mein Amar Ho Gaya (George Floyd – I Became Immortal) , the growing Talibanization and saffronization of Pakistani and Indian societies and on the COVID-19 pandemic – Kon Inka Maseea Banega ( Who Will Be Their Messiah)

Through her individualistic experience, Kishwar Naheed put forth bitter and harsh comments on the present period. She not only fought for her love and her right but urges that it is in love that we find peace. Her poems continue to celebrate the universal human struggle for equality, justice and freedom. Kishwar Naheed is a prolific and great scholar of our times. She continues to give wings to many women and works for a greater cause.

Ashraf, Ajaz. “Partition was like living through the end of the world’: Pakistan’s leading poet Kishwar Naheed” scroll.in . Aug 15, 2017.
Naheed, Kishwar. “Hum Gunahgar aurten” rakhta .
Khalique, Harris. “ An interview with feminist poet Kishwar Naheed “. Herald . March 8, 2017.
Naeem, Raza. ” ‘I Don’t Have a Mother-In-Law, I’m Grateful!’: Reading Kishwar Naheed on Her 80th Birthday “. thewire.in. June 18, 2020. s
Interview with Raza Naeem: Raza Naeem is a Pakistani social scientist, literary activist, blogger, book critic, and an award-winning translator and dramatic reader based in Lahore. He contributes regularly to The Wire in India and The Friday Times in Pakistan. He has curated and moderated a first-ever edition of Banned Books Week in Pakistan in Lahore in September 2014, and five successive editions since then, in collaboration with Olomopolo. He is currently the President of the Progressive Writers Association (Anjuman Taraqqi Pasand Musannifeen) in Lahore. He is presently completing a manuscript on Sahir Ludhianvi and Lahore, forthcoming in 2021 (to coincide with the 100th birth anniversary of the poet). Contact: [email protected]

The following page contains the interview with Raza Naeem.

Interview with Raza Naeem

1 Why is Kishwar Naheed referred to as ‘Aapa’?

Aapa is a fond honorific used across South Asia (especially in the Urdu-speaking community) to denote that someone is like an elder sister in terms of her age and experience. We regard Kishwar Naheed as Aapa because she is the patron-saint of not only all women in Pakistan but also the feminist movement across South Asia!

2. Kishwar Naheed’s work, engrossed for decades, people appreciate it for generations. What makes her work so relevant?

Her work is relevant because it not only reflects her own personal journey as a poet and feminist but rather more than autobiography – as I have also argued in my piece on her in The Wire which you cited – it is the voice of a whole generation which came of age in the 1960s (both during the dictatorship of Ayub Khan in Pakistan and broader currents of resistance across the Third World). In her poetry, Naheed has universalized her Pakistani identity by striving to gather together the sorrows and travails of all the women of the Third World. That is why her work is read and translated from Delhi to Buenos Aires.

3. In her work, she usually presents herself (and other women) as a ‘Bad Woman’ or ‘sinful women’. How does this characterisation reflect on South Asian gender dynamics?

Yes it is true that Kishwar Naheed was the first truly bad woman or sinful woman of Urdu poetry.But in Urdu prose her predecessors were the communist doctor Rashid Jahan (who died early) and the fearsome writer Ismat Chughtai, who was hauled before a British Indian court for addressing the theme of homosexuality in one of her stories. More recently, Naheed has had counterparts of the bad woman across other cultures and continents. One thinks of Simone de Beauvoir (whose book The Second Sex Naheed pubblished in an abridged translation), Nawal El Saadawi (who passed away earlier this year) and the likes of Germaine Greer, Eve Ensler and Betty Friedan, etc. In terms of South Asian gender dynamics, the bad woman represents how many girls of the middle-class in traditional households were restricted, and women like Kishwar Naheed had to fight for the basic right to study further. This struggle was later reflected in various stages of freedom and expression which Naheed negotiated successfully. Naheed’s struggle gave way to other successful ‘bad women’ in Urdu poetry like Fahmida Riaz and Sara Shagufta. Today the term ‘bad woman’ has taken on a different meaning in South Asia because we are theoretically living in a modern age, but women’s rights across South Asia are being rolled back by patriarchy and conservatism. Take the case of the Aurat March in Pakistan, which has been held successfully across our major cities despite overt and covert threats, intimidation and court cases being instituted against them. The term ‘bad woman’ has become the new normal for young women in South Asia, who had taken for granted the very rights women like Kishwar Naheed had fought for. Even these rights are now being rolled back in the 21st century. But the bad women are mutiplying!

Naheed had once referenced the French poet Saint-John Perse saying: ‘My story is the story of that street woman who recites the fatiha amid sorrow, bites the wayfarers, proceeds with the prince or the dagger held in her arms.’

The term ‘bad woman’ thus denotes the modern woman whose biggest crime is her intelligence.

4. Tell us a bit about your work on the sketch of Kishwar Naheed.

Oh that came about last year on Kishwar Naheed’s 80th birthday. I wanted to write a personalized tribute to her. But having already written two essays on her and being a contributor to a book of her translated poems released on her 80th birthday, I wanted to do something different. So I came across the radical Pakistani writer Ahmad Bashir’s long incendiary sketch of her which was published when she was in her 40s, just before the early death of her husband, and just starting to become notorious. It is a no-holds-barred sketch of the poet which was originally titled Gashti (Prostitute), later changed to Chhappan Chhuri ; and it became so notorious that its repute spread from Lahore to London, as soon as Bashir had read it in the presence of the poet herself and her husband and Intizar Hussain write about it in his column. Everyone wanted to have a copy of it.

So in 2020, on Naheed’s 80th birthday, I wanted the younger generation to get to know her better, so I thought the sketch fulfils that purpose. It has been published in The Friday Times in four installments:

My only regret is that it has yet to be published in India. But I tremendously enjoyed translating it!

5. Recognised as an eminent feminist Urdu-Poet, Kishwar Naeed discusses a lot about the man-woman relationship. What other issues does her work highlight?

Well yes, any woman poet is immediately expected and stereotyped to produce poetry related to man-woman relationships or exclusively women’s issues. Many excellent Urdu poets have achieved this to perfection like Parveen Shakir, Ada Jafri and Zehra Nigah (who is still living and active); among contemporary poets you have Tanvir Anjum, Yasmeen Hameed, Ambreen Salahuddin, Fatema Hasan, Shahida Hasan and Azra Abbas, but Naheed has also written about other issues and continues to write about them. The circle of her poetry has been getting wider since a long time ago. Other issues she has explored in her poetry are her marital life, employment, the creation and destruction of united Pakistan, the political and social landscape and feminine sensibility, as well as some of the cardinal events of our time like the Chinese Revolution, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and 9/11. More recently, she has addressed the Donald Trump phenomenon as well as the murder of the African-American George Floyd in Minnesota last year; the growing Talibanization and saffronization of Pakistani and Indian societies respectively; and built up a significant body of work on the COVID – 19 pandemic and its local and global ramifications. I believe that Kishwar Aapa is the most prolific and varied Urdu poet of our time!

6. She has witnessed both the partitions – British India (1947) and Bangladesh (1971). Do you see any correspondence to such experience in her work?

Not really! Yes she did witness the depredations of partition as a 7-year old girl of a conservative middle-class family uprooted from her native Bulandshahr, but she quickly assimilated within the Pakistani Punjabi culture upon migration to Lahore. So partition itself does find a mention in her celebrated memoir Buri Aurat Ki Katha but it does not affect her work per se like it did her distinguished contemporaries like Intizar Hussain (also a fellow Bulandshahri), Abdullah Hussein or Quratulain Hyder. who are known for addressing such themes in their most important works. I mean Naheed is not known for her poems on partition; she hasn’t written any!

In the case of 1971, there are just a couple of chapters in her memoirs but no poetry. She has herself told me that there was a news blockade imposed by the Pakistani military dictatorship on any news coming from East Pakistan and so even when she accompanied a delegation of Pakistanis on a fact-finding mission to Dhaka at the height of the bloodbath there, she fled in horror from the carnage on a plane. So again she hasn’t really addressed this second partition in her poetry as well.

7. How has her work influenced the field of history?

I would say it has to a certain extent, and more directly in the context of her poems from the dictatorship period of the Zia-ul-Haq regime, Pakistan’s worst military regime. Read any of her poems from that period from 1981 to 1986 and you wll understand what I am talking about. Let me give the reference of just one of her poems, Mein Kaun Hoon (Who Am I?, in which the echo of a whole movement can be heard which especially in the regime of Zia-ul-Haq had spread like a wave of consciousness in reaction to the trampling of women’s rights.

8 How has translation helped her work reach a larger audience while not losing the ethos of the author?

I think Kishwar Naheed is really lucky that she is one of the most translated Urdu poets of the 20th century, if not the MOST translated. As far as I know, she has been translated into most of the great languages, including for the United Nations. I can only speak for the quality of her English translations, which have been appearing regularly since 1972. They are of varying quality as is usually the case, but they have helped establish her as the representative voice of Pakistani feminism, much like you would say about Simone de Beauvoir and Nawal El Saadawi. I mean to me she IS Pakistani feminism! The writer herself is actually not very satisfied with the quality of her work in translation. In my own humble translations of her work, I have consciously tried to bring out her daring political and feminist concerns, but I also believe in maintaining a certain jauntiness of ryhme.

9 According to you, what makes Kishwar Naheed’s work distinct from others?

Kishwar Naheed is identified as a distinct voice in modern Urdu poetry. Her tone is individualistic but it has the echo of the widest collective experience:

‘Meri aavaaz, mere shahr ki aavaaz hai

Meri aavaaz, meri nasl ki aavaaz hai

Meri aavaaz ki baazgasht nasl dar nsl chale gi…’

(My voice, is the voice of my city

My voice, is the voice of my generation

The echo of my voice will continue from generation to generation…’

Further she writes in this poem:

‘Main payambar nahi hoon

Main toa bas aaj ko aankhen khol kar dekh rahi hoon.’

(I am not a prophet

I am just watching today by opening my eyes)

Kishwar Aapa has narrated these conditions seen with open eyes in her poetry. Alongwith the continuous narrative of individualistic experience, her poetry can also be read as a bitter and harsh comment on the present period; where the incident of this era becomes poetry after being molded into personal experience. The poetry of Kishwar Naheed achieves it distinction from the illustration of this very couple of facets of experience, the individualistic and the collective. After reading Kishwar aapa’s poems from the 1960s, one could say with confidence that Urdu poetry became able enough to endure a woman.

10 What is your favourite work of Kishwar Naheed?

There are 3 poems which are all recent that I would like to mention here. Incidentally I have also translated all three. One is a poem not written by her, but about her Kishwar Naheed Ko Zinda Rehna Chahiye (Kishwar Naheed Must Live), written by Dr Najiba Arif, which is also on the back cover of the special anniversary volume commissioned for her 80th birthday last year. Then there is a long poem on COVID – 19 in early 2020 titled Kon Inka Maseea Banega (Who Will Be Their Messiah) which is probably the first poem she wrote on the pandemic and I had the honour to translate it; I had the honour to recite the translated poem at an online talk I was invited to give on the ramifications of COVID – 19 in Pakistan at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, one of Russia’s most prestigious universities. The third one is very special because when the unfortunate George Floyd was murdered in Minnesota in May last year, I rang Kishwar Aapa up and insisted that there must be a poem on this. So she wrote the poem George Floyd – Mein Amar Ho Gaya (George Floyed – I Became Immortal) on the tragedy and then amended it later. She later told the late Asif Farrukhi that this is Raza’s poem. he wrung it out of me. This will always be a source of great pride and honour for me!

Author – Manashini M

This is Manashini M. She is a 3rd-year History research major in Shiv Nadar University, Noida-NCR.

Comparative study of Kishwar Naheed's 'I am not that woman' and Kamala Das's 'Spoiling The Name'. Feminism redefined.

India and Pakistan may have been countries that parted ways like in a bad relationship because of different interest but the people living in them especially women still face similar atrocities. Similar struggles entail them wherever they live. Kamala Das and Kishwar Naheed are shining examples of oppressed female life and their escape from the patriarch prisons.

Related Papers

Sonia Bhattacharya

In this paper, I wish to offer a feminist reading of two poems namely, ‘I’m Not that Woman’ by Kishwar Naheed and ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou in order to represent their poetic verses as spaces of resistance. These poems serve as powerful narratives of the everyday life experiences of women as gendered subjects. However, an agency discourse can also be simultaneously gauged in these works of literature recuperating the socio-cultural life-context of the two authors selected to avoid invisibility of sexual, racist and ethnic implications of gendered subjectivity. The two female poets of different nationalities across the globe are selectively chosen in order to feed into an argument, echoed by Chandra Talpade Mohanty in her essay, ‘Under Western Eyes :Revisited(2003)’- whereby it has been stated that there should be a call for transnational feminist practice and cross national feminist solidarity. This paper has attempted to establish a feminist solidarity in resistance against women’s oppression using discourse analysis. Thus, dialectic between oppression and activism is located in the space of poetic verses and the similarities in the thematic content of the two selected poems articulate historiographies that circumscribe to the feminist solidarity; consequently, a vocabulary of agency. Key words: subjectivity, discourse, dialectic, historiography, agency.

Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Studied

Arshad M Hashmi

Mahdi Baghfalaki , Jenifer Milton

Forough Farrokhzad and Kishwar Naheed astonishingly share themes and issues in their poetry. They are considered as the major and the successful feminist voices in their countries. They belong to the same period, age and gender who attempted to gain a voice for their country women.A comparative study is required to measure their contribution to the feminism. This paper attempts to provide a different angle of feminism as it is intended to analyze and interpret patriarchy and objectification of women displayed in their selected poems which might help to understand their poetry better. Moreover, the paper is aimedto analyze and interpret their selected poetry as responses to the nuances and effects of patriarchy and objectification of women and to find out different shades of patriarchyandobjectification of women displayed in the selected poetry.The researchershave placed the voices and words under a microscope and found how the works release and reveal these major issues in their various forms. Keywords:Comparative Study, Forough Farrokhzad, Kishwar Naheed, patriarchy, Objectification

Ravi Suganya

Cyber Publication House

Chhote lal Khatri

Cyber Literature, a bi-annual journal of English studies. This issue comprises of eleven research papers which cover different topics and concepts of English Literature. There is also a couple of poems namely Monsoon Blues & Durga by Sanjukta Dasgupta and Beware Man ! Beware by Mandal Bijoy Beg. The last section of this issue includes ten book reviews.

The New Millennium Woman

Alisha Oli Mohammed

TJPRC Publication

Shrabanee Khatai

Anything and everything that is not restricted to only one culture and transcends the boundaries of nations and extends through all human cultures is termed as transcultural. Feminism, the women liberation movement in literary discourses, is one such widespread phenomenon which has massive significance in all over the world. It can be argued that the pioneers of feminism were the dwellers of the west such as Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter and Simone de Beauvoir. However this idea of giving voice to the voiceless is later seen to be celebrated all over the world. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century there was flowering of poets in America, Africa, Canada, India and as many countries as possible, who in their poetry developed a sort of feminism which was more of a personal experience rather than a passive spectacle. Among them one such poet was Eunice Desouza, the Goan-origined poet who offers a wide range of women-centric ideas in her poetry based on her personal experiences. The kind of feminism, she deals with, is heavily inspired by western as well as Indian poets of varying cultures. Though feminism developed as a reform later it became confessional in the writings of some poets. Thus it is obvious that the confession varies from individual to individual. However there is some sense of similarity among them all. This paper shows how the poetry of Eunice Desouza is a record of a transcultural aspect of feminism inspired by poets like Sylvia Path, Emily Dickinson, and Kamala Das and many more. Keyword: Transcultural, feminism, confession, personal experience, emotions.

Proceedings of ‘Interpreting Short Stories of the Post 1950’s at M D Shah Mahila College, Mumbai

Huzaifa Pandit

The paper attempts to trace the intertextual connection between the selected poems of the Pakistani poem: Kishwar Naheed and the Indian short story writer: Mahshweta Devi. The paper argues that the writers share a common thematic concern with destabilizing hegemonic masculinist discourses that get reflected in the exploitation of subaltern and disempowered classes symbolized through the class of women. Both Devi and Naheed represent the class of intellectuals, Gramsci termed: organic intellectuals, the class that articulates and theorizes the subaltern class. A comparison of the selected works of the two writers, would offer interesting insights into the psyche of the ‘sub-continental female’. The premise of exploration of the sub-continental woman, essentialist as it sounds, follows from the premise of gynocriticism, as propounded by Showalter who argued that it entailed a “feminist study of women’s writing, including readings of women’s texts and analyses of the intertextual relations both between women’s writers (a female literary tradition), and between women and men. (Showalter). Drawing from Showalter, I shall try and examine a set of images, metaphors and themes, “which connects” the writing of Devi and Naheed, across the different periods of their composition, and builds it into something as cohesive and as intertextually rich as the traditionally sanctioned male literary canon”. Through her fiction, Devi examines the discourse of modernization and the sustained counter-insurgency between the locally sprung guerilla warfare groups influenced by radical Marxist ideologies, and espouses the case of the displaced tribal populace displaced by capitalist industrialization. With an eye for minute detail, she weaves her stories around her tribal protagonists, fictionalizing real-life incidents to offer a succinct commentary on the treatment of the post-colonial totalizing nation of the subaltern tribal populace. For the purposes of this analysis, I shall consider the short stories “Draupadi” and “Douloti – the Bountiful”. A similar case can be made out of the poem “We Sinful Women”, by Kishwar Naheed. Naheed’s poems question the masochistic subordination that characterizes legitimate femininity in a patriarchal discourse sanctioned by religion. For example in the poem We Sinful Women the act manifested in “Sin” is mapped along the value laden hierarchy of collective morality like virtue - its binary opposite, and constitutes a voluntary refusal to conform to a behavioral code.

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ENGLISH NOTES SUMMARY

Tuesday 5 november 2019, i am not that woman poem -- by kishwar naheed -notes - summary, 32 comments:.

Very nice description.

Excellent explanation thank you

Thank you so much ....we have a dearth of study material .

Thank you for a wonderful explanation.

Thank you so much 😍

Thanks for the explanation.

Sir your notes appearance is splendid sir that makes our hard days to get easier

Thank you so much for a nice explanation sir

Apt and crisp

It's niceu

Thank you! This helped me understand the text better.

Thank you for your help sir

wonderful explanation sir. Its simple and meaningful.

Thank you so much, for the simple and easiersummary .

Superbb explanation sir..🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️

Thankyou sir for this short & simple explanation....

Thank you sir

Very helpful👍

Tqs for explaining

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I Am Not that Women, Poem by Kishwar Naheed: Summary

Summary of ‘i am not that women’ (essay).

The poem’s ‘I am not that women’ by Kishwar Naheed and ‘women work’ by Mayo Angelou show the struggles of two black women from different cultures. Compare and contrast the two women’s experiences. The two poems ‘I am not that women’ by Kishwar Naheed and ‘Women Work’ by Mayo Angelou are two examples of how black women were treated in these days. The poems come from two different backgrounds but each have similarities and differences.

In this essay, I intend to compare and contrast the two poems to hopefully give a better understanding of the two poems, and show how the two women faced exploitation and oppression.

The purpose of these poems is to highlight the lives and difficulties of women from other cultures and traditions. Poetry is the chosen medium for these two writers, it gave them a way to express there true feelings and opinions without the fear of getting abused for sharing them.

Mayo Angelou is a highly respected and educated black American who is writing about the daily struggle of a working class woman. Her ‘escape’ is her mind, her flight of fantasy, as she pleads to another women (mother nature) to release her. Kishwar Naheed is also a highly educated, successful woman who takes on the customs and traditions of her Asian background.

Main Theme of the Poem ‘I Am Not that Women’

This poem ‘I am not that women’ tells of the difficulties that a particular women faces in her struggle against a male dominated society (patriarchal).

Proficient in: Oppression

“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”

‘I am not that women’ is a poem by Kishwar Naheed, it displays the issues of discrimination against women and how men treated them. The title of this poem is a strong positive sentence ‘ I am not that women’ she (whether it be the poet or a made up women) is not the usual women who is treated harshly by men, she is the women who is going to stand up for the right of equal-ness! This gives the poem a bit of authority at the start.

The stanzas are not of any regular pattern, the first stanza consists of 6 lines where as some of them are run on lines. The first stanza starts with ‘I am’ which Is repeated variously around the poem, this gives a strong voice across to give enthusiasm to ‘I am’ so the reader remembers this statement. It also gives the impression that this women is a person and she does exist, its stating a positive fact. ‘I am’ is followed by ‘selling you socks and shoes’ this is here to point out that she isn’t just here for the mans benefit, to be here just to get the mans shoes and socks for them but here for their own benefit, to enjoy themselves.

This sentence is ended with a exclamation mark, this is used for effect to give the sense of a strong statement being made. Another strong statement that is used throughout the poem is ‘remember me’ this is again her plea to extinguish her existence. She is making herself the subject of this poem by always bringing herself into the topic ‘remember me’ and ‘I am’. This statement ‘remember me’ is followed by ‘I am the one you hid in your walls of stone’ suggesting that this man that the poem is aimed at is trapping her at home and making her do the house work.

‘not knowing that my voice cannot be smothered by stone’ although she is stuck in this house she will be heard no matter what and she makes the point of saying this. ‘I am’ is again used at the beginning of stanza 2 but in a different way. The difference is a positive statement where she is recognises that she is an individual who cannot be abused. Instead of stating that she is the women, she states she isn’t the women who was ‘crushed by custom and tradition’ This statement recognises that men can treat women in an appalling manner knowing full well that men have the right to treat women how they wish.

The word ‘crushed’ is a very strong harsh verb, which shows the strengths of the oppression. ‘Custom and tradition’ is being introduced in this stanza ‘with the weight of custom and tradition’ she has no one or no where to turn to, the men in society can crush as every man does as it’s the custom and tradition to do so. This is another sign of entrapment and discrimination. The poet uses imagery in this stanza to again bring across the effects of this kind of treatment ‘that light cannot be hidden in darkness’ this is a metaphor of light against dark.

Light is a representive of the light of knowledge showing that women will one day break out of this trap and see the potential they can reach. After this proclamation ‘remember me’ is repeated, another sign to draw attention to her plight, asking the men to remember her. There is a use of sexual imagery that reflects the tension between being loved and being owned. The imagery of flowers ‘I am the one in whose lap you picked flowers and planted thorns and embers’ shows as she feels she has being picked, enjoyed for her beauty and thrown away.

The word ‘chains’ in this sentence show how she is chained, locked in her house only there for the use of men. ‘Smother’ is another harsh verb that is used like ‘crushed’ in stanza one bringing the feeling of death and entrapment. She could feel claustrophobic, she is stuck in this house twenty four seven only for the enjoyment of the man. This stanza as well as others uses short sharp lines for effect, this is here to represent how abruptly she says this, how quick she wants to say this and forget about the hurt she is facing.

Repition again is used as an opening for stanza three with ‘I am’ This stanza is aimed at how she feels she is being bought and then sold off, how she feels dirty because of this. ‘Whom you bought and sold’ you can tell this women is educated by the language she uses in this sentence ‘whom’. ‘In the name of my own chastity’ this man has obviously used her for sex, took her virginity off her and then thrown it back in her face. The value of virginity in Asian countries at this time was very strong.

Women tended to keep there virginity until they were with the person they loved and wanted to spend the rest of there lives with, so being treated like this with a thing as precious as virginity has made this women so angry, made her feel like nothing, like dirt on the floor, but with all the trouble he’s causing her she gets back up to fight again ‘that I can walk on water when I am drowning’ Before this sentence she refers to the man as him not knowing that she is this strong that she can get back up when pushed down ‘not knowing’.

Stanza four is different to any of the other stanzas, the poet is now addressing a different man, her father. ‘I am the one you married off to get rid of a burden’ this tells us how she has being married off by her father so he doesn’t have the responsibilities of her, this was called dowry, where the father of a women paid a man to marry her. The word ‘burden’ is a common noun which is used to describe a thing, this women isn’t a thing though, she is a person with her own personality her own freedom, her own way of living.

The poet is always fighting with the thoughts of these men by using ‘I am not’ and ‘not knowing’ suggesting they don’t know what’s right and who she is. She uses ‘not knowing’ again ‘that a nation of captive minds cannot be free’ to suggest that this man and all other men are trapping these women and using them for indecent purposes. Stanza 5 ends the poem but with a slight change at the end. The word ‘commodity’ is used at the beginning of this stanza to make out shes a thing that people trade in when they aren’t satisfied.

‘My chastity, my motherhood, my loyalty’ There is no love shown here, this women is only wanted for her pureness, her ability to make children and her loyalty as a wife. This line follows off with a referral to stanza 2 ‘now it is time for me to flower free’ this is stating she isn’t going to keep being used for something as precious as her pureness, she’s going to keep that special and keep it for someone who can treat it with the right respect.

The perspective of the poem changes here with the use of alliteration and imagery of flowers, she is making a stand, setting her standards for the use of not just herself, but for women universal. The last 3 lines of this stanza tell the audience how she is making her peace ‘the women on that poster, half-naked, selling socks and shoes’ she was that women who was bought and sold but now she is breaking free ‘no no I am not that women’ this is a strong positive ending making it feel triumphant.

The punctuation used here is for effect to make the poem move. The poem ‘Women Work’ by Mayo Angelou expresses a more personal point of view towards work and life where as in ‘ I am not that women’ Naheed is writing for ‘universal’ women in equality and Oppression that she sees from her own personal point of view. Mayo Angelou is writing from her own feelings, her own daily life and very narrow perspective. The poem ‘Women Work’ by Mayo Angelou is about black women in rural living conditions and explains the work done by a woman.

The poem starts with a tedious list of jobs using no punctuation to make the reading of the poem fast to reflect the pace of the day. This also show the types of work she has to do, including back breaking ones ‘the cane to cut’. This is a sing song effect to make this easy to read, as there is no time for detail with the amount of work she has to do, this stanza also includes rhyming couplets again to make it an easy read. The repetition of pro noun ‘I’ reinforces how much she has to do in a day. This builds up a feeling of repition, tediousness and routine.

The poet uses colloquial expressions to show nationality in this stanza with ‘I gotta clean up this hut’ this too shows nationality with the word ‘hut’. This stanza reveals quite a lot about the women and her daily life, but this stanza is different to the others. The rhythm, structure and rhyme all change in stanza 2. The rhyme scheme is now ABCB, where instead off rhyming couplets we have the 2nd line rhyming with the 4th line. The rhythm changes as it goes a lot slower now, she is now describing what she wants not what she has to do.

These changes are made when she begins to appeal for peace from routine, she wants this time to go slow that’s why the rhythm has changed and isn’t all fast like the first stanza. This stanza and the following refer to nature ‘shine on me, sunshine rain on me , rain fall softly, dewdrops and cool my brow again’ She wants nature to cool her down to relax her, suggesting she is hot and bothered. She uses alliteration in her requests to bring across the amount of relaxment she wishes for. It’s the same in the next three stanzas, each uses a part of nature to represent the feeling of harmony she wants.

Stanza 3 uses the imagery of wind with ‘storm, blow me from here with your fiercest wind let me float across the sky ’til I can rest again’ this shows an imagery of death with ‘let me float across the sky ’til I can rest again’, she doesn’t want the hassle anymore of work she wants to rest and be peaceful without the stress of work. The next stanza is imagery of ice and snowflakes ‘ fall gently, snowflakes cover me with white cold icy kisses and let me rest tonight’ this also again has imagery of death with ‘cold icy kisses’ suggesting the kiss of death put her to sleep again so she doesn’t have to suffer with the overload of work any more.

Nature is her friend, this is a positive image of the snow ‘kisses’ this is a repeated request for coolness. Alliteration is used to emphaysis this request for coolness. Cold icy kisses, almost a sadness in her words. These lines show she craves relaxation. The last verse another list of natural elements ‘sun, rain, curving sky mountain, oceans, leaf and stone star shine, moon glow’ this lists the natural elements. Life is just a routine a list of chores to do. Everyday is structured by the harsh reality of life. Very poetic language is used in its appeal, she looks to nature to ease her life. This is dreamlike vision.

The only thing she can turn to is nature ‘ you’re all that I can call my own’ she cannot call anything her own as she posses nothing but as the weather is neutral she can call it her own as it’s the only thing not giving her any stress! I have analysed these two poems and found a lot of similarities and differences between them both. Both poems come from different backgrounds and even though they are aimed at the same type of problem they come from very different perspectives. ‘Women Work’ is a more personal point of view where as ‘I am not that women’ is writing for universal women and sticking up for the rights of others.

I Am Not that Women: Conclusion

The tone of both poems is very different as well ‘I am not that women’ is a more strong voice with attitude and harshness whereas ‘Women Work’ is more mellow but frustrated, this women is giving feelings of her daily lifestyle and the sadness she is being put through, she gives wishes as well, things she wants to feel. Both of these poems included metaphors, repition and alliteration for effect of feeling emotions. ‘Women Work’ uses rhyming couplets and a ABCB rhyme scheme, which is not used in ‘I am not that women’, this poem goes without rhyme.

The stanza length varies in each poem but ‘Women Work’ has a regular pattern after stanza one with ABCB. I like theses two poems, I prefer ‘I am not that women’ as it is more aggressive while ‘Women Work’ relaxes near the middle and doesn’t show as much anger towards the men of society. Times have changed in the last 60 years, Women are now not as discriminated as they used to be, men have more respect for them. It is to poets like Mayo Angelou and Kishwar Naheed that give us a sense of how women were treated and how times have changed for the better.

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Comparing poems

Compare and contrast the poems "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed and "women work" by Maya Angelou.

Sandfields Comprehensive School

GCSE Coursework

Lyndon Twomey

Compare and contrast the poems “I am not that woman” by Kishwar Naheed and “women work” by Maya Angelou.

The poems that I am going to discuss are “I am not that woman” by Kishwar Naheed and “women work” by Maya Angelou. Kishwar Naheed is one of the leading poets of Pakistan and writes in Urdu, in her poetry, Naheed writes about the tradition of arranged marriages. She represents the culture of Asian women. Women in Naheed poetry seem to be treated like slaves. Maya Angelou is a black American who grew up in Arkansas. Angelou has had a celebrated career as a poet and recited a poem at the inauguration of adoration of Bill Clinton. The presentation of women in Angelou’s poetry is also that there treated like slaves.

The first poem that I am going to discuss about is “I am not that woman” by Kishwar Naheed. The theme of this poem is that she’s not that woman. In the poem, the poet writes about the woman that she is not. In the first verse the tone is angry because she’s saying about things that she is not. The speaker in the poem is Maya Angelou because she is saying why she doesn’t like the way the women are treated in her culture.

This is a preview of the whole essay

There are no stanzas in the poem. The poet uses repetition to reinforce the message that she is trying to get across. For example the words “I am not that women” are repeated. In the poem the women would appear to be speaking to the people who think she is that women. She is angry because people in her religion are acting as if she is a slave

Naheed is arguing against the stereotype of a woman being obedient. The speaker in the poem tells us what she isn’t. For example she tells us that she isn’t

“The women selling you socks and shoes”

She also tells us that

“my light cannot be hidden in darkness”

By this she means that she is going to shine in the world despite all the pain and hurt she’s had in her life. Finally at the end of the poem the poet

is confident that she can “flower free”. By this she means that she can be free from all that’s happened to her in her life.

Naheed comments on the position on the position of the women in her culture. She says “nation of captive minds cannot be free.” This means that all the people who give her all the pain and hurt will never be free. She is speaking against the tradition of Asian culture. The speaker in the poem is angry about the way women in her culture are treated. Through reading this poem I have learned that Naheed feels really angry about the place in women in Asian culture.

The second poem that I am going to discuss about is “women work” by Maya Anlgelou. The theme of the poem is the work that the women have to do in her culture. The speaker in the poem is Maya Angelou. There are four stanzas in the poem and rhyming couplets are used in verse 1. The structure of the list of jobs reinforces what the women in the poem are trying to say. Angelous choice of words in the poem reflects its theme of women work, she uses words such as “I’ve got to” to describe the endless lists of chores because an absence of punctuation makes the reader breathless. It also emphasises the jobs the women have to do.

The poet uses alliteration in the title of the poem. This makes the title stand out and also sums up what the poem is about. Through reading this poem I have learned that May Angelou’s views womanhood as a role that they are treated like slaves. I have also learned that the poet doesn’t like the way the women in her culture has to do all the chores. I think that the most positive poem I have read is “women work” by Maya Angelou because it gives me a clear picture of the sort of jobs that she has to do in her daily life style.

Compare and contrast the poems "I am not that woman" by Kishwar Naheed and "women work" by Maya Angelou.

Document Details

Word Count 720
Page Count 2
Subject English

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