WomenS Lib Arguments Against Female Inferiority In Diane WakoskiS B E

Women'S Lib: Arguments Against Female Inferiority In Diane Wakoski'S Belly Dancer In Belly Dancer, Diane Wakoski is endorsing the Women's Liberation Movement in an effort to rouse repressed women into supporting the Movement. The Women's Lib strives for equal rights and female freedom (Vanauken). The belly dancer in her poem is a member of the movement and seeks the awakening of the restrained women who have been raised as proper women. Wakoski satirizes the women who do not support the movement by portraying them as uptight and ignorant people. She disagrees with their sentiments and lifestyle but knows that the women could be efficient members in a more egalitarian society. In the first stanza of the poem the poet emphasizes the word movement by repeating its root word, move, twice. The word movement implies the Women's Liberation Movement, and that it moves itself is her statement that the process is natural and expected, the next logical step in society. It places the movement out of her hands as just a poet and gives it a deeper power, as if it was a thing itself with a need for advancement. The thin green silk that is worn by the belly dancer is very sensual image and is alluring as silk clings to the skin and is often extremely sheer. The green is the colour of envy, which may be felt on a subconscious level by the women seeing the grace and sex appeal of the dancer. Also it is the colour of nature, again suggesting that the wearer is only performing a natural act. In the conclusion of the stanza the dancer expresses her belief that women feel a natural sensuality and therefore any woman wearing such fabrics/ would move her body just to feel them t ouching every part of her. The second stanza has the women in the audience displaying their disgust with the belly dancer, as they try to cover up and they act falsely, not seeing what the performer is doing, for that would be below them. The fear they show is of being tempted away from their perfection, which is one they have created based on Victorian beliefs. The manner of the belly dancer, carefree and confident, is an alien principle to some women in the sixties. The psychologists that these women would have seen would almost certainly be male and the somehow (line 8) would represent Diane Wakoski's belief that a male most likely would be unable to comprehend the Women's Liberation Movement. The awakening (line 9) in themselves that the women fear is suggested by Wakoski that all women have an inborn desire that has the potential to be extremely powerful. The fact that it is the men who would be incapable is a strong statement that she is making against the inferiority of women. The women have sexual pent up energy because they are restrained by their beliefs in Sigmund Freud's incorrect conclusions about women's sexuality. Freud stated that women have two types of orgasms, bad immature clitoral orgasms and good mature vaginal orgasms. This stated that a female was totally dependent on the penis to experience normal pleasure (Freeman). In stanza three Wakoski strongly satirizes the women not supporting the movement by portraying them as uptight, unfeeling and weak. She says that the women fear liberation, and not being repressed, so they protect themselves by hiding behind their clothes and show no skin or sexuality. The framework (line 12) that they hope will support them is a system of society set up in the past, one that places women in an inferior position. They hope they will not feel all of the emotions that they know the belly dancer feels, out of fear that they will lose their treasured self-control. The fourth stanza notes the temptation felt by the women in the audience. This is depicted as a snake, which is a biblical reference representing temptation. It is the snake that lured Eve into sin and brought it upon Adam as well. The snake tempted Eve into eating an apple from the Garden of Eden against God's will, and her actions resulted in the banishment of humankind from paradise. The parallel to this poem is that women