Poetry as Politics of Resistance: Female Resistance in Gwendolyn Brooks' "The Mother"

Abstract

This paper explores the experiences of black women/mothers in American South and the resistance strategies they use to overcome the challenges through the examination of Brooks' "The Mother". It provides insights into how black females have been suffering from patriarchal ideology and stereotyping, and how they are placed in an inferior position and treated as slaves and sexual machines. Gendered stereotypes show that the women of color are poor, helpless and dependent. The aim of this study is twofold. First, the goal is to explain why black women are victims of white prejudice and patriarchal practices. And second, it demonstrates how black females set themselves free from racial ideology and Western hegemony by applying resistance strategies. Applying the approach of textual analysis, this paper examines how socio-cultural values/ stereotypes make black women captive and what resistance strategies they use to avoid disparity and social injustice. The findings of this research show that resistance strategies are the means of liberation for black women. Furthermore, it contributes to knowledge about resistance strategies that women of color use to protect themselves from the pathetic effects of racism and gender oppression. Nonetheless, it is argued that owing to the power and pervasiveness of structurally-imposed values, individualized resistance strategies are limited.