Some more about the Poem, "Crazy Women"

It has already been stated that the women in the poem by Gwendolyn Brooks titled, “Crazy Women” who is considered by her peers as "crazy" does not care what people think of her. The one thing she wants to do is what makes her happy not what others expect of her

"I’ll wait until November

That is the time for me.

I’ll go out in the frosty dark

And sing mostly terribly.

And all the little people

Will stare at me and say,

“This is the Crazy Woman

Who would not sing in May.”

The women in the story understands that the judgment upon her is not as important following her heart and doing as she pleases, not what the hegemonic groups have determined significant in her society. This women in the story reminds me of the story by Mary Freeman, "The Revolt of Mother." Sarah Penn, a women who is describe to be "revolting" from her husband is simply not abiding by the gender roles at the time and speaking up against her husband for the sake her daughter Nanny and her son to have a better home to live and get married in. The two stories have a common underlying theme that women are expected to abide by certain rules that are not very beneficial to women at all. They are simply to quiet us, providing yet another double bind situation. If the women do not speak up they are continually oppressed and treated unfairly by each other and their societies. But, if they do they are either considered a bad mother who is revolting or worse "crazy." -Giau Le

Sadie And Maud Contd.

The poem, "Sadie and Maud" by Gwendolyn Brooks is very similar to the play "Madea" that we read in class. Madea represents the double bind factor that affects women. She is known to be crazy and dangerous because she is smart and clever but is she had followed the societal rules, Jason would have still left her or treated her like a second class citizen. Women like Sade, Maud and Madea are expected to follow impossible standards. No matter how smart of successful they may become it is all the same according to society.

Analyzing "Sadie and Maud"

Sadie and Maud

By Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks

Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.

She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.

Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.

When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)

Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.

The poem Sadie and Maud by the phenomenal poet Gwendolyn Brooks was written in the forties when ideals and expectations for women were more enforced and precedent to follow. In a very contemporary fashion she compares two sisters by emphasizing their lifestyle choices. Sadie, meaning “ Princess” in Old English lives a life unapologetically when she breaks all the ideals and standards that have been put forth for her to follow by society and the hegemonic groups that determine what those standards are. Sadie bore two babies out of wedlock which, back then was a big taboo for any women to do let alone, an African American one such as herself who is already looked down upon due to her skin color. Sadie demolishes the gender roles that have been ingrained in society by going into motherhood without a husband therefore, “ Putting Ma, Pa, and Maud to shame.” In the Poem it states that, “ Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.She didn't leave a tangle in. Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks. In all the land.” Sadie is evidently unfazed by the ridicule and lives life without missing a single strand, in other words taking life for what it is and loving every minute of it proving that going against society is at times acceptable and even necessary to be truly happy.

Maud the other sister, is the individual who follows the societal rules by being very meek and mousey. The dominating hegemonic groups have set forth very strict gender guidelines that must be followed and Maud does just that throughout her life. But at the end of the poem it is determined that, “Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.She is living all alone.In this old house.” Maud is a prime example of the fallacies that come with the misconception that following rules and socially constructed guidelines does not equate to happiness in the present and in the future. Socially constructed ideals pretty much state that if a women goes to college and gets an education, listens to her parents, and stays within the imaginary moral box she is very likely to be happy in the future. Maud conformed to society and was left to live alone in a house while her sister Sadie who is a rebel ends up happy with two daughters.

Sadie and Maud represent the double bind issue that is present with women in Western Culture. Maud who follows all the socially constructed guidelines ends up alone. Sadie who is happy with her choices and lifestyle is ridiculed by society and is shunned by her own family. The story of Sadie and Maud demonstrate the impossible standards that are set forth for women. Whether you follow the hegemonic ideals or not you will eventually be shunned and looked down upon like Sadie or become alone and unhappy like Maud.

Gwendolyn Brooks addresses many themes in the poem, “Sadie and Maud.” Some mentioned include the issue of women being in a double bind situation, socially constructed guidelines that are impossible and pointless to follow, gender roles that only oppress women if they are not followed, and social and moral expectations that women are to follow during motherhood such as being married to a man when pregnant. The culture that Gwendolyn Brooks represents is the black, feminist, and female community. The culture she stands for is the oppressed and unfairly treated groups. These themes that come into Gwendolyn Brooks' poems help to influence her culture in a positive way. By writing poems such as, “Sadie and Maud” Gwendolyn Brooks is raising awareness to her audience that these themes should not dictate our actions or our lives or even the way we perceive ourselves because they are not factual. She is providing examples and evidence through her poems that socially constructed guidelines are not ideal nor necessary to follow. She is influencing her culture to rise above the false roles that biological essentialism has given to women and to achieve happiness through our own standards and guidelines. By recognizing stereotypes and predetermined prejudice towards women, we as women in the same culture can better recognize fallacies as they occur and rise above them.

-Giau

The Crazy Woman

The Crazy Woman

I shall not sing a May song.

A May song should be gay.

I’ll wait until November

And sing a song of gray.

I’ll wait until November

That is the time for me.

I’ll go out in the frosty dark

And sing mostly terribly.

And all the little people

Will stare at me and say,

“This is the Crazy Woman

Who would not sing in May.”

In the poem, The Crazy Woman by Gwendolyn Brooks, the speaker expresses a desire to sing in an unconventional time and way; she shows the strength of one woman stepping out of the hegemonic binds by singing in the gloomy November, instead of like all other woman who sang in the happy month of May. The poem addresses the responses from society as rejecting the social constructions. By doing this the speaker is thought to be “crazy” by the other woman because she is declining to follow the social constructions that were places upon them all. She is stepping out of the normal boundaries that the society was placed in, not caring what the others thought of her.

-Crystal Kelsey

Why Gwendolyn Brooks deserves a fan page contd.

Gwendolyn Brooks has been writing since the early years of her childhood and she deserves to be recognized for her work because she participated in many different youth organizations (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for example) she also engaged in poetry readings and workshops at Chicago’s South Side Community. After her first book in 1945 (A Street In Bronzeville), she was selected one of Mademoiselle magazine’s “Ten Young Women of the Year,” she won her first Guggenheim Fellowship, and she became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Gwendolyn also taught poetry at numerous institutions for higher learning, including Northeastern Illinois State College (now Northeastern Illinois University), the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the City College of the City University of New York. Gwendolyn Brooks, in short, takes her poetry to the people; she spent most of her time inspiring others to write by sponsoring writers’ workshops in Chicago and also poetry contests at prisons. A turning point in her career came in 1967 when she attended the Fisk University Second Black Writers’ Conference and decided to become more involved in the Black Arts movement. She became one of the most visible articulators of “the black aesthetic” (Ideologies and perspectives of art that center around Black culture and life). She was appointed poet laureate of Illinois in 1968 and she had been more active than many other laureates. She had done a lot to bring poetry to the people through accessibility and public readings because she wanted the people to be apart of her poetry. She continued to test her works worth by reading and speaking in taverns, and other public places as well as in academic circles. She was named poetry consultant, meaning she gives one advice, in 1985 by the Library of Congress. In 1990, Chicago State University gave Gwendolyn Brooks work a permanent home by establishing the Gwendolyn Brooks Center on its campus. Some unforgettable characters that are drawn from the underclass of the nation’s black neighborhoods mark Brooks’s poetry.

- Crystal Kelsey

Why Gwendolyn Brooks Deserves a fan page

Gwendolyn Brooks is a phenomenal poet and artist who is more than worthy of her very own fan page. Her art exemplifies many humanistic emotions and addresses controversial issues and characters which makes her a diverse and bold artist. Her poetry has a refreshing and subtle contemporary style which mostly describes African American city life. As an established poet Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American women to win the Pulitzer Prize. By the age of sixteen Brooks had already written seventy five poems, demonstrating her love and passion for the arts, an important trait for an individual to possess in poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks addresses the issue of prejudice regarding skin color amongst the black community through concise technical form, careful word choice, and elaborate word play. Brooks was also very poignant in stating her stance on the unfair treatment of oppressed groups such as African Americans and females of any race. It is extremely commendable for an artist to not only address such controversial issues but to raise awareness through her poetry. Adversity is the stepping stone to true art and as a child Gwendolyn Brooks used her difficult childhood full of bullies and prejudice to create influential and beautiful poetry, demonstrating her strength and endurance as an individual. The reasons that I have listed above regarding why Gwendolyn Brooks deserves her own fan page are just a few of many. As as artist she has inspired many people but as an individual she is more than exceptional.

-Giau Le