Cisneros/”loose Woman”
Approx. Words: 675 - Pages: 3 Add to cart Price $32.85
...Cisneros turns a societal signifier of patriarchy completely around and uses it as a declaration of female empowerment. Under the patriarchal sexual double standard, a “loose woman” has traditionally indicated a woman of poor reputation, that is, a woman who has been “loose” in her sexual behavior. In the past, this societal pronouncement has meant ostracism and social censure for the woman on whom such a judgment was collectively given by a community. Cisneros reinterprets and redefines what it means to be a “loose woman” by, first of all, redefining an appropriate reaction, and then redefining the term itself.
In the first several stanzas, Cisneros addresses her reaction to the condemnation inherent in being a “loose woman.” “They Say I’m a beast/And feast on it. When all along I thought that’s what a woman was” (Lines 1-3). This opening stanza sets the tone for the next five. Rather than meeting her criticizers and accusers with chagrin or shame, Cisneros positively embraces their derision and “feeds” on it, as indicated in...
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