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Shaina Clingempeel

4/10/16

Whitman Seminar

Women in Whitman’s Works:

A Feminist Analysis through the Lens of Adrienne Rich

Regarded as a champion of human connection, Whitman proves revolutionary in his inclusion of all peoples and of men and women. For this reason, critics often refer to “Song of Myself” as a “woman’s book,” as it advocates love for humankind, regardless of gender or sexuality (Mullins 1). In discussion of female repression as an ongoing process, poet Adrienne Rich begins with political interpretation that evolves into political activism.These poets appear similar in their communal vision and as poets of women and men. Both poets reject the notion of female desire as taboo to uphold the need for woman to “write herself” into existence and to regain control over her body (Cixous 7). Within Whitman’s work, one can see how his discussion of women and of their sexual freedom becomes representative of his vision of democratic liberation and equality amongst peoples.

Because Whitman’s inclusion of women and their desires appears revolutionary, one might consider him a First Wave Feminist; however, his efforts prove limited and fail to encompass Second Wave Feminism at full, as he speaks “for” women, seeks to merge with them, and places them within the maternal role alone. In “Sleepers,” Whitman embodies the female perspective and discusses sexual frustration, but he does so through his masculine voice (Whitman 107). Meanwhile, Adrienne Rich embraces separatism, in poems such as “Frame,” which contains respect in its removal from a disenfranchised black female.As a result of this desire for mergence, Whitman’s catalogues of women involve Whitman’s gendered “Real Me,” as in “Sleepers,” in which Whitman becomes the woman he discusses (Whitman 107). In addition, his women receive mention as mothers, prostitutes, and as archetypical females, inside the domestic realm alone. As Adrienne Rich states, “the mere sharing of oppression does not constitute a common world,” this demonstrates how Whitman would prove feminist if he recognized his privilege and distanced himself from the female voice (Middlebrook 14). This recognition, in concert with the establishment of women in both the private and public sphere, would permit Whitman to develop an all-encompassing feminism like that of Adrienne Rich. Thus, Whitman takes a feminist “step,” in his inclusion of women, but his portrayal of women proves limited, as it does not provide her extension beyond a preordained maternal archetype, seeks mergence with her, then speaks “for” her experience through his masculine voice.

On an initial basis, Whitmanseems to revolutionize discussions of women as he delineates their sexual desires. As he adopts a female voice in “Sleepers,” a woman asks the darkness for a gentler touch than her lover’s. In the lines, “my hands are spread forth, I pass them in all directions,” his female figure gains an autonomous sense of joy through her orgasmic experience (Whitman 107). This aligns with feminists critics, such as Cixous, in “Laugh of the Medusa,” wherein she discusses how woman must “write herself” to receive mention and to return to her body (Cixous 8).One can attribute this to the fact that women become “turned away from [their] bodies, shamefully taught to ignore them, to strike them with that stupid sexual modesty,” or become expected to silence their desires and to conform to societal expectations for female submissiveness (Cixous 14). This emphasis on erotic love, as it connects one to her senses,occurs in Rich’s poems as well. In Rich’s “Like This Together,” the lines “Because of you I notice/the taste of water,/” contain a Whitmanian nature, in their mind and body awareness and sexual explicitness (Martin 180).Previously, women were expected to speak through a censored framework, especially within repressed Victorian households, which feared female sexuality (Killingsworth40).When Whitman includes woman and returns her to her body, in the tradition of Rich, Cixous, and Second Wave Feminists, he extends upon openness in female sexuality.

Often, Whitman receives recognition for his sexual explicitness, which seems obscene to peoples of his era, yet becomes significant, through the admission of female desire in artistic expression. Whitman’s ability to transmit this to woman seems to “write” her back into her body, which Cixous considers important, as it removes woman from conventions and expectations for female modesty. Alongside Cixous, Adrienne Rich inquires whether Walt Whitman “isn’t speaking internally to Walt, acknowledging what can’t yet be imagined…” in his democratic vision, in which he equates national freedom with sexual freedom (Rich 112). In addition, Rich includes a Robert Duncan piece, which discusses Whitman’s need to construct an American vision, beginning with interpersonal relations (Rich 112). From Rich’s statement, one can surmise that, for Whitman, an all-inclusive vision begins with this freedom of sexual desire he provides women.Also, in her statement, that women “[fight] for a slash of recognition,”she demonstrates how recognition of women’s rights begins with this recognitionof her needs (Martin 182). One can see how, First Wave Feminists like Mary Chilton, author of The Social Revolutionist, advocate this same “free love” as a means to remove women from the patriarchal structure of marriage (Ceniza 201). Similarly, Second Wave Feminists Cixous and Rich employ this move towards basic rights, then extend this to include women as subjects, which Whitman seems to provide on the surface level, as the woman in “Sleepers” expresses lust (Whitman 107).

In light ofl’ecriture feminine, or “writing-the-body,” which Second Wave feminists advocate, “Leaves of Grass” becomes considered a “Woman’s Book,” which sheds woman of social and sexual repression(Mullins 196). While people of Whitman’s time consider the sexually liberated woman a threat, Critic Mullins discusses thecrucial nature of liberation in afeminine text, which permits manipulation through lengthy lines, which speak to women’s transcendant nature. This becomes evident in “Song of Myself: Section Eleven” in which woman fantasizes about male bathers from behind a window. As the woman’s hand moves “tremblingly from their temples and ribs,” it seems as if her desire comes into fruition (Whitman 212-213). On a similar note, in “Sleepers” the woman experiences jouissance, or an orgasmic utterance, in which both hands and touch provide woman with a sexual experience and the ability to discuss this(Whitman 107; Mullins 205). Admission of “free love,” in Whitman’s poems,upholds First Wave Feminism, through emphasis on woman’s social rights, and seems to enterSecond Wave Feminism of Rich and Cixous, through animation of the female form.

Numerous other critics argue that, in Whitman’s desire to include woman and to provide her with a voice, he becomes her. As one returns to the poem “Sleepers,” it proves significant that, although Whitman provides woman with liberty of expression, Whitman’s merges with woman in a less respectful manner than Rich (Whitman 107). As Whitman considers woman’s sexual needs, he addresses the darkness and becomes her, in the lines, “darkness, you are gentler than my lover, his flesh was sweaty and panting” (Whitman #).Similar to “Song of Myself: Section Eleven,” in which woman stares upon male bathers from behind a window, Whitman adopts the female’s perspective.Through an analysis of Rich’s work, it becomes coherent that Rich differs from Whitman as she maintains a respectable distance from her speaker. In her poem “Frame,” Adrienne Rich discusses a black woman who becomes a victim of rape, to permit one to see how woman becomes oppressed as a female and a minority figure. Unlike Whitman, Rich does not seek to become this disenfranchised woman, as stressed in the statement, “what I am telling you is told by a white woman who they will say was never there. I say I am there” (Rich 188); this serves as a direct testament to her personal privilege, as a white woman, and as someone removed from the victim’s individual experience. Written in 1980, “Frame” becomes a precursor to Third Wave Feminism, in the 1990s, which hones in on activism, as well as comprehension and appreciation of differences.As a result, Rich’s feminism appears more withstanding than Whitman’s, because it involvesa respectful distance.

Both “Sleepers” and “Song of Myself: Section Eleven” involve Whitman’s attempts to become woman, in identification with her desires and frustration, and as a voyeur to the male bathers (Whitman 107). While Whitman desires an inclusive vision, Rich’s vision contains more “restraint,” with a necessary amount of “separatism,” that leaves room for one to discuss her own individual experience (Erikson 109).As Whitman desires unification with woman, he discredits his discussion of her as autonomous, as she becomes dependent upon a masculine figure for a voice. Although woman encounters a sexual experience in “Song of Myself: Section Eleven,” the men outside “do not think whom they souse with spray,” which indicates how the speaker herselfpossesses a limited view, from behind a window and as a woman, who requires completion of her story by a masculine voice (Whitman 107). Ultimately, it becomes coherent that, while Rich speaks “of” another, Whitman speaks “for”her, as he inserts his own voice and embodies her.

Contrasting with Whitman’s idealistic vision, Rich’s statement, “his America is very different from the America of my poems…the America that humiliates people on the grounds of their differences,” demonstrates her realism in regards to women’s condition (Middlebrook 108). While the aforementioned poem, “On the Beach at Night Alone,” praises woman for her presence, it implies a naïve view that does not recognize woman’s struggles. Although Whitman includes woman as a soothing, connective presence in “There Was a Child Went Forth,” his likening her to sea implies she serves a passive agent (Whitman 138).Rich’s “Yom Yippur,” describes a woman being “dragged from her stalled car…used [raped] and hacked to death,” which implies that woman becomes a similar passive agent, but that this occurs when she becomes subject to abuse (Killingsworth 42). Her less idealized depiction of women proves more respectful in its social awareness. This respect, which embraces the aforementioned separatism, manifests itself in form and content (Erikson 109). To pinpoint the problematic nature of reductive portrayals, her lines, “when we are shaken out to the last vestige/when history is done with us,” demonstrate the deteriorating effects of historical distortions upon marginalized groups (Rich 71). Through her utilization of white space, she indicates her inability to account for individual differences and for another’s experience, as people and historical depictions provide distortions. This differs to an immense degree from Whitman’s long lines that lack white space and separatism in form and content. Therefore, stylistic differences indicate Whitman’s idealization, as opposed to Rich, whose white space affords removal, and a more realistic portrayal that comprehends the individual nature of pain.

Although l'ecriturefeminine appears representative of female ecstasy, Whitman speaks for her through universal, masculine terms. Due to this, Middlebrook discusses the importance of woman’s insertion into a text, as opposed to receiving mention from a male figure. As mentioned previously, Whitman’s form appears feminine, in its lengthiness, which permits women transcendence in his text. This represents his expansive vision, within which women obtain a place, unlike other writers in this era. However, as in “Song of Myself,”Whitman speaks to a male audience, which contains “action and power,”as well as “the flush of the known universe;” women, however, receive mention in relation to “babes,” domestic duties, etc., which pinpoint her a second class citizen (Whitman 107).Thus, the “Real Me” Whitman strives to construct contains an inherent gender: male.In addition, because people in the Victorian era believed woman must achieve an orgasm for proper conception, Whitman’s admission of female jouissance, or orgasmic utterance, becomes more thanwomen’s reclamation of desire: it representsher ability to conceive (Mullins205).Indicative of women’s birthing abilitiesalone, this liberation of women’s sexuality, one of his founding feminist ideals, appears flawed in its relation to social structures. In response, Rich states that “women in patriarchy…have been withheld from building a common world,” in Whitman’s poems in particular,because true equality would involve genderless terms that lack these immediate associationsand permit women to transcend these barriers (Middlebrook 23). Despite the fact that Whitman includes female desire in his texts, he does through his own voice, confines her to the domestic spheres, and provides her with sexual satisfaction in relation to conception.

As a critique to Whitman’s expansive vision, Rich’s “Cartographies of Silence,” demonstrates how words often fail to reconcile a problem.In this poem, the speaker attempts reconciliation in her relationship, through mapmaking, an alternative, inclusive language. One can see how this demonstrates Whitmanian alterations in language, which create a universal “you” that involves both men and women. Lines such as “silence can be a plan/rigorously executed” elucidate a desire to amend a relationship, and an inability to do so, which indicates how mere words, such as the Whitmanian “you,” do not serve as an ultimate answer (Middlebrook 24). Meanwhile, one can see how, in poems such as “I Sing the Body Electric,” his “beautiful and vigorous” “you” refers to man, unless otherwise mentioned (Whitman 118). In effect, woman’s appearance proves unmistakable, as she brings “the sprawl and fulness of babes” and becomes linked to her maternal nature (Whitman 118). When Whitman provides woman with a voice, he speaks as her, through his own voice and in descriptions of her domestic duties. While Rich strives for a “common language,” Whitman addresses the “common man;” he constructs the notion of a common vision, in which he includes female figures, but his lack of separatism does not permit her to include her voice within his texts, which beg extension from female figures such as Rich.

When Whitman seeks to compliment woman, he does so on the basis of what he considers her capacity: the domestic sphere. If one analyzes woman in light of Rich’s feminism, she can see the stark contrast between their visions. For Rich, when woman develops her identity from man, she endures “fragmentation” or the dissolution of her personality (Martin 176). On the exterior, it seems as if the poem “Unfolded out the Folds” compliments woman on account of her personality, her strength, her brains, and other dimensions (Whitman 515). As on hones in on individual statements, such as, “a man is a great thing upon the earth, and through eternity—but every jot of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman,” it becomes evident that a woman’s worth becomes linked to man (Whitman 515). Although woman bestows positive qualities upon man, her role becomes this ability to create man and to provide him with these qualities. In effect, woman receives praise on the basis of man’s existence and as a mother first and foremost.

As Adrienne Rich begins her career in advocacy of the powerful “new woman,” she dislikes the “true woman” of her time, who developed her identity from man and thus incurred the loss of her own; one can see how poems such as “Unfolded out of the Folds” link woman’s worth to her ability to birth men, which would likely spawn this dissolution (Whitman 515).This particular poem would provide this sense of personality dissolution Rich warns against because, as woman becomes placed within this domestic role, she holds no weight apart from man’s image. Also, she becomes seen as submissive and as subservient to man. Contrasting with the “new woman” Rich admires, as an autonomous being who epitomizes power, Whitman’s woman in “Unfolded out the Folds” develops a placeholder existence (Martin 176). Rich’s lines “I see her plunge…through the currents…at least as beautiful as any boy” demonstrate how woman commits actions apart from and for other purposes than for man. While Whitman strives to advocate inclusion, he does so in a manner that confines women to a singular description, in contrast with Rich’s strong activist base.

As in the prior poem, Section Eight of “I Sing the Body Electric” upholds motherhood as woman’s most important task and speaks of woman as a means to man (Whitman 118). Condemning the auction of a woman’s body, Whitman considers this a hindrance to motherhood, for which this prostitute possesses potential (Killingsworth42). Also, the fact that this women appears as a prostitute demonstrates this fear of fear sexuality, which then equates open sexuality with being tainted, a form of excessive female modesty Cixous condemns. As Whitman describes how, “she too is not only herself, she is the teeming mother of mothers, she is the bearer of them that shall grow and be mates to the mothers,” the effects prove two-fold; one, woman does not seem to stand alone or to possess an identity apart from her mates and her children (Whitman 118). In addition, woman becomes reduced to the “bearer” of children as her primary task (Whitman 118). While Whitman seeks to compliment women’s abilities, he reduces them to preordained notions of motherhood.

“I Sing the Body Electric” involves theauction of women, as it spawns fear in regards to the future of motherhood, while the sale of man incurs different fears, in terms of the nature of the “all-baffling brain,” which contains “in it and below it the makings of heroes,” to demonstrate expectations for men to become powerful, dominant, and intellectually superior (Whitman 118). It proves significant that the “teeming mother” exists alongside the male “heroes” in the following section of this poem, which indicates how Whitmanestablishes boundaries based upon his own gender ambivalence (Whitman 118). Statements such as “you are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul,” seem to address mind and body dualityfor women (Whitman 118). Nevertheless, one should note that, due to woman’s child-rearing abilities, her mental abilities seem to stem from her body asa center-point. Although Cixous calls for attention to woman’s desires, she feels “woman must write woman. And man, man,” which demonstrates how man’s discussion of women can prove problematic in their assumptive nature (Cixous 877). While it seems difficult then, for man to discuss woman, one can surmise his analysis of her sentiments would benefit from distance between his voice and hers.Whitman, however, replaces this necessary distance with an emphasis on woman’s body, as opposed to her mind,which demonstrates his confinement of her to the private sphere, and as the lesser sex to man. While Whitman’sinclusion and advocacy of women’s rights align him with First wave Feminism, he falls short of Adrienne Rich, who contains a vision that permits alterations and includes dimensions over time. As Rich’s career progresses, she develops a firmer activist base, in her discussion of mutual fear, as a part of the “human family,” a seemingly Whitmanian statement (Rich 182). Becoming more politically-charged, her poems prove visionary for women, whom she seeks to include in a Whitmanian vision, but she extends this as shediscusses both sexes on an equal field. Although Whitman’s “Unfolded out of the Folds” and “I Sing the Body Electric” providea novel vision of women as equal to men, both poems praise woman as this maternal figure and bind her to this role.