The Secretary Chant By Marge Piercy - 1404 Words

Female The struggle of women to achieve equality has been defined in literature in many different accounts. â€Å"Professions for Women† was a speech delivered by Virginia Woolf to a society of young professional women on her own experiences as a published writer, as well as a declaration about the current inferior status of women, and ways in which that status may change. â€Å"The Secretary Chant† by Marge Piercy is a poem depicting a female secretary who is defined by her occupation. The conventional standards of a woman’s place in society in accordance to men is portrayed in May Swenson’s poem, â€Å"Women†. â€Å"Professions of Women† preaches ways to push forward and advance the feminist movement, while â€Å"Women† and â€Å"The Secretary Chant† succumb to†¦show more content†¦The interesting ordeal is that while Swenson essentially dictates to women to become a form of Woolf’s Angel in the house, Woolf s tates, â€Å"Had I not killed her [referencing the Angel in the House] she would have killed me† (Woolf 2). Woolf continues to preach to her audience that in order for them to become successful professionals they must first kill the Angel in the House; if they are unable to they will always be held back by her, even though every social norm dictates for the woman to become the perfect Angel in the House. Piercy describes a woman who identifies as a secretary in her poem â€Å"The Secretary Chant.† This occupation has taken over the woman in such a way that she describes her body parts as parts of the office, or operators, which preform a secretary’s work: My hips are a desk, From my ears hang Chains of paper clips. Rubber bands form my hair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File me under W because I wonce was a woman (Piercy 1-4, 21-25). This woman states that she was become so immersed in her job that she no longer identifies as a woman. She has come to accept her current place in society as a secretary and does not try to change her position. She may not attempt to change her position due to a societal norm. Michael Smirlock in his article published in 1980 states, â€Å"WomenShow MoreRelatedSounds and Imagery of Human Emotion1433 Words   |  6 PagesSounds and Imagery of Human Emotion In Marge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant†, the author uses images and sound to both dehumanize and mechanize the female speaker, while John Updike uses imagery and sounds to make the â€Å"Player Piano† come to life. Piercy uses images of the speaker, connected with various office equipment to give a vision to the reader of a woman living her life through the office equipment that is part of her very being. Piercy uses personification in reverse and other metaphorsRead MoreThe Changes of Womanhood in Marge Piercy‘s â€Å"The Secretary Chant†724 Words   |  3 PagesMarge Piercy’s â€Å"The Secretary Chant† begins the poem by describing different parts of her body as office supplies. In line one she states that â€Å"My hips are a desk.† In line two and three she says â€Å"From my ears hang/ chains of paper clips.†(2) In line four she also continues with â€Å"Rubber bands form my hair.†(3) I feel like Piercy ’s goal by starting off the poem in this way, was to help emphasize the speakers frustrations toward her job right away. I also feel that by comparing the speakers body