In “Broom Cypress” there is a confusion on exactly what an ideal women is. There seems to be a contradiction in the views presented. She must be intelligent and educated, but not show it overtly. Women must be prideful but not so much that it inconveniences the men courting her. She must be a benefit to the man, compliment him and welcoming of him. She must be tolerant of his inattention but always there when he is of a whim to be with her. In a way a woman is an ornament that is privately displayed most of the time awaiting her time with her man. Where in “Broom Cypress” the woman is an ornament for her man’s physical and mental release, the work “Girl” the woman is a tool. The poem reads like the programing of a robot or a training manual. “Girl” is more of the physical …show more content…
The expectations are what will attract/keep a man so she can take her role in life. Though the ideal is different in their cultural context, there seems to be no room for personality, or individuality for each of the ideals. These women are boxed in to this ideal with no real escape unless they want to be outcasts, branded other, alone, or married below them. Day in and day out there is an endlessness that leaves out fulfilling their own wants and needs. The repeated reference of being a “slut” in the “Girl” seems to be a reference to ignoring the personal pleasures. (2)
When reading the “Broom Cypress”, the omniscient voice gives an overview of the percipients views/ different views of the same subject. Like an observer looking in, the reader is given a glimpse of something that most do not see because are focused on their part of a narrative which hinders the ability see the wholeness of the picture. This whole picture shows that the ideal is subjective and no one set of rules to follow. There seems to be fickleness of men and the double standard that they create for women in their lives.