Hear Her Roar:
The Feminist Strengths in Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise
Trista James
English Composition 1102
Professor Cameron
Indian River State College
April 10, 2013

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou

Abstract
Growing up during times of common race and gender discrimination, Maya Angelou has proven to people she is a strong African American woman who would not allow inequality of any kind bring her down. This paper describes the feminist strengths Angelou refers to and implies in her two famous poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise.

Hear Her Roar: The Feminist Strengths in Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise
Maya Angelou was born in the South on April 4, 1928 in St. Louis Missouri. Throughout most of her life she was raised in Arkansas, which in turn subjected her to a life full of brutal discrimination. Angelou was given a gift that no other of her time had. Over a hundred poems published, they all consist of words of wisdom and strength to some degree. In her two poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise, Angelou reveals her, “I am a woman hear me roar” attitude she is best known for. This paper depicts the feminist strengths in her two poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise. For a female to have an “I am a woman hear me roar” attitude, she must have patience, confidence in herself, and never rely on anyone else for financial or psychological needs. No matter her personal situation, she always takes pride in herself and never allows another to bring her down. Any girl can claim she is a woman but it depends upon how she carries herself to determine if she is classified as a woman. Angelou has proven to all her readers she is just that, a woman with confidence and inner feminist strengths. In her poem Phenomenal Woman, she reveals her awareness of her appearance by stating, “I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size.” She clearly demonstrates self-confidence by stating it is not about how she looks on the outside nor is it about what makes her attractive to the opposite sex. By opening the poem with this explanation, she informs the reader of her high self-esteem and inner confidence that she possesses right from the beginning. It is believed that Angelou is indeed speaking of herself throughout her poetry; therefore, she shows us that this woman feels great about herself regardless of what others think which supports the idea that Angelou is an empowering woman inside. Angelou tells the reader that when she walks into a room she gathers attention and lists all the qualities she has that grasp people’s attention. She says that men even wonder why they are fascinated by her and tells them by listing her qualities as well. Another characteristic a strong woman must have is having the ability to be an effective leader. Angelou has proven to be a leader through her tenacity, personal values, wisdom and her extensive body of work. The contents written in Phenomenal Woman demonstrates Angelou’s inner strengths and the wisdom she has gained throughout her life. “The core concept of this piece is the value of inner beauty, charisma and personality as tools of beauty compared to physical beauty” said Mahmag Badihian (Badihian, 2011). In addition, Angelou also published a small poetic piece Still I Rise. After being raped at age eight and withdrawing from society, with the help and inspiration of a former teacher, Angelou rose to revert herself. By being open with her haunting past, Angelou gives inspiration to many other women who have been raped during their youth. She tells the reader that she will overcome anything. In this poem she also proves to be a strong independent women by displaying her self-confidence by writing, “Does my sexiness upset you?” or “Does my sassiness upset you?” She lets males know sensuality and sexiness is okay, which as a result, demands respect from them. In addition, she is also telling the reader that she knows she is sexy which shows self-confidence. In this poem, Angelou attempted to show that through all of her trials and tribulations she had gone through in her younger years she is now a strong woman who is capable of overcoming the inner demons that haunts her memory. Another way Angelou proves to be a strong woman in this poem is when she says, “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.” She is telling the reader no matter what negativity or obstacles brought to her, she will conquer it and still come out above. “Did you want to see me broken?” This verse proves to the reader that she will not break or lower her values and standards to whoever she is speaking to. “Her poetry is not “serious”; rather, it is, as she herself puts it in the title poem Still I Rise (Sylvestor 1995). To conclude, Maya Angelou defines the ultimate example of what a woman with powerful leadership and self-confidence must have to have the “I am a woman hear me roar” attitude or mentality. She has taught women and readers around the world that anyone can overcome abuse and discrimination as long as they carry themselves with self-respect and take it in as wisdom and not allow it to bring them down. Angelou has proven to show tremendous amounts of feminist strengths throughout her poetry and will be looked up to from many women readers for generations to come.

Works Cited
Badihian, M. (2011, may 09). review of the poem “phenomenal woman”. Retrieved from http://mahmag.org/blog/2011/05/09/review-of-the-poemphenomenal-woman-by-m-badihian/

Sylvester, W. (1995). Maya Angelou: Overview. In T. Riggs (Ed.), Contemporary Poets (6th ed.). New York: St. James Press. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1420000245&v=2.1&u=lincclin_ircc&it=r&p=LitRG&sw=w