Stu Docu ENGL 101 Ode to the Women of Long Island PDF

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This is a short blog post/analysis of "Ode to the Women of Long Island"....

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Before reading “Ode to the Women of Long Island”, I previewed that the author was Olivia Gatwood who is well-known for her poetry performances, that often bring attention to sexual assault prevention. The introduction to the poem explains that she often uses humor to bring about harsh topics that may make people uncomfortable, so I knew the genre would be more hard-core and may depict violent and sexual topics. The title, “Ode to the Women of Long Island” tells me that Gatwood is not only addressing the women of Long Island, but praising them, and explaining what their lives are like on a daily basis. After previewing and thoroughly reading the text, I realized that the main point was to realistically depict the behavior of the women in Long Island and what they endure each day. It shows key points of prioritizing women’s safety and protection from men, even if they are their own sons. It shows great passion for women’s rights and sheds light onto the issue of young girls being harassed, judged, and even murdered. I decided to analyze the segment that reads, “they did not call to warn daughters. They called their sons.” (62-63), and continues to go on and say, “If you ever, and I mean ever, so much as make a woman feel uncomfortable, I will take you to the deli and put your hand in the meat slicer” (65-68). This offers a specific description of the women in Long Island and how they act when it comes to protecting women. Instead of running to their daughters and warning them of how to be safe on the streets, they immediately turn to their sons and scold them. This was interesting to me, because I know if a murder were to ever happen in my hometown, my mom would immediately talk to me about being safe and smart. However, she wouldn’t talk to my brother about being respectful to women, because the society we live in sometimes aims the blame at girls or holds them responsible for what could potentially happen to them. This clearly relates to some of the issues in today’s world with girls getting injured, killed, or abused, and are sometimes blamed or scolded for it while the perpetrator is not. I also link this theme to other parts of the poem when I read, “the women on Long Island won’t put it past any man to be guilty, even their kin, who, after all, have their husband’s hands and blood” (57-59). In both segments, it describes how the women will still see their husbands or sons as guilty despite being related to them. It also hints that the sons are the same as their fathers, and that these traits are passed down to them. After thoroughly previewing, reading, and analyzing, I tried to understand why Gatwood was ultimately praising these women of Long Island. The answer I found was because they are so genuine, despite sometimes coming off harsh or rude, and are so passionate about such important ideas of keeping their daughters safe and educating their sons on how to treat women properly. The details of girls being murdered definitely get an emotional response from me, because I’m a teenage girl living in a world where people are cruel and may put me in dangerous situations despite how safe and smart, I act. Although the women of Long Island aren’t perfect, Gatwood put great emphasis on how no one is, yet we all still try to do our part and help each other out when needed....