Poetry Analysis

Down With the Almighty Phallus!

The phallus is defined as an erect penis. Just because men have a phallus, it makes them dominant over women in every way. Some women can’t accept this cultural idea of being inferior to men just because they have a phallus; one of those women is Gertrude Stein. An analysis of her poem “Susie Asado” which was written in 1913 shows that she was about the great movement of liberation for women.

In this poem, the main character “Susie Asado” is a flamenco dancer. The poems first four lines say “Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. / Susie Asado. / Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet tea. / Susie Asado.” In these words (sweet tea), one thinks of the proper realm of women which is of domestic life, child-rearing, housekeeping, and religious education. The “sweet tea” is the sexual sweat of the reader being positioned to read it thru the eyes of a lesbian woman. The tea can also mean tradition, which is what Gertrude wants to get rid of. Also, the repetition of the word “sweet” is used to create the image of this beautiful flamenco dancer moving her body and the sound of her dress making a noise that sounds like “sweetsweetsweetsweetsweet” as she sways her body. These first four lines are important because they paint a picture of a traditional sexy Spanish dancer that follows the proper realm of women and whose only purpose is to excite and bring pleasure to the male phallus.

The next lines of the poem go “Susie Asado which is a told tray sure. / A lean on the shoe this means slips slips hers.” These lines are important because they do not work in the same way practical poetry does. Gerturde Stein is fooling around with language and giving it a feminine freedom against the males. The line “slips slips hers” is important because this has to do with the idea of women slipping away from the tradition of men being dominated by women. Gertrude Stein believes that women should slip away from this tradition and use their intelligence to accomplish...