Beauty

Beauty

In the poem Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou, a portrait of strength, creativity, and intelligence exposes the true beauty of a woman. In society today, beauty is viewed by the outer appearance of a woman, the way that she is dressed, the shape of her body, the form of her lips, and the length of her hair. In the African-American community, beauty goes further than that mentioned. Women are seen as beautiful only if they drive a fancy car, own a high-tech phone, and dress like a “diva”. The poem poses a conflict to these social norms and challenges women to think twice about relying on these outer images of beauty. Maya Angelo mentions in the first few lines of the poem, “I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size,” yet further down, she assures us that this true beauty she has still attracts the attention of men:

“I walk into a room

Just as cool as you please,

And to a man,

The fellows stand or

Fall down on their knees.

Then they swarm around me,

A hive of honey bees.”

I believe that Maya Angelo was sending a personal message to all women despite shape or size, height or the lack thereof, and even color. Simply put, the poem, in my opinion, expresses the author’s desire for women to confidently display their strength, creativity, and intelligence buried within as true beauty. If women choose to rely upon their appearance, especially youthful shapes and sizes, they may find themselves very disappointed when this beauty fades and the attention of men are no longer gained. The poem also correlates beauty’s inner qualities—wisdom, creativity, and intelligence—with beauty’s outer qualities—body parts, shape, and fashion. The author makes creative descriptions like, “It’s the fire in my eyes,” and “The ride of my breasts,” also “It’s in the arch of my back.” Personally, these contrasts...