International Women's Day

March 04, 2010 First begun as a Socialist political event in the United States in 1909, IWD began to be celebrated across the world during the twentieth century. Today, in many nations, the event has lost its political overtones and is a day on which the positive achievements of women, including mothers and lovers, are celebrated; in other countries it remains an occasion to challenge gender inequality and raise awareness of women’s struggles.

In order to find out more about the ways in which women’s issues intersect with poetry, I’ve asked various domain editors and poets about their views on IWD. Lisa Katz, our editor for the Israel domain, comments on how her gender intersects with her life as a poet and editor: “I feel all my poetry is expressive of my life as a woman . . . I am attracted to poets who investigate the complicated intersection between men’s and women’s lives, whether they are men or women.” For Lisa, poetry is evidently a gendered practice. Irene Staunton, our Zimbabwe editor, remarks, “Much as I think that my gender does not affect me, because of my experiences of gender in Zimbabwe and the sharp contrast in England, it constantly appears in my writing. Even my male characters are more complicated than they normally should be. If I can get women to stop and think about who they really are and realise their self-worth through some of my writing, I have achieved one of my goals.” Hasif Amini, essayist and editor of the PIW Indonesia domain, which launches on 15 March, doesn’t see himself as “a male editor or male writer”. “I enjoy reading good poems regardless of whether they are written by women or men,” he explains. However, he does wonder whether his idea of a “good poem” is one that “has already been influenced/contaminated by a certain male-biased or female-biased cultural hegemony”.

Hasif’s contemplation about cultural hegemony is important. It leads us to query whether or not reading and writing poetry are inescapably gendered practices. Lisa believes that “poetry can’t help but engage gender issues, as it is a kind of coded report on life: women poets give ample place to women’s lives in their work, every aspect really”. Furthermore, she claims that “for most women poets, the political has never been foreign; it’s always been personal. From Sylvia Plath, who wanted to fulfill the feminine mystique and yet also to join the make writes in the canon, to Emily Dickinson wrestling with a male god, whom she loves and distrusts at the same time, to Sappho and Anne Carson on love as a serious game, and so on.”

A number of editors and poets, while acknowledging the role poetry plays within identity politics, argued that poetry is first and foremost an art form. Hasif considers that “as long as the writing is good and feels authentic and organic in its engagement with gender issues (or any other important causes), then all is well. The problem is when a poem becomes a mule loaded with well-meaning clichés or weary mantras for a better, just world.” Thomas Möhlmann, poet and PIW Netherlands domain editor, shares a similar viewpoint: “I believe poetry can act as a medium to engage with any issue, and it should  and will  certainly do so with issues important enough to the particular poet concerned. Having said that . . . too much political activism/pamphletism of any kind can be, and often really is, very harmful for poems and poetry”. Dutch poet Tsead Bruinja, who visited a women-only reading in Nicaragua says that it “was great because of the quality of some of the poets and their reading voices, but it still felt strange. I understand that readings can sometimes be dominated by men and I am not saying that I am for that, but sometimes political correctness leads us to make forced choices”.

The intersections between representation and aesthetic values that Tsead points out are complex. Juliana Spahr and Stephanie Young’s 2007 article ‘Numbers Trouble’ highlighted the fact that women poets are still underrepresented in publishing in the USA. In countries where more male poets are published, the publication of a poem by a female writer, even if it is not an overtly “political” poem, can be seen as a political act in itself. Should a 50:50 men to women publishing ratio be aimed for? Are there simply fewer women poets writing and trying to get published? And if so, why? ‘Numbers Trouble’ shed new light on how editors go about representing women whilst ensuring that the aesthetic merit of poetry is kept.

So how do our domain editors deal with gender issues in their selection of poetry? Liesl Jobson, poet, musician and PIW editor of the South Africa domain, strives for diversity in her selection of poets: “My selections aim to include a variety of language groups, foremothers and fathers, established artists as well as emerging voices; male and female; queer and straight; those who did not receive adequate recognition in their lifetime; and those poets whose service as teachers, editors and publishers has significantly enriched the life of poetry in the country.”

Liesl’s comments are a reminder that poetry can and should act as a voice for everyone; likewise, it can address any issue. As Inggit Putria Marga, one of Indonesia’s leading contemporary poets writes, “poetry is a universal art that can convey any issues concerning the human condition, including gender, race and religion.”

In honour of International Women’s Day, we’ve created a new PIW Archive Tour, with poems (by both men and women) which explore gender and celebrate women. The selection ranges from  Kazuko Shiraishi’s memories of her deceased mother to a Poetry Clip of Dorothy Porter’s ‘Trouble’ and a divorce poem by Israeli poet David Avidan. Poems by, among others, Ronelda Kamfer, Mallika Sengupta and Halyna Krouk are palpable explorations of womanhood as well as critical reflections on gender issues.