Witchy Woman

In a world where male dominance is standard, women are automatically inferior and powerless in the minds of society. In “Her Kind”, Anne Sexton explores this idea as her power is suppressed to simply running a household. Sexton juxtaposes the housewife and a witch to prove this inferiority and in general the stereotypes associated with women.
Beginning in the first stanza, Sexton characterizes herself as “a possessed witch” with twelve fingers further proving her sorcery. By describing herself as a witch she is inferring the idea that she is in fact an outcast but not for normal reasons. In her mind, she is an outcast due to the fact that she feels and believes she has power and will let no one suppress it. For this reason, she would be considered abnormal among society. Closing the first stanza, Sexton says, “A woman like that is not a woman, quite” referring to the idea that because she is an outcast, “a lonely thing”, “ out of mind”, “twelve-fingered” and harnesses a great deal of self-worth and power that she is not a “woman”. She does not and will not allow herself to fit into the mold of the common housewife. She would much rather be “persecuted” as a witch than succumb to societies silly ideas.
Continuing into the second stanza, we see Sexton’s segregation from society further as she lives in “warm caves in the woods.” One gets the feeling that she is almost exiled to the woods due to her failure to follow female societal protocol. Furthermore, this is the stanza where we clearly see Sexton brilliantly juxtapose housewife and witch. She talks of “fixing the suppers for the worms and elves” and “rearranging the disaligned” while filling the “house” with items. These tasks are traditional chores for a housewife; feeding the family, making sure the family is emotionally stable and content, and making the household comfortable and keeping it clean. Not only does Sexton compare witches to housewives but she also boldly states that she feels women are not inferior to men. One may notice that she fixes the dinner for the worms and elves; creatures that would be even more inferior to an already less important female. Sexton acknowledges the idea that away from suburbia and mainstream society, women are not substandard and can succeed in their quest for power. In finishing her thought she states that a “women like that is misunderstood”. A woman whose life is to simply feed, and dote on the household and its occupants does not fulfill her definition of what a woman truly is. For these reasons and more, she feels that women are underestimated and like we see in the third stanza, a force to be reckoned with.
In the third stanza, the most powerful of the three, Sexton sets up a situation reminiscent of an execution of a witch during the witch trials. On the way, she is humiliated as she “waves her nude arms at villages going by” to her fated destiny. In the end, the message becomes apparent as Sexton becomes a martyr. She is a “survivor”, meaning that she has surpassed the humiliation and trouble of being an outcast and is “not ashamed to die” if it means “dying” for her fight for female power and recognition of their substance.
All in all, Anne Sexton shocks society with her ideas as they were radical for the time. Obviously, throughout the poem, she has “been her kind”. Misunderstood, unashamed to die and not quite a woman by society’s standards. In my eyes, Sexton’s poem has so much face value but when looked at deeper, we can all relate, male or female. Especially in our time, where women are no longer stranded with a leash and collar to the household, this poem is a reminder of the fight. All it takes is one person to stand up for what they know is right. Sexton did just that. She worked through the hard times of making her way in the world while being an outcast and truly proves that power is harnessed by each individual and is simply waiting for its possessor to take advantage of it.
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Lo-lee-ta

For this assignment, I have chosen to read Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This novel surpasses any previous notions I had about the novel. Being incredibly naive, I thought the novel would be a journey as to how an older man could possibly fall in love with a minor. I have found this novel to be rather disturbing and I am only 100 pages into it.
The fact that we know Humbert has committed a crime and proceeds to tell his story casts a shadow over every word I read. I anticipate and and am eager to learn of the whole story and explore the themes and motifs that the novel showcases.
Butterflies, doubles, games and other ideas present themselves constantly and give depth to the novel and connect all the different "nymphets" together. The quest to find and understand Lolita is interesting with a glimmer of fear behind it all. I hope to find loopholes of ways to present Humbert as more than a pedophile because I think that behind this facade their is more to him as a person.