Kim Addonizio is a master of creating a strong voice and powerful imagery in the brief space of a short poem. In "What Do Women Want?" she frames her speaker – a woman filled with bodily desire and defiance – in a brilliantly sketched urban environment that provides ample opportunity to extend her words with nuanced meaning.
This is a poem that asserts a lust for life in the face of unstated social restrictions, but Addonizio tempers that lust with self-deprecating humor and a vivid sense of environment and resilience. Her speaker is a woman who just wants to live and be herself. Yet, one question remains: with the introduction of the words "your" and "you" in lines 18 and 19, who is the speaker addressing?
The Speaker's Voice Contrasted With the Poem’s Title
Following what seems to be a universal question in the title, Addonizio allows her speaker to answer in a voice that is full of defiant sexuality, wanting to flaunt her impassioned woman-ness publicly, on the city streets, in a red dress that is "flimsy and cheap ... too tight," a dress that is so revealing that "no one has to guess / what's underneath."
As an image and an attitude, concisely developed in the space of seven lines, the voice Addonizio creates is as much about fantasy as it is defiance. The rich detail of the longed-for dress speaks volumes about a performative statement the speaker wishes to make, but it is still just something that she wants (perhaps more so than the dress itself) and therefore not yet a reality.
Returning to the universalized "Women" of the title, a specific answer seems to be anything but universal. Women want equal rights, equal pay, equal opportunity; women want an education, a successful career; women want respect and independence; women want love, children, a secure and happy home life; women want to be pretty, they want to be desired.
At a specific level, all these answers (and more) might apply. Or, conversely, they might not - it depends on the woman. In framing the question, Addonizio sets the context of her speaker’s identity: what she wants is a sexy red dress and, more than that, she wants to fly in the face of moralistic convention, embracing her sexuality and taking pleasure in the attention it brings - no matter what anyone else might think.
Restriction and its Environment
Though the exhibitionistic desires expressed by this speaker might seem indulgent or self-centered, they also bring up some interesting questions. To what extent must a person deny their sexuality, or their desire to live fully? Is she allowed to express innermost feelings in a public display of “look at me, I’m alive and loving it”?
We might ask broader questions. To what extent are social restrictions associated with gender or the defined behavioral limitations applied therein? Do men face the same restrictions concerning sexuality or anything else? As a moral issue, is sexuality even what this speaker is about? Or is she only wanting the freedom to be who she is, in general terms, to openly express what she feels, to live in abundance? Is this what women want, or is there something else?
While these questions can’t be definitively answered, asking them is a valid approach to the poem. Not entirely indulgent, the speaker’s desires are also honest and, to a degree, joyfully depicted. In the latter half of the poem, however, Addonizio contrasts a ninth statement of “I want” (emphasized by the break in line 20, as well as its subordinate grammatical position in the sentence) with her desired freedom to choose.
In the first instance, she subtly portrays her speaker as being self-consciously rebellious, placing her wants above all else in reaction to an unidentified “you.” In the second (“I’ll pull that garment / from its hanger like I’m choosing a body”), she asserts her agency as a woman who can be self-defined, free of social restriction and comfortable with her body. Making this comparison, Addonizio fills her poem with self-awareness and the complexity from which human dynamics arise. With all their unspoken connotations, details like this imply the conflicts from which well-written poems come to life.
But this poem is not centered entirely on the voice of its speaker. The most striking aspect of Addonizio’s writing is her ability to make the poem’s environment come to life. From lines 7 through 13, she takes an extended break from “I want” statements and moves her speaker through an urban environment that, in a few brief sketches, overflows with life and activity. Her images are drawn with superb attention to detail that extends beyond its verbal imagery, coming to life in the imagination of its reader.
Beyond that, Addonizio provides a context for the speaker, an urban environment filled with working people going about their lives. While social restrictions limit this speaker's freedom of expression, they are only implied by a defiant voice that takes on additional dimensions in relation to specific context. Whatever its unspoken rules, a society always involves people.
Providing a rich environment for the poem, Addonizio allows a reader to fill in additional details concerning her speaker’s identity, hopes, and fears. This is a very human and compassionate poem, filled with life and complex emotion, but the reaction of readers is likely to be varied.
“You”
Speaking of the red dress, the speaker states, “I want it to confirm / your worst fears about me, / to show you how little I care about you ...” while leaving the identity of her addressee unspoken. It could be a personification of social expectations, her own internalized sense of identity; it could be a lover with whom she is angry, or her mother, an aunt, or any other relative.
It could also be someone else: frequently, the harshest critic of a woman who flaunts her sexuality in the manner depicted is … another woman. So, what do women want? You can be the judge of that.
Another Poem by Addonizio
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