Hear Her Roar the Feminist Strengths in Phenomenal Woman...

Hear Her Roar: The Feminist Strengths in Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise Trista James English Composition 1102 Professor Cameron Indian River State College April 10, 2013 Maya Angelou Maya Angelou Abstract Growing up during times of common race and gender discrimination, Maya Angelou has proven to people she is a strong African American woman who would not allow inequality of any kind bring her down. This paper describes the feminist strengths Angelou refers to and implies in her two famous poems Phenomenal Woman and Still I Rise. Hear Her Roar: The Feminist Strengths in Phenomenal Woman and Still I†¦show more content†¦She tells the reader that she will overcome anything. In this poem she also proves to be a strong independent women by displaying her self-confidence by writing, â€Å"Does my sexiness upset you?† or â€Å"Does my sassiness upset you?† She lets males know sensuality and sexiness is okay, which as a result, demands respect from them. In addition, she is also telling the reader that she knows she is sexy which shows self-confidence. In this poem, Angelou attempted to show that through all of her trials and tribulations she had gone through in her younger years she is now a strong woman who is capable of overcoming the inner demons that haunts her memory. Another way Angelou proves to be a strong woman in this poem is when she says, â€Å"You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise.† She is telling the reader no matter what negativity or obstacles brought to her, she will conquer it and still come out above. â€Å"Did you want to see me broken?† This verse proves to the reader that she will not break or lower her values and standards to whoever she is speaking to. â€Å"Her poetry is not â€Å"serious†; rather, it is, as she herself puts it in the title poem Still I Rise (Sylvestor 1995). To conclude, Maya Angelou defines the ultimate example of what a woman with powerful leadership and