In Dorothy Parker’s “Women: A Hate Song”, the speaker uses irony and parody to create several different personas, each of a common female stereotype and to ridicule each “type” of woman.
The first woman is the traditional housewife that the speaker calls the “Domestic Ones”; these would be the traditional housewives, the Charlotte York-Goldenblatt types of the world who are eager to tend to the needs of their husbands and children, as well as perform traditional domestic tasks and are “eternally hurrying home to see about dinner”, because God forbid, their family has fast food.These women prioritize the little things in life, claiming “money’s not everything” and take pride in the fact that “every moment is packed with Happiness” – which is, in all honesty, not always correct but an incredibly optimistic perspective.
Next, the fragile, sensitive type of woman who is commonly hurting in some form and whose “eyes are forever filling with tears” and “are always longing to getaway […] from it all”. The poetic speaker is frustrated with the lack of control that is demonstrated by these emotional women and is no more pleased by the next breed. There are the troubles women with their troublesome husbands, “the women whom nobody-understands” and must “suffer in silence” with no one to listen to their various complaints. The poetic speaker does not feel empathy for these women and their most misfortunate lives and perhaps would rather be in the presence of a more rational woman.
There are the educated women who “know Dates and Middle names” and “ooze Current events”; these women seem to “know everything on earth”. However, the speaker is bored by the intelligent woman’s possession of knowledge and may be more interested in a lighter conversation; this highly intelligent woman gives no more excitement than a mere encyclopedia.
Withal, the speaker cannot find pleasure in the incessant gossipping of the woman who “cannot Fathom why all the men are mad about them” and instead, find them downright obnoxious. But even the most cheerful of women who “are always busy making little gifts and planning little surprises” make the poetic speaker irate. She’s too jovial, too cookiecutter – too Martha Stewart.
The poetic speaker finds fault in all of the stereotypes presented- they’re too caring, too sensitive, too misfortunate, too educated, too gossipy, and even too cheerful. Parker utilizes parody and irony to reflect how no matter how pleasant a woman is that there will always be something that is perceived negatively. There is no formula nor algorithm for a woman to follow to avoid being shamed, judged, or ridiculed.
The speaker catches the attention of the ignorant, misogynistic audience by appealing to their ideals and beliefs and projecting (false) internalized misogyny that validated their chauvinistic audience. However, for those who are more in tune with the speaker’s true intentions – to poke fun at the chauvinistic characteristic of the demographic who believes that every woman mentioned is every which way. This is very relevant in modern culture where young girls and women are ridiculed for their interests.
During the 1920s when Parker published this poem, there was a new wave of culture emerging in which women could become anything from traditional housewives to a raging party girl with flamboyant flapper style. Within the patriarchal society, women were not free from extreme criticism and judgments for simply living their desired lifestyle. Even in today’s supposedly equal and progressive society, women are still discriminated against for becoming successful, full-time career women or becoming a doting, full-time stay at home mother. Although decades old, “Women: A Hate Song” still sings a tune still played today.
This poem is particularly interesting to me because it is quite different from the other poems about women I have read and I have read a lot in AP Literature. I love how the poet is able to provide such intellectual insight on the state of women at the time while simultaneously poking fun at the flawed thinking of her audience. I think the negative view on the stereotypes that the author is presenting is certainly relevant today. I would even argue that the issue hasn’t made too much progression as one might hope, given how social media has created an entire new platform in which to judge women.
I agree that it is very interesting and most hate song poems are! I’m happy to hear that you enjoyed the poem. it’s insightful that you believe that social media hasn’t helped the issue at hand progress.
I enjoy how you ended by bringing everything back to modern events, I think one of the largest social usages of these particular types of pieces is to serve as a reminder of what we were, and how much further we have to come. While many reading this will find it’s views to represent a misogyny that “does not exist in the common day” they will be fought back by the majority of men and women who read the piece and are reminded of how these gross over simplications of character still exist to some degree today, and how it is only by great effort that we even came this far. Thus we must continue combatting inequality in order to create a fairer future.
Yes! The tropes presented here are very prevalent in media, novels, and movies today. I’m excited to see that the poem resonated with you and that you believe it is still relevant today.