Intent vs Impact: Gary Snyder’s “Praise of Sick Women”
Gary Snyder utilizes visual imagery in his poem “Praise For Sick Women” to depict women's reproductive and menstrual functions. Despite the title of the piece, the imagery used contains negative connotations regarding female bodily functions related to menstruation and fertility. Rather than empowering women, Snyder's imagery fosters a negative image surrounding both women’s functioning and non-functioning menstrual and reproductive systems.
Aside from the literary discrepancies, the misinterpretation that arises from this piece also stems from a white male attempting to convey how women feel about their bodies. In the second part of the poem, Snyder describes the menstrual experience of a woman.
“First caught with the gut-cramp
Keep out of our kitchen.
Your garden plots…” (Snyder 292)
Snyder’s imagery evokes sympathy for both the physical and emotional pain of menstruation. He opens with “gut-cramp,” the word “cramp” contributes to an organic image signifying the start of menstruation. With this, he follows with physical spaces such as the kitchen and garden; alluding to the archaic folk lore that suggests that women on their periods should not be allowed in these spaces. Although the intention may be sympathy, it also conveys that menstruating women are unclean and can contaminate pure things such as food and plants.
Along with Snyder's characterization of menstruation and fertility being “dirty,” he then contradicts himself by stating that the opposite (a non-functioning reproductive system) is also negative.
Apples will sour at your sight
Blossoms fail through the bough
Soil turns bone-white: wet rice,
Dry rice, die on the hillslope
All women are wounded…” (Snyder 292)
The imagery utilized by Snyder in this quote contains a blatantly negative connotation to a woman's reproductive system. He essentially states that a woman is useless if they cannot bear a child. For example, the taste of sour apples, the image of a withered blossom, and the soil turning white all signify things that are decaying or are useless. This imagery creates negative connotations and stigmatizes the aging population or women whose reproductive systems do not function correctly.
It is important to note that there are struggles associated with women's reproductive health, but the way it is expressed by this white male is not representative of the true experience. I do not think that the creation of this piece had any malicious intent, and there are, of course, other ways to interpret the poem, but the connotations of the imagery characterizes women’s lived experience rather narrowly, rather than praising it’s complexity.
Snyder, Gary. “Praise For Sick Women.” The Portable Beat Reader, edited by Ann Charters, Penguin Books, 1992, pp. 288–292.
