Examine the view that the title of Feminine Gospels announces Duffy's
preoccupation with femininity, however Duffy suggests that femininity is
subject to stereotypical and sexist constraints in the modern day.
Carol Ann Duffy’s Feminine Gospels collection includes, as the title suggests,
poems which focus on highlighting the female experience and providing the
previously unheard voices of women a platform to share their perspectives on
society and life both in the modern day and throughout history. Whilst some of
Duffy’s poems are empowering and celebratory of womanhood and others explore
the oppressive nature of patriarchy, most - if not all - of the poems conform to the
theme of femininity being stereotyped against and causing constraints to women on
some level. Prime examples of poems which heavily feature the stereotypes and
constraints of modern day femininity are Beautiful and The Diet, whilst in the poem
Sub Duffy explores how femininity should not have to be an obstacle in the life of a
woman although still proves to be one due to the undesirability of feminine traits.
In the poem Beautiful, Duffy narrates the lives of four influential women
throughout history, with the modern day women including Marilyn Monroe and Diana
Spencer. The sections of the poem featuring the two women are tragic, with both of
their deaths caused by the oppressive and exploitative nature of the patriarchy. The
consistent rhythm and stanza lengths of each section suggests the ever-present
reality of male oppression of women. The crude language used towards Diana by the
“men from the press” who express how they “loved her” through hurtful expletives
that are specifically targeted at her gender (“Act like a fucking princess” and “give us
a smile, cunt”) further highlight how femininity is subject to constraints and
stereotypes. In the poem, Duffy can be seen as being preoccupied with femininity so
as to expose the maltreatment of women for the benefit of men, as is also suggested
by the metaphor of Marilyn’s teeth being made into “gems” and “her eyes/sapphires
pressed by a banker’s thumb”, further highlighting the exploitation of femininity.
In The Diet, Duffy uses the conceit of a woman shrinking to a microscopic size
so as to highlight the deeply unrealistic beauty standards placed upon women in the
modern day. The feminine ideal of weighing as little as possible was especially
relevant in 2002, when Feminine Gospels was written, as it was in the late 1990s
and 2000s that supermodels and the ‘heroin chic’ look were at their height, with the
fetishisation of extreme slimness for women perhaps at its peak. The Diet explores
how the pressure to appear a certain way is a constraint for women in particular,
which is made clear by the constant enjambment and caesurae in the poem which
highlight the unstable nature of the woman. Additionally, the sibilance and repetition
of verbs in the lines “She starved on, stayed in, stared in/the mirror, svelter, slimmer”
shows the fixation that the woman has on her image due to the pressure on women
to follow strict and extreme diets. These factors are used by Duffy to expose the
preoccupation with femininity, however Duffy suggests that femininity is
subject to stereotypical and sexist constraints in the modern day.
Carol Ann Duffy’s Feminine Gospels collection includes, as the title suggests,
poems which focus on highlighting the female experience and providing the
previously unheard voices of women a platform to share their perspectives on
society and life both in the modern day and throughout history. Whilst some of
Duffy’s poems are empowering and celebratory of womanhood and others explore
the oppressive nature of patriarchy, most - if not all - of the poems conform to the
theme of femininity being stereotyped against and causing constraints to women on
some level. Prime examples of poems which heavily feature the stereotypes and
constraints of modern day femininity are Beautiful and The Diet, whilst in the poem
Sub Duffy explores how femininity should not have to be an obstacle in the life of a
woman although still proves to be one due to the undesirability of feminine traits.
In the poem Beautiful, Duffy narrates the lives of four influential women
throughout history, with the modern day women including Marilyn Monroe and Diana
Spencer. The sections of the poem featuring the two women are tragic, with both of
their deaths caused by the oppressive and exploitative nature of the patriarchy. The
consistent rhythm and stanza lengths of each section suggests the ever-present
reality of male oppression of women. The crude language used towards Diana by the
“men from the press” who express how they “loved her” through hurtful expletives
that are specifically targeted at her gender (“Act like a fucking princess” and “give us
a smile, cunt”) further highlight how femininity is subject to constraints and
stereotypes. In the poem, Duffy can be seen as being preoccupied with femininity so
as to expose the maltreatment of women for the benefit of men, as is also suggested
by the metaphor of Marilyn’s teeth being made into “gems” and “her eyes/sapphires
pressed by a banker’s thumb”, further highlighting the exploitation of femininity.
In The Diet, Duffy uses the conceit of a woman shrinking to a microscopic size
so as to highlight the deeply unrealistic beauty standards placed upon women in the
modern day. The feminine ideal of weighing as little as possible was especially
relevant in 2002, when Feminine Gospels was written, as it was in the late 1990s
and 2000s that supermodels and the ‘heroin chic’ look were at their height, with the
fetishisation of extreme slimness for women perhaps at its peak. The Diet explores
how the pressure to appear a certain way is a constraint for women in particular,
which is made clear by the constant enjambment and caesurae in the poem which
highlight the unstable nature of the woman. Additionally, the sibilance and repetition
of verbs in the lines “She starved on, stayed in, stared in/the mirror, svelter, slimmer”
shows the fixation that the woman has on her image due to the pressure on women
to follow strict and extreme diets. These factors are used by Duffy to expose the
