#paula bennett

[herbreastisfitforpearls]

About this poem:

"[T]here is no way to "know" what the poem is about. (...) But whatever reading one adopts, what matters is that Dickinson has used imagery based upon her body as the primary vehicle through which to make her point. Whether or not she intended this poem to be about the clitoris, the clitoris is the one physical item in a woman's possession that pulls together the poem's disparate and conflicting parts. What other single crumb satisfies a woman's appetite even though she cannot eat it, and gives her the power of a "Sovreign" (potent male) whoever she is?"

— Paula Bennett, "The Pea That Duty Locks: Lesbian and Heterosexual Readings of Emily Dickininson's Poetry" (1990)

[fireangel]

The fact that this bitch is laying on the spray tan like Trump

The fact that John Keys (The former PM) wife made him quit politics or she'd divorce and out him because he had an affair with her

The fact that this bitch violated the privacy act multiple times and illegally accessed abortion records of beneficiaries

It's a small world after all

[peaceowatermeln]

it is so funny to me that paula bennett is hosting a game show. like paula former deputy prime minister “zip it sweetie” bennett now hosts a show that is essentially charades. bonkers lads

[lizardgoats]

The brain remains free. It is physically and intellectually unimpeded and, therefore, the speaker cannot be ‘stilled.’ Her power to articulate remains her own. She does not abandon it nor does she submit it to prevailing cultural beliefs. To Dickinson, if we are to credit this poem, the choice (between silence and speech, imprisonment and freedom) was a matter of 'will.’

Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet, by Paula Bennett

[lizardgoats]

Whatever the cause for this pain…the sequelae are the same. Unable to handle the intensity of her suffering, the afflicted individual goes numb. Her defense system takes over, so that emotionally-speaking she feels ‘dead.’ Put another way, as a result of the massive suppression of effect, her life is emptied out.

Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet, by Paula Bennett

[lizardgoats]

Dickinson’s unique qualities as a nature poet cannot be separated from her gender or from her determination to maintain her identification with nature as female, separate from masculinist religious, philosophic and artistic traditions. Drawing heavily on the female artistic tradition which domesticated nature and found value in detail, Dickinson used the nature around her to make her art and to justify her religion.

Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet, by Paula Bennett

[lizardgoats]

Dickinson’s nature poetry is the subject of the third chapter. Unable to reconcile herself to the concept of a transcendent God, Dickinson presents nature as a woman-centered and materially-based alternative to established religion. More deeply embedded in women’s culture than any other aspect of her work, Dickinson’s nature poetry reflects the poet’s profound need to go outside the masculinist tradition in order to find sources of power that are specifically female and specifically her own.

Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet, by Paula Bennett

[lizardgoats]

Dickinson’s poem on Barrett Browning, like her other statements on the British women writers, indicates that she saw herself specifically as a woman poet, but a woman poet of a different kind. Like the British women writers, she wanted to stretch the boundaries of what it meant to be a woman and write in a womanly way.

Emily Dickinson: Woman Poet, by Paula Bennett