http://www.wintertangerine.com/how-our-hair-got-this-way/
In the poem, “how our hair got this way,” by Jamila Woods, the poet reworks the story of Adam and Eve, in, what I perceived to be, an attempt to both highlight the race and qualities of the first man, and respectively the first woman, using her effortless humor and voice to further her implications along the way. Woods begins the poem with its title, “how OUR hair got this way”; here, her use of the word OUR suggests that the qualities that she expresses and the plight of the characters are qualities and circumstances with which she can identify, as a woman of color and a possessor of course hair. She goes on, in the lines, to say that, in similarity to the original text, Adam and Eve ate the apple, but continues stating that they were “immediately ashamed of the nakedness of their heads.” In this, Woods is weaving the idea that vanity, and not their committing of sin occupies their minds. This is just one of the ways Jamila Woods conveys ideas through the use of detail throughout the poem. She states that “Eve tried everything” to cover the baldness of which she was ashamed, even “flowers without names.” This is a manner in which she relates the newness of earth, which in turn heightens the severity of their sin. Their lives are so new, that the progress of creation is still underway and they have already sinned against their creator. As the poem progresses, Woods applies details that suggest the early formation of the patriarchy in stating “Adam said it was all Eve’s fault, for listening to that stupid snake.” This directly addresses the topics of submission, and roughly chauvinism in the Bible and the ways in which it is used to justify gender equality in today’s society. The climax of the poem comes in God’s realization and punishing of the sin. Woods details God pulling “the snake from the grass and stretch[ing] it so thin it broke into hundreds of tiny coils; this both relates the idea that the serpent was both present and absent, allowing man to hold the destiny/control of sin and obedience, and details the punishment bestowed upon the dissenting two, which is similar in context to the story of Medusa. Following this, there is a shift. The words that follow are spoken by God, or the god-like presence in the text. God is then said to place the snake, divided into his coils which are representative of hair strands, atop Eve’s head. This is significant due to its resounding power as a metaphor; Eve’s hair, stubborn and unruly, will defy her, demand her attention, will resist heat, referring to the reversion experiences predominantly when coarse or textured hair is treated with heat, and will defy gravity, growing upright and tall. The line most reflective of Woods’ refreshing humor, though, is the following: “God put some coils on Adam’s head too, but told him his would fall out over time, as punishment for snitching.” This affirms Woods’s implication that Adam and Eve, and thus God are in possession of qualities and features that may identify them as men and women of color. Here, Woods uses a phrase, with origin in ebonics or urban and cultural slang, to continue in this theme. She even adds a pun on male pattern baldness.
6 Comments
Eng
11/4/2016 05:11:25 am
This was a fun poem to read. It's amusing that vanity is so all-consuming, but it is also indicative our society today that places more importance on looks than on sin, for the most part.
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Mya
11/4/2016 05:58:43 am
Thank you for your comment. I, personality, think that this is a play on the original story of Adam and Eve and the idea that Adam is kind of oblivious to the acts, and merely a bystander to the sin, reaping the benefits of Eve's plans and works, but not exactly helping her. Due to this, I'd say that it is a punishment, but not half as severe as Eve's because, in a sense, his sin was "graded on a curve". It is almost like God has punished him, for going along with such a disobedient plan, but gives him a pass after he's learned his lesson from listening Eve, allowing him to take off the hair, lie down his punishment, and return to his previous state, the one intended for him by God.
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11/4/2016 06:59:07 am
I really enjoyed your analysis of the poem, especially its suggestion of the formation of the patriarchy: Adam blaming Eve. It reminds me of the line in A Thousand Splendid Suns where Nana tells her daughter Mariam, "a man's accusing finger will always point to a woman, like a compass points north" (or something to that effect).
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Kerston Kennedy
11/4/2016 07:35:46 am
Your analysis is very good! I feel like you understood the poem very well.
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12/5/2016 10:51:20 am
I think it truly impresive how the author exposes vanity and how you are able to elaborate upon this with such detail. I also think that you do an exceptional job in showing that they are more preoccupied with the vanity than the actual sin!
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AuthorMya |