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i want more ‘men’
with flowers falling from their skin. more water in their eyes. more tremble in their bodies. more women in their hearts than on their hands. more softness in their height. more honesty in their voice. more wonder. more humility in their feet. –less, nayyirah waheed “Less” by Nayyirah Waheed questions masculinity. Waheed addresses the absence of specific traits in men that she desires. The first two lines, “i want more men with flowers falling from their skin,” set the tone for the rest of the poem– gentleness and “femininity.” Flowers are symbols of life; life comes (traditionally) from love. Love comes from understanding. Understanding comes from vulnerability. Men are vulnerable; but they do not show it. Vulnerability and affection are assets necessary for genuineness and honesty and authenticity to thrive, traits that enable love in its truest form. Waheed wants more men with this kind of vulnerability— for now she labels them ‘men,’ for it is not the common perception of a man. Men are expected to be manly men, tough and obstinate and unfeeling of emotion. “Flowers” possibly represent words; humans use words to show love and authenticity. Or perhaps alternatively, the flowers falling from their skin represent the shedding of tears, the shedding of themselves, the shedding of themselves onto others. Addressing weaknesses or talking about problems does not place a burden on others. Fears and worries and problems need to be spoken about to release tension in oneself. People should be kind, gentle, and tender, and listen. The flowers fall from their skin in display of freely expressing emotion without hesitance or consideration. Flowers are traditionally seen as feminine; Waheed is negotiating the absence of femininity in men with the contemporary affectation of masculinity that men adopt. Stereotypically feminine traits, such as crying (“more water in their eyes”), earnestness (“more tremble in their bodies”), gentleness (“more softness in their height”), honesty, and self-effacement and humbleness (“more humility in their feet”), are beneficial to keeping oneself in reality, and to enlightenment and curiosity. The title of this poem—“less”— is curious; Waheed uses parallelism throughout the poem to denote what she desires more of in men. She wants to see more tremble, more softness, more honesty, more wonder, etc., yet does not signify what she wants less of. This, I believe, leaves the meaning of the poem open-ended for the reader. Waheed implies that she desires less hypermasculine traits in men; she states what ‘feminine’ traits she does desire. Therefore, she is leaving it up to the reader to decide which sociological behaviors in men are typically masculine (hypermasculine). She is allowing the reader to make these connections for themselves, to question the presence of social constructs and which presences are social constructs. Alternatively, by the title “less,” Waheed is being ironic: after stating everything that she wants more of, she is ironically insinuating that the men are “less” than they were before. This irony is a way of saying that being less of the stereotypical 21st century man does not make them any less of a person. In fact, it very well might make them more.
8 Comments
10/6/2016 08:33:38 am
I really enjoyed your poem. I also liked the amount of detail you went into when writing this post. One thing that I think should have been addressed was the first line. I feel like this line is vitally important to help with the understanding of the poem like the title.
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10/7/2016 06:30:52 am
I loved your analysis about this poem! I especially liked your analysis of the title "less" and how it is juxtaposed against the word "more" which is frequently used throughout the poem. The feminist poem uses a different perspective on traditional feminism, challenging not the patriarchal expectations placed on women, but instead, the ones placed on men to show how the patriarchy affects both genders. Overall, I'm so happy I was able to read this poem and your analysis of it.
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Josie
11/30/2016 11:34:11 am
The opening line was the first thing I analyzed.
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Liam
10/7/2016 05:28:05 am
Hi Josie! I really appreciate your analysis as I can strongly relate to the poem at hand. I witness the hyper masculinity mentioned throughout the poem everyday in society and it disgusts. It's the first thing that can turn me off to a potential friendship. This presidential race embodies it even more as hyper masculine men fear losing the White House to a woman (heaven forbid!). I think like you and the author in that we should all strive for men to show more feminine and sensitive qualities that will make a stronger society.
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10/8/2016 02:17:15 pm
Wow! I really agree with everything within the poem as well as in the commentary. As a male feminist who recognizes that there really is still oppression of women all around the globe, I really do believe that one of the primary issues with the treatment of women is the expectations for men. This is why it is an issue to tell someone to "man up" or "grow some balls" because these are both separating being a woman and being strong or confident or whatever and whether we realize it or not, these are small statements that speak volumes about the society that we live in.
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Kirstie
10/9/2016 06:06:19 am
I am so happy I read this poem today. Since I loved the poem so much, I wrote it down in my journal. Your analysis was spot on too. You really understand the true essence of the poem. It's so ironic how the title of the poem is "Less", but throughout the poem nayyirah speaks about what she wants to see more in men. This poem is a different take on feminism that I never stopped to think about. I agree with nayyirah men need to be a little less masculine.
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Conlyn
10/13/2016 08:38:13 am
Wow, I really enjoyed this poem. Great choice and great analysis of the words "less" and "more" within the poem! It's funny how the poem is titled less, but she constantly talks about how much "more" she wants from men. And this could be related back to people in general, how everyone never wants to admit that they really want more.
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Hello Josie. I commend your choice of poem, as it is one that encompasses a very important dialogue in our society: the social construct of gender and the traits associated with either sex. Your analysis was very intriguing; I especially enjoyed your take on the line, "with flowers falling from their skin". I , too, feel like it means that these men, as she desires to see them, are merely so full of life, nature, and vulnerability that the surplus of it falls from their skin; they have so much of it that their bodies insist on sharing it. I, also, concur that Waheed is stating that she wants the men to be less present in the prison of hypermasculinity and less concerned with anything more than being the sincerest, most vulnerable version of themselves. Great job! Thanks for presenting this piece!
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