Refering closely to 2 or 3 poems, discuss how Duffy presents marginalised women in her poetry.
Duffy presents to us an image of marignalised women in “Standing Female Nude” and “Big Sue and Now Voyager” using sexual themes and images, and representing them as being victims. In these poems, the women live on the fringe of society and their physical appearance, identity, self-perception and role is constantly being interrogated by the demands and desires of a patriarchal society. These women are often in a position where they are under the power of men but at the same time they show a concerted effort in struggling to regain control of their lives.
In both these poems, marginalized women are objectified by the male gaze. In “Standing female nude”, the prostitute is objectified as an object of the artist’s sexual desires when he experiences and erection while yearning for the warmth of her body. She is also represented as a mere “river-whore” by the artist as it is in his power to decide how he wishes to represent her in the painting and it is this perspective of her being a cheap, low-life which he wishes to express. Furthermore, Duffy has used the title of the poem to bring attention to the objectification of the prostitute. The title reveals nothing about the identity of the prostitute but only offers us a vision of a posture of “standing” and the unclothed state she is in. In “Big Sue and Now Voyager”, the namesake of the title of the poem is objectified by the banal nick name that has been branded on her. Once again, she is objectified based only on her physical appearance, which is that of being fat and unflattering. The two poems show us instances of how men objectify and brand women based on their physical appearance. This is a way in which men exercise the power they possess in a patriarchal society over women as such branding is able to alter the perceptions people have of these women and affect the representation of reality.
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Men also exercise their power they have when they determine how these women should look and behave. Georges tell the prostitute in “Standing Female Nude” that it is “not good” that she is “getting thin”. This is probably the way the artist is manipulating the circumstances the prostitute is in and using it against her because the prostitute does not have power over how thin she is particularly because she is “concerned” as to when she is able have her “next meal”. Knowledge and speech is also an indication of power and in the poem Georges takes this power away from the prostitute when he tells her “Don’t talk” after she tries to gather knowledge of why Georges have to paint for a living. By doing so, he has maintained the position of power he is and the effect he thinks he has over her. “Big Sue and Now Voyager” shows us how “men whistles” for the “shapes they want” and because Big Sue does not have this “slender figure” they so desire she is tortured by their words as they poke fun at the “size of her” and call her a “cow” which is at once both banal reflecting the inhumanity of men and the awful truth of Big Sue’s figure. Their words also have an effect of alienating Big Sue from society as can be seen by the way she stays at home “most nights” in order to avoid being chided. Here once again we see how language is used to place marginalized women under emotional and psychological bondage.
As a result of the bondage that is placed on them, these women often have to find ways in which they are able to escape from such restrains. In “Big Sue and Now Voyager”, escapism comes in the form of food and in watching the movie “Now Voyager”. Big Sue uses binge eating as a medium through which she is transported into the world of her romantic fantasies as “mushrooms taste of kisses” and “sherry trifle is a honeymoon”. The eating disorder also reflects in her an urgent and overwhelming desire to gain control of her life. This is evident when she sucks deeply “on a chocolate stick” which could possibly be a euphemistic reference to oral sex. She tries to gain control once again in the “side of the glass” where her fantasies are at place by imagining herself as “Bette Davis”. Bette Davis plays a character in “Now Voyager” who is a spinster like Big Sue. While Big Sue is not desired by the men in her life, Charlotte Vole the character Bette Davis is desired by the male lead in the movie. Thus, by imagining herself as Bette Davis, Big Sue is able to trick herself into believing that true love may be in possible reach for her. This allows her to gain control of her despondence she feels from not being able to find a partner.
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In “Standing Female Nude”, the prostitute attempts to gain control by celebrating the power she has over the painter because of her sexual attraction and by poking fun at the patriarchal aristocrats who would later come to admire the painting of her. The prostitute does not see art in this painting of her, in fact she mocks it. She sees describes her body in a very crude way, knowing fully well that her “belly nipple arse” would soon be admired by “the bourgeoisie”. Irony is employed here because while the bourgeoisie would look at her with disdain because of her occupation, they would admire and look up with awe at the painting of her. Also, irony is shown when the Queen the most powerful women of that time “gazing on” the prostitute’s “painted shape” with a man’s “gaze”. There is also some sardonic humor when a person of immense magnificence such as the queen actually calling a representation of a prostitute “magnificent”. The prostitute also claims power over the artist when she chides him for not having money to have sex with her and when she delights at her ability to make him have an erection and to confuse him. Control by prostitute is thus gained by undermining the position of those that are supposedly in power.
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Yet, the control that both marginalized women supposedly gained would not have long lasting effects. Big Sue traps herself in a dilemma even as she struggles to gain control of her life through binge eating. As she eats more, her figure will continue to be corpulous and so she will continue to be despised by men. Similarly, the prostitute is not going to be able to escape the socio-economic situation she is trapped in just by mocking the artist and the aristocrats.
