Phenomenal Woman That’s Me

3 Pages 789 Words

The poem, “Phenomenal Woman”, written by Maya Angelou has touched the lives of many women. The title itself has the ability to grasp the interests of the reader. The word phenomenal means outstanding, excellent and extraordinary, therefore making it the perfect word to describe a woman who is as magnificent as she is. This four stanza poem expresses the thoughts and feelings of a proud and confident woman.
These days women are judged by their exterior and the values of what is inside seem to be forgotten. The theme of this poem is very evident. In the first line, “Pretty women wonder where my secret lies”, lets us know that the beauty described through out the poem is internal. The second line says, “I’m not cute or built to suit a model’s fashion size”, a woman’s outside doesn’t have to be perfect if her personality makes up for that. Beauty on the outside does not always get you what you want. Angelou uses explanations of a woman’s physical body to describe the amazing woman that is really on the inside. Although her body may not be perfect or even attractive she uses it to describe femininity. Confidence is a perfect display of inner beauty. The line, “The stride of my steps”, gives a mental picture of a courageous straight postured woman walking with her head held high not caring about the way others think about her. This shows that she is not ashamed of her looks and is very proud of who she is. She leaves a

bit of mystery about herself by not giving in to every man that approaches her. Her gracefulness and positive feminine ways get her what other women are envious of, which is respect. These physical characteristic that she describes gives the image of a beautiful woman when in reality it’s not that way at all.
The confidence that she expels would only leave one to assume that she was raised in a very loving and nurturing environment which have installed good mora...