The Side-lined Women of the Beat Generation: Diane Di Prima and Her Poetry as a Female Representative of the Movement

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 2. The Beat Generation ........................................................................................................... 2 2.1. American Women and Society in the 1950s .............................................................. 5 2.2. Beat Generation Women ............................................................................................ 8 2.3. The Marginalization Suffered by Female Beat Writers ........................................ 11 3. Diane di Prima ................................................................................................................... 14 3.1. ....................................................................... 17 3.2. Loba ............................................................................................................................ 21 4. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 26 5. Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 27 Abstract This essay will focus on the female artists of the Beat Generation, the difficulties faced by women of that movement, and the secondary position in which they were placed due to the predominant role of male artists. Examples given by the women themselves, such as Joyce Johnson's or Hettie Jones, will be used to discuss this. The main focus will be on Diane di Prima and her poems 'The Practice of Magical Evocation' and Loba, where the principal topics will be analyzed and discussed, and where she will serve as an example of a Beat woman. Key words: Beat Generation, Beat women, Diane di Prima, marginalization, Loba, feminist literature 1 1. Introduction In the history of literature, women writers have faced plenty of challenges to achieve recognition. The same has been true for most of the women who were part of the literary and cultural trend of the Beat Generation, better known for its prominent male authors, such as Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs or Allen Ginsberg. During this revolutionary movement, which began in the very late 1940s, the prevailing norms of the society of the time were challenged in accordance with the countercultural spirit of the moment. However, many women who contributed with enormous devotion to the development of the movement were overshadowed by dominant masculinity. It was not an easy time for women due to the existing stereotypes of the time, yet most of them were courageous and entered the revolutionary world of the Beat. Therefore, this research will focus on unveiling some of the hidden female faces of the Beat Generation, who were sidelined by society and largely by their male counterparts, as well as the great contributions that these women writers have made. The motivation for writing this work has been above all to demonstrate that not only were the Beat men talented writers, but so were female ones, since in them we could find other social realities that involved the way of seeing the world through a woman's eyes. For this reason, the main goal is to highlight their literary contributions as well as the challenging circumstances they faced due to the marginalization they went through. In fact, there is a great literary production by women Beat writers, although they have not always had the opportunity to publish as many works as they would have liked. It comes as no surprise that throughout history most women have had to publish their works anonymously or under a male pseudonym in order to be taken seriously, as there has always been a great inequality of opportunities between women and men. Fortunately, as time went on, women writers began to gain visibility, and thanks to social struggles, such as the feminist waves at the end of the 20th century, new doors began to open for these women to participate actively in the literary realm. Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was among these courageous women writers who resisted social and stereotypical criticism and stood up for their principles. As a consequence, this writer has been especially valued by her counterparts as well as by the Beat world critics and audiences. This is one of the reasons why this research will also focus on di Prima as a representative of the female voice of the Beat Generation. In order to reach the main aim of this essay, it is essential to first 2 provide a context of the Beat Generation, including a brief background of the historical moment in which the United States was situated in order to locate the moment of the movement's creation. Naturally, we will also look in particular ideas of the Beat Generation in order to gain a better understanding of this movement in both cultural and literary terms. This will be followed by a context of the American society of the 1950s, in order to gradually enter into the world of the Beat women. Then, we shall begin to explore the women of the Beat Generation in-depth. It is necessary to start from the basis of the context of these women, so the different stages experienced by these women writers will be listed along with the most recognized writers, such as Joyce Johnson or Hettie Jones, as well as their contributions to the movement. The following section will be one of the most important of the paper, since it will reflect on the marginalization that the women of the Beat Generation are considered to have experienced due to the male dominance of the movement. In the third section of the paper, the focus will move on to Diane di Prima, in addition to an analysis of her poem "The Practice of Magical Evocation" as well as the most relevant ideas in her work Loba. In these discussions, it will be possible to appreciate the feminist vision that di Prima sought to convey through her work, perhaps as a consequence of the oppression she felt in her early days as a writer. Thereby, di Prima will serve as an example of the extraordinary qualities that Beat women writers also held, and a voice will be given to the marginalized potential of their talents. Finally, a conclusion will summarise what has been learned regarding the importance of recognizing the Beat Generation and, obviously, women who participated in the movement. Also, a reflection on the impact of their literary contributions will be included. 2. The Beat Generation In the mid-twentieth century, the United States underwent significant economic, social and cultural changes. Due to the Great Depression (1929), the country faced a severe economic crisis, from which it eventually recovered after the end of World War II in 1945. According to William H. and Nancy K. Young, the provided a second start; with the economic challenges of the Great Depression and the horrors of the 3 World War I1 [ tion looked to a future filled with both promise and danger (XII). As a result, the United States became a major world power, where postwar capitalism and consumerism became the great triumphs of the white people population (Halliwell 98). However, at the same time, parts of its society underwent an irreversible transformation that provoked much pessimism and a need for change, especially among young people. It was during this time that the cultural and literary movement known as the Beat Generation emerged, due to a group of students at Columbia University who introduced a new artistic vision and a new way of life into American society in the late 1940s, although the movement was not really known to society until the early 1950s (Skerl 1). John Clellon Holmes is a writer and critic involved with the Beat movement who had been closely associated with the movement's founding artists since their days at University. In 1952, he wrote an essay entitled "This is the Beat Generation" which was published in the New York Times Magazine, introducing the Beat Movement features and various writers of the movement to American society (Watson 3). This essay was crucial to the rise of the movement and its philosophy. Jack Kerouac, one of the founders of the movement, is credited with creating the term "Beat Generation" because of a conversation he had with Holmes in 1948 (Chaires 196), in which Kerouac used the word "Beat" to refer to the meaning of being "exhausted expressing these young artists' sense of disappointment. According to Kerouac B delinquents, it meant characters of a special spirituality who didn't gang up but were solitary Bartlebies staring out the dead wall window of our civilization" (Portable 559). In other words, Watson described them as "members of the generation that cause of age during World War II, who, supposedly as a result of disillusionment stemming from the Cold War, espouse mystical detachment and relaxation of social and sexual tensions" (5). This disillusionment caused by social conformity, the politics of consumerism and the trauma caused by World War II led these young people to focus on a countercultural movement that rejected and opposed the norms, values and culture established by the dominant American society. they describe a sense of loneliness within the mainstream American ideology, a feeling which ultimately drives them to seek other forms of society The artists expressed their non-conformism and their defence of individual freedom and autonomy through honesty, openness and improvisation, as well as their contempt for the status quo and the snobbery imposed by adults. Therefore, 4 they did not want to be tied to any kind of attachment or to become part of the conformist society that observes the rules and avoids unusual situations. This is how this movement grew, in which these artists were inspired and wrote freely about subjects that no one dared to talk about openly out of shame, such as drug use and the effects it had on their creativity and perception, pacifism and anti-racism, the exploration of Eastern spirituality (particularly Buddhism), sexual freedom and the exploration of it, the importance of friendship, among others. That is to say, as Nancy M. Grace and Ronna C. Johnson wrote "bohemian beat enclaves rejected corporate conformities, consumer culture, and sexual repression [. . .] when it was far from common or safe to do so openly" (2). These were people dedicated to living on a day-to-day basis. Planning for tomorrow meant that one had to assume there would be one (Chaires 195). They lived in the present, sought their identity and tried to feel different from a society they despised, taking long road trips, adventures and getting to know different cultures, all in a hedonistic way. "Nothing behind me, everything in front, as always on the road" (Kerouac 183). The Beat Generation art B reflected the attitude of the writers as it was powerful and challenging music. Sometimes, they performed their poems accompanied by jazz music.1 Jazz clubs, coffeehouses, and parks were common stomping grounds for Beats (Chaires 195). It was San Francisco, California, that served as the centre of the Beat Generation. In the city's bars and cafés, and in places such as the City Lights Bookstore, writers, poets, artists, and friends of the Beat movement exchanged ideas and performed their works. n San Francisco that embodies the beatific fifty- They also had a strong presence in New York's Greenwich Village. Among the places where they held events and readings The North Beach was the focus of Beat hangouts 27). Their communal living spaces embraced both art and sexual liberation, far away from the more traditional domestic models of the post-war period. Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady and the aforementioned Jack Kerouac are some of the most recognized and considered icons of the movement, with some of their best-known works such as Howl (1956), Burroughs' Naked Lunch (1959) and Kerouac's On the Road (1956) paving the way for the countercultural movement and breaking with conventional literature. However, there are 1See more information in Hrebeniak, "Jazz and the Beat Generation" 250-264. 5 many more artists who followed this movement and lifestyle in art as well as in fashion and music, which were not only men, but female artists who contributed great works to this countercultural world: Diane di Prima, Brenda Frazier, Joyce Johnson, Anne 2.1. American Women and Society in the 1950s American society in the 1950s experienced important historical events, including the aftermath of the victory of the United States in the Second World War. Full peace did not last long since the Cold War began soon after, making the 1950s an unsettled decade in international terms (Young and Young 22). This geopolitical confrontation, while there was never a direct conflict between the main sides, lasted for many years. Even so, the United States was in a time of economic prosperity and revolutionary advances in technology, the construction industry and the development of the automobile, which led to a great improvement in the quality of life for a large part of American society. Not only were wealthy families able to acquire the good lifestyle of the 1950s, but white middle-class families also enjoyed an improved lifestyle. These standardized families became the image of American society in the 1950s. People hoping that after a period of wars, a brighter future would come, and with it a more peaceful world, influenced American society's decision to bring more children into the world, which led to a huge growth in society; According t births were recorded in the 1950s; by the end of the decade the figure had grown to 4.3 his is known as the baby-boom In order to improve their lives, these standardized white families moved from the city to the suburbs. Therefore, suburban neighbourhoods blossomed along with a new lifestyle characterized by the mass consumption of fast-food restaurants Also, the rise of shopping malls thousands of drive-in movie theatres and, of course, the need to own a car, since after traveled farther .2In other words, it was a society marked by consumerism, materialism 2 See more information in William H. and Nancy K. Young, The 1950s. 6 and the American ideal of life where the harder someone worked and the more material wealth gained, the more successful someone was. Media promoted a very stereotypical vision: cinema, television and commercials played a major role in this society, also known as the golden age of television (Halliwell 151). 3 But it was not all a golden age for American society. There was still a great dominance of the white population over Afro-Americans, for example, their suburbs Racism was still very active within American society, particularly in the South, where white people did not tolerate basic things like the presence of Afro-Americans or persons from other ethnic groups in their own neighbourhoods, on public transport or in their children's schools and colleges. As a result of this, , anti-racist movements and struggles for civil rights for all took place, as people became increasingly frustrated by discrimination, violence, and unequal treatment. On the other side of the apparent image of the perfect American family women suffered a far from easy way of life during the 1950s. Gender issues were also prevalent social problems in this society. After the end of World War II, millions of women lost the jobs they had obtained during the war while men fought. After this, conventional gender roles were re-established, in which both men and women were expected to assume stereotypical expectations. 4 White middle-class society in the 1950s followed very conservative and closed norms in which the man was the one who brought home the money while the woman was left aside, forced to devote herself to the house, to her children and to being a good wife. As Betty Friedan clearly states in The Feminine Mystique The tragedy was, no one ever looked us in the eye and said: you have to decide what you want to do with your life, besides being your husband's wife and the mother of your children (126). There were no options for women to choose what they wanted to do with their lives, they were not taken into account and they were forced to follow social conventions without anyone asking them if that was what they wanted in their lives. It was expected that women would give 3See more information in Halliwell, American Culture in the 1950s. 4See more information in Friedan, The Feminine Mystique. 7 priority to their role as mothers and wives above all else. In addition, if an unmarried woman had children out of marriage, then that woman was rejected by society (sometimes even by her own family) and had no chance of support. The social idealization of the image of the perfect housewife" was mostly promoted through popular culture in general, but cinema, television and especially advertisements encouraged this image of a married woman with children, obedient, powerless to express herself freely and servile. In the television commercials, the pretty housewives still beamed over their foaming dishpans (Friedan 66). In that period, it was possible to find advertisements on television and anywhere else from large companies that would be unthinkable nowadays, but which in that society were considered as something normal and acceptable. Show her it's a man's world (Van Heusen ties, 1951), (Palmolive, 1953) or The Chef does everything, but cook - that's what wives are for (Kenwood, 1961) are some examples of such advertisements (Dimitrieska and Efremova, 166-167). This situation left many women feeling unhappy and stuck in these roles created by a society that limited women's freedom, unable to pursue their dreams, aspirations or careers outside the home. Women were limited in their studies and jobs, most of which were exclusive to men. Friedan stated that number of educators suggested seriously that women no longer be admitted to the four-year colleges and universities (67). Generally, powerful and well-paid jobs were held by men, such as doctors, engineers, or politicians, while lower-paid jobs were held by women, such as nurses and secretaries. A woman writer proposed in Harper that women be drafted for 67). Women, compared to men, earned much less money even if they did the same work. In addition to job discrimination and social expectations, there were still discriminatory laws and policies that continued to limit women's rights and freedoms, such as abortion. The problem was dismissed by telling the housewi shrugging that there are no solutions: this is what being a woman means, and These constraints, in the end, prevented women from accessing full equality and autonomy in their personal and professional lives. However, these restrictions also served as a trigger for the women's liberation movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, which sought to address these issues and promote greater gender equality. In fact, 1970s 14 [...] nevertheless discounted through presumptions of their inferiority, [...] young ladies among men. (15). Nevertheless, they were courageous and challenging in confronting the gender barriers and prejudices of their time to establish themselves as important creators and contributors to the culture and literature of the Beat Generation. Despite the obstacles, these women fought for their right to creative freedom and a voice of their own and paved the way for future generations of female writers and artists. Their legacy is a reminder of the importance of diversity and gender equality in culture and society at large. 3. Diane di Prima In the preceding section, Ginsberg was quoted saying that at one point in Beat literature, there were no women writers with as much talent or as much power as Kerouac or Burroughs (Peabody 1). However, Ginsberg claimed that there was a talented female writer within the Beat Generation, despite not belonging to Kerouac's boys club According to Ginsberg, when there was a strong writer who could stand on her own, like Diane di Prima, we certainly worked with her and recognized her. She was a genius (Peabody 1). Diane di Prima (1934-2020) was an American writer, poet and activist from the Beat Generation. Grace 54). Di Prima was noted both for her innovative poetic style, which introduced a new stream of consciousness, using a very personal and confessional tone, and combined politics with spiritual life, and for her political activism, which included support for the civil rights movement and feminism autobiographical author for the subject matter of her poems and prose often derives directly from her personal experience, yet her work also chronicles the striking changes (6). Di Prima was born into a middleclass family of Italian-American origins. She was a young girl when she attended Hunter College High School in New York City, where her writing career began. Later, she started to attend Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, but it did not last too long. In 1953, two years after beginning her studies, she left Swarthmore to move to Greenwich Village, where she devoted herself entirely to writing and to becoming involved in the literary movement and the intellectual culture of the Beats. According to Gray, y the time she 15 dropped out of Swarthmore College and dropped in on a burgeoning bohemian scene in lower Manhattan, she was well on her way to becoming a Beat icon . Also, Calonne stated that, in those years, 8). In Manhattan, she met Beat Generation figures such as Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, LeRoi Jones and Allen Ginsberg, and according to Johnson and Grace, in 1961 she and LeRoi Jones started The Floating Bear, a newsletter that was one of the most influential small-press publications of the time (54). In 1958, her first poems were collected and published (This Kind of Bird Flies Backwards), and a year later she would publish Dinners and Nightmares in 1960, where she explored themes of identity, sexuality, politics, and creativity. As can be seen, di Prima from her earliest days was dedicated to her literary and activist commitment, and throughout the 1960s she did not stop. In Breaking the Rule of Cool, Johnson and Grace reports that in 1961 she also co-founded New York Poets Theatre, and in 1964 she and her then-husband, Alan Marlowe, founded the Poets Press (54). In addition, Diane di Prima was a founder of the San Francisco Institute of Magical and Healing Arts, since she always had an interest in the Buddhist school known as Zen and in the magical arts, even going so far as to study them. From 1974 to 1997, she also became a teacher at Narope Institution where she taught students developing images of their dreams, offered erotic writing seminars for women and classes on individual poets . Timoth -read. She dressed in black clothing. She Di Prima was also the mother of five children, so she also had to manage to balance her maternal life with her artistic and activist one. It was a burden that artists, particularly men, usually did not want to take on. In 2001, she was interviewed by David Hadbawnik for Jacket magazine, and there she expressed this thought: if they had kids, and they were doing art, they probably either abandoned the kids or whatever to go on with their work. And everybody said, Oh, that's OK, they're guys, you know However, she did want to have that commitment to being a mother, poet, and activist at the same time, as she herself said in Jacket magazine: I everything that was possible to a person in a female body, and that meant that I wanted but fuck it, that's what I'm doing, I'm going to risk it As she herself expressed, she wanted to experience as much as she could as a woman. 16 In fact, di Prima formulated her feelings, desires, fears, and experiences of being a woman as a recurring theme in her literary productions, such as the fears of motherhood in Song for Baby-O, Unborn : but I can show you / baby / enough to love / to break your heart / forever (12-16). She also wrote about abortion, expressing the overwhelming emotion she felt following an abortion as well as the physical pain and the feeling of loss, as can be seen in her poem Brass Furnace Going Out: Song, after an Abortion : I want you in a bottle to send to your father / with a long bitter note. / I want him to know I'll not forgive you, or him for not being born / for drying up, quitting / at the first harsh treatment (II). In these lines, she seems to blame the father for her loss. These themes suggest on di Prima's part the experiences that only a woman can experience. Di Prima has inimitably addressed the female body as the site upon which female agency is constructed through pleasure, reproduction, exploitation, and resistance (Johnson and Grace 55). In her semi-autobiographies, Memoirs of a Beatnik (1969) and Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years (2001), di Prima also expresses these themes of the female body and her experiences as such, as well as her experience as an American young girl living a bohemian life in New York in the 1950s. She also covered other themes in her works such as spirituality and mysticism, as in Loba (1978); politics, often addressing issues of equality and social justice, as in many poems of Revolutionary Letters (1971) or nature, exploring the relationship between humankind and the natural world, such in her poem Revolutionary Letters #16 etc. Di Prima is a versatile and prolific writer and poet, with a large collection of works and poems. 7 (Hoover 236). Due to her work, she has been recognized as one of the most iconic Beat figures, and also because of her brave personality that challenged a male-dominated world. As Quinn states in her article The Willingness to Speak : Diane di Prima and Italian American Feminist Body Politics , 7Such as The New Handbook of Heaven (1963), Haiku (1966), Earthsong: Poems 1957-59 (1968), Hotel Albert: Poems (1968), The Book of Hours (1970), The Calculus of Variation (1972), Freddie Poems (1974), Selected Poems (1956-1975), Pieces of a Song: Selected Poems (1990), Seminary Poems (1991), 22 Death Poems (1996), The Poetry Deal (2014), in addition to those previously mentioned. (Johnson and Grace 262). 17 counterparts (175). 3.1. As mentioned previously, di Prima expressed her own feelings in a direct and personal way, but which at the same time had an intention beyond that of merely expressing her own experiences. On many occasions, her poems were addressed to raise social consciousness of the perceptions, experiences, sexuality and fears of a woman in the 1950s, when it was very unlikely for a woman to speak openly about these issues. Di Prima reflected on women's conditions and the female body more realistically and not as stereotypically as was often portrayed in traditional literature due to her own experience as a woman. The Practice of Magical Evocation written in 1958, belongs to her collection of poems called Earthsong. This poem is untitled in this collection, but later, it appeared in Selected Poems (1957-1959) with the previously named title (Calonne 41). In "The Practice of Magical Evocation di Prima refers to the experience of being a woman and how society has constructed limiting expectations and roles around gender. At the beginning of the poem, di Prima introduces the opening verses of Gary Snyder's poem In Praise of Sick Women as an epigraph: the female is fertile, and discipline / (contra naturam) only / confuses her This poem by Snyder starts by appealing to the naturalistic conception of the female as opposed to discipline, which is an unnaturalistic concept. Therefore, di Prima's poem could be understood as a daring response to Snyder's poem, suggesting criticism of the idea of discipline imposed on women by a patriarchal society (Calonne 42). In order to understand the reason for the poem in its totality, it is necessary to carry out an analysis of the content of the poem as well as a brief aesthetic and structural analysis of it, because in this way one will be able to see in-depth what di Prima's purpose is and how she elaborates her vindication through the poem. On the one hand, it is a poem made up of four stanzas whose aesthetic construction leads us to think that she wants to break down the logical structure that the traditional elaboration of a poem should have in favour of a free verse that allows for the highest expressivity of her discourse. To achieve 18 this, the structure in which she sets up the poem does not follow any traditional poetic norm. Di Prima wants the message she wishes to transmit through the poem to be taken as easily and directly as possible, although in a very specific way, trying to create a kind of feminine narrative ( I am a woman and my poems / are of a woman ) (361) 8that facilitates the interpretation of the fragment. As a result of the pioneering spirit of the time, it is possible to find in the poem unfinished lines, as in the fourth line of the poem, or blank spaces expressing the pauses and silences she intends to emphasize, thus creating a particular rhythm. Also noteworthy is how she accentuates key words or phrases ( the female is ductile ) (361) and even words that evoke specific situations ( bring forth ) (362) with which women should feel identified. On the other hand, the poem's content deserves a slower and more detailed analysis of the text to understand the totality of the message that di Prima intends to give. In the first verses of The Practice of Magical Evocation, di Prima introduces herself as the author of the poem: a woman and poet, establishing a connection between both: "I am a woman and my poems / are woman's: easy to say / this" (361) which might imply that her poems are a real expression of her female experience. she seems to point out the difficulty of being a woman and a poet at the same time, since she writes There is a clear appeal to feminism here, only a woman can understand a woman's problems, such as childbirth's pain or the difficulty that women have always suffered trying to be a mother and achieve their aims. Then, she turns Snyder's words from the female is fertile to the female is ductile (361). Di Prima might have given a dual meaning to this verse, in the sense that, on the one hand, it could be understood as the idea that the female body can be manageable. On the other hand, it could be interpreted as women's strength and resilience to withstand hardship. However, in the following verses, di Prima describes the female figure as built for masochistic calm (361). Di Prima criticizes that women are used to appease desires for sexual pleasure by making them feel physically painful. She conveys this by using negative words such as deadened nerve (361) and by presenting anatomical images that could be read as certain sensations and emotions related to the female sexual experience, where passivity fish eyes and emotional disconnection retina [...] / at hair's root / minimal feeling (361) prevail. 8The poem can be found in Charters, The Portable Beat Reader 361-362. 19 Di Prima goes on to give descriptions, through explicit words, of the body changes that only a woman experiences when giving birth: and pelvic architecture functional / assailed inside & out / (bring forth) the cunt gets wide / and relatively sloppy (361). She seems to refer to her body as assailed both outside and inside suggesting violent experiences since the word "assailed" implies an attack. It could not only refer to physical violent experience as such, but also to the internal struggle with her own emotions. These changes, according to di Prima, are what female bodies go through to "bring forth men children only" (361) since "female is ductile" (362). Historically, there have always been more favourable expectations for women to bear sons than daughters because of the culture that male offspring are considered more important due to social issues, such as the precedence of male offspring in the monarchy or the belief in male superiority. Therefore, it may be interpreted as a criticism of the situation in which women are subjected to pressure, relegating them to not only bearing children, but to preferably having them be male. In this way, di Prima considered that women are devalued, thereby accentuating inequality between masculine and feminine roles. Di Prima might reintroduce the verse "female is ductile" to refer to women's specific reproductive role and their ability to adapt to social pressures and cultural expectations in order to fulfil the cultural desire to bring forth men children thus limiting their own identity. In fact, in many cultures, for a woman to bear sons has traditionally been synonymous with success, . Actually, di Prima makes an allusion to the quotation from Macbeth "Bring forth men-children only; / For thy undaunted mettle should compose / Nothing but males" (1.7.72). In this play, Macbeth replies to Lady Macbeth in the form of a compliment to praise her bravery, since for him courage and being heroic are potentially masculine traits. In other words, Macbeth considers her to be of such bravery that she should have male children only as if it were a great privilege. In the poem's last stanza, di Prima refers to the difficulty a woman may encounter in relation to the female sexual experience and its personal expression. Through the metaphor "woman, a veil thru which..." (362) di Prima could again critique the cultural limitations and prejudices surrounding female sexuality that shroud women. This veil could refer to a barrier that hides the true essence and prevents the free expression of a woman's sexual desire. On the other hand, the "veil" could hide a meaning related to virginity, as in many cultures the veil is a symbol of a woman's purity as well as protection 20 of a woman's sexuality. Then, a sexual connotation can be found in "fingering Will" (362), which could be interpreted in several ways. On the one hand, it may refer to the exploration of female sexuality, specifically masturbation, as "fingering" is related to a sexual act and "Will" could refer to the willingness to do so. It should be borne in mind that female masturbation is a forbidden and controversial subject in society, especially at that time, so it could be taken as female empowerment. On the other hand, it could also refer to the sexual act between two people, not only with herself, including the words "inside & out" (362) referring to the sexual act. Also, it can be understood as if Di Prima describes the woman as "twice torn" both "inside" and "outside" because of the experiences a woman must face. In fact, di Prima might intend to emphasize the expression "twice torn" by including it twice to highlight the negative female experience she wants to convey in the poem in order to make an effect on the reader, which not only refers to the emotional but also to the physical ("inside & out"). Di Prima could imply both internal and external damage to a woman's sexual integrity and autonomy. Internal damage could refer to emotional damage as a consequence of the norms set by society towards women and the feeling of shame and prejudice toward one's own female sexuality. In many cultures, it has been considered a sin for women to experience their own sexual desire as well as intimate exploration. External damage, on the other hand, may refer to sexual abuse or a lack of control over females' sexual experiences and preferences. This leads us to the idea that sexuality has always been related to the submissive sexuality demanded by men from women. This traditional thought is criticized by di Prima. Finally, di Prima makes two rhetorical questions as a final reflection on the poem. The first one, "what rhythm add too stillness" (362) could refer to the huge immobility imposed on women by society. Therefore, she seems to raise the question of what "rhythm" can be included in a woman's life where limitations are placed upon her. For this reason, di Prima could express her frustration at the lack of recognition of women's efforts, which leads to a sense of oppressive stillness Women can have difficulty finding their own rhythm in society and being fully appreciated for their contributions due to barriers and restrictive expectations. Although, it could also relate to the difference between male writers who ventured on road trips but did not allow the inclusion of women on their journeys, as Johnson wrote in Minor Characters. Thus, the rhetorical question "what applause?" (362) may highlight the low recognition and rewards women may 21 receive, which relates to the idea that their "flow" (362) may not be applauded as they deserve. It is possible that this final interpretation could bring us back to the beginning of the poem, where di Prima emphasizes the fact that she is a woman and a poet and she considered this not an easy thing to achieve due to the social role women were expected to play in society. Di Prima seems to portray an impression of female passivity in the poem with her words. However, as the writer Davidson suggests, "the more Di Prima asserts woman's passivity, the less we believe her and thus recognize her ability to use rhetoric to her own advantage" (178). In other words, a sense of irony is present in the poem and as di Prima emphasizes the idea of female passivity, readers may start to question her truthfulness and appreciate her ability to use rhetoric consciously as well as effectively in the pursuit of her own empowerment. 3.2. Loba Diane di Prima wrote major works throughout her life as writer. However, the work considered to be the masterpiece of her literary production is Loba, which according to Quinn Howl Prima's long poem, Loba, is an epic feminist poem that di Prima began writing in the early 1970s, as she herself acknowledges in an interview with Tony Moffeit in Breaking the Rule of Cool. It was not until 1978 that she published the first part, and in 1998 the rest of the poems were published, as the collection contain a large number of poems. According to Grace and Trigilio "Loba features 205 short poems divided into fifteen parts, which are themselves divided between two books" (226). Although the truth is that Loba is a never-ending poem, which is not complete as di Prima stated when asked if it was completed, she replied "No. It's an ongoing work" (94). For the time in which it was published, Loba breaks with the established norm and presents a new vision, both narrative and interpretive. Quinn states that "Loba innovation rests in the unconventionality of having an epic poem voiced by a she-wolf goddess" (22). However, there are more innovative elements to remark on. At the beginning of Loba, di Prima makes it clear that this work is not complete, but rather is in continuous evolution, establishing its own pace and allowing it to be modified as she requires it. There is a note written by di Prima stating that "The Work is, like they say, in 22 'progress'. The author reserves the right to juggle, re-arrange, cut, osterize, re-cycle parts of the poem in future editions. As the Loba wishes, as the Goddess dictates Although she emphasizes the nature of change in her work, she also "destabilizes conventional ways of reading where the reader must set aside "any ideas of 'master' narrative here" (Quinn 22). This could mean that the reader should not rely on a single interpretation in di Prima's work, since it is written to challenge literary conventions and therefore, the reader "should anticipate that the pulse of the work can change its beat" (22). As Quinn states, "di Prima's she-wolf reserves the right to howl, not just as muse, but as mother" (22). Therefore, di Prima could demonstrate her authority in her work as well as her empowerment by challenging established practices. Loba is an extended feminist poem that "encapsulates the varied images, experiences, and myths of femininity" (Axelrod 285). It addresses femininity and it is focused on women, and as Encarnaciónrepresentations of women through historica other words, the author seems to express her concern for how women have been represented in history and mythology. Di Prima introduces the goddess Loba as the principal figure, whom Axelrod refers to as "a figure [that] di Prima derived from various world mythologies" (293), which, according to Quinn, may range from the mythological -La Loba, or bone woman, a collector of wolf bones who represents the reverse cycle of life from grandmother to mother to laughing maiden" (27). This mythical goddess, who appears in many different forms and representations throughout the poem, could represent women's ability to reclaim their authority, power, and voice. Prima constructs representations of the goddess, the mother, the artist and other shape-shifting into an essentialist female Through these representations, di Prima seeks to give voice to the different experiences of women in an attempt to build female unity and solidarity. In fact, in her introductory poem "AVE di Prima's intention to give voice to the different experiences of women imposed by society and in history, addressing them as "lost moon sisters" can already be seen (1)9. In the opening lines of the poem, di Prima describes errant women wandering in different settings, some in elegant clothes and others in ragged garments (crescent in hair, sea underfoot do you wander / [...] in tattered shawl do 9The poem can be found in Di Prima, Loba 1-4 23 you wander / [...] / on Fillmore Street do you wander) (1). Also, she evokes women wandering in states of vulnerability and sadness (spitting do you wander / [...] crying do you wander / aged and talking to yourselves / with roving eyes do you wander) (1). Di Prima evokes different experiences that the woman has had to live through in various situations such as being pregnant, as well as the loss of a child, sexuality, violence and everyday activities such as "digging for yams [...] / looking for dope [...] / playing with birds" (5). Despite these experiences, she seems to give the image of power and strength on the part of women "you are the cauldron and the evening star / you rise over the sea, you ride the dark" (5). Finally, Polina Mackay explains that "the speaker recognizes and, most importantly, articulates the need for community in a section towards the end of the poem which merges the 'I' with the 'you'" (2). In other words, at the end of the poem, di Prima achieves the intention of her poem, which is to create a connection between herself and these women, and of course, with the goddess Loba ("I am you / and I must become you / I have been you / and I must become you") (6). The figure of the goddess Loba could symbolize the depths of femininity, that is, where the feminine is born and at the same time, how that femininity evolves. Loba "draws us down to our first ground of being: the deep feminine" as well as "reconnects us to the new/old emerging myth" (Lowinsky 3). Throughout the work, the figure of Loba is gradually formed, therefore, it could be said that there is a progression that ends in the evolution of the goddess Loba. In this sense, Mackay argues in her article that "the book has a frame narrative: the story of the Loba, the she-wolf, a half-real and half-imagined mythical creature who is formed throughout the poems, first as an animistic woman and then as a being who contains the soul and consciousness of all women" (2). Here we can see how clearly di Prima's intention from the beginning "to create an all-woman" (2) through the goddess. Throughout Loba, there are several poems in which female characters from classical myths of different cultures are invoked for different purposes, for example, incarnations of the goddess, or as counterparts through which the poet challenges the inscription of female s -Pinedo 4). Some of these female characters, according to Trigilio and Grace, are Canyon Lady (Native American tradition), Eve and the Virgin Mary (Christian tradition), Sophia (Gnostic tradition), Tara (Buddhist tradition), Persephone and Aphrodite (Greek/Roman tradition), Ishtar (Middle Eastern tradition) (229). For instance, in Loba as Eve (69-78), the character of Eve