Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 - February 13, 2010 / Baltimore, Maryland)

I came here following a link in a piece in the NYT, 'Black Women and Fat', by Alice Randall,5 May 2012.

As Randall, an overweight black woman trying to get her weight under 200 lbs points out:

FOUR out of five black women are seriously overweight. One out of four middle-aged black women has diabetes. With $174 billion a year spent on diabetes-related illness in America and obesity quickly overtaking smoking as a cause of cancer deaths, it is past time to try something new.

Randall goes on to argue the African American women are fat because they want to be fat, and because their husbands want them to be fat. Thus females being fat is seen as being desirable in African American culture.

Clifton, therefore, is not making a statement about being a powerful, independent woman, even if she thinks she is. Clifton is merely conforming to the expectations of African American culture, a culture shaped by male and female African Americans, but also of course shaped by white American culture.

I came here following a link in a piece in the NYT, 'Black Women and Fat', by Alice Randall,5 May 2012.

As Randall, an overweight black woman trying to get her weight under 200 lbs points out:

FOUR out of five black women are seriously overweight. One out of four middle-aged black women has diabetes. With $174 billion a year spent on diabetes-related illness in America and obesity quickly overtaking smoking as a cause of cancer deaths, it is past time to try something new.

Randall goes on to argue the African American women are fat because they want to be fat, and because their husbands want them to be fat. Thus females being fat is seen as being desirable in African American culture.

Clifton, therefore, is not making a statement about being a powerful, independent woman, even if she thinks she is. Clifton is merely conforming to the expectations of African American culture, a culture shaped by male and female African Americans, but also of course shaped by white American culture.

really enjoyed this courageous poem...!

nice homage to hips. hips have never been enslaved rather enslaved the man to spin him like a top.

Homage to my Hips

By Lucille Clifton

She uses a figurative metaphor “Hips” to represent her personal characteristics. She has powerful, mighty, and magic hips. She is proud of her body. She is an independent woman not to enslave to anyone even her husband. She can sway her husband around like a top. The broader mean is that “man” stand for people. She can sway people conception about her, her race, her identity as a black woman. Her Hips need more space to move around means very little in physical aspect but it has more meaning as she, a black woman, would like to have more freedom, freedom to go outside socially than to be confined in a limited space at home.

Hey, Eseta O Poulivaati. This is one of my favorite poems as well. We read it in class and explicated it a bit. I was glad to hear that the poem was able to get you a good grade in your english class. I think my class enjoyed the poem as well. Take care

in the poem she basically says 'this is the way i am deal with it'. she stands strong and doesn't let anyone tell her about her own body. she doesn't spend any time worrying about what other people think of her appearance. she knows that she is special for who she is and nothing can come between that. it is inspirational because its how many people feel today in society with their issues with thier bodies. it is about pride. i agree with rebecca taylor and what she says about the line where clifton says she can put a spell on a man with her hips. she says that she knows the power she has and knowing what power we have is important to ones self esteem.

This poem is one of my favorites. You can tell the author (Lucile Clifton) is a proud woman who is very confident about her hips. She then explains why those hips are so important to her and that they 'require space.' I dont think this just means that she cant be in tight places. I also think she could be telling the average person to get out of her way, because she needs her space. Her hips go where they want to go, and do what they want to do. I think this is her way of showing her independence as a women. You can just tell that the author know who she is and is comfortable under her own skin

In the poem 'Homage to my Hips', Lucille Clifton shows that she has a very positive image of her hips and her body. It's a big problem with this generation that most women feel they are constantly being judged by their appearance. Media now a days makes it hard on women to be who they are and really be proud of themselves for what God has given them. Lucille Clifton really proves with this poem that she is proud of what God has given her and is not afraid to be herself. She is not self-conscience in the least bit because she discusses in the beginning of the poem 'these hips are big hips'. She continues on to say that 'they don't fit into little petty places', meaning that she doesn't want to be associated with the people that focus on detail and the people that spend all of their time judging other people's looks.

In line 9, she states ' these hips are mighty hips' which shows that she knows they are a very powerful thing for a women to have. In lines 13 to 15, she reveals why she thinks they're so powerful by stating 'I have known them to put a spell on a man and spin him like a top! ' This statement is amazing because it shows the power that all women have on men, and that only some women have been lucky enough to master.

Hip..hips..
Big hips like my hips!