The Secretary Chant

“The Secretary Chant” is a poem written by contemporary Jewish American poet Marge Piercy. Published in 1973, Piercy’s poem contains a feminist conceit, comparing a woman to office supplies and, in turn, questioning both the objectification of women and whether or not the expansion of women’s roles into the workforce creates any real progress or simply replicates existing issues. The themes of the poem are largely aligned with the second-wave feminism of the 1960s and 70s, focused on female sexuality, the family, the workplace, and various other social and legal inequalities. This was a movement in which Piercy was very much involved. Much like “The Secretary Chant,” Piercy’s greater body of work is steeped in feminist issues as well as Marxist, antiwar, and environmental considerations.

While not of a specific school or cohort of poets, Piercy is considered to be a political poet with her work exploring topics of social importance. Piercy claims the poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman as two of her greatest poetic influences, firmly rooting her within the American poetic tradition. Other influences include the romantic poets and modernist poets, including Muriel Rukeyser. Throughout her career, Piercy published 20 volumes of poetry, as well as numerous works of fiction, nonfiction, and plays.