Women

Walker begins the “Women” poem with “They were women then” (Line 1), nostalgically calling forth the women of the past. She then specifies her “mama’s generation” (Line 2). While men and fathers have also risked their lives, Walker focuses on women’s sacrifices. As shown throughout the poem, women had to perform both traditionally-female and traditionally-male roles, doing double the work: “How they battered down / Doors / And ironed / Starched white / Shirts” (Line 7-11). Black women, in particular, faced double the obstacles of white women, including racism and sexism. Because of this inequity, Black women had to fight even harder to receive similar opportunities as other members of society. Even though they had no resources except their own strength and cognition, Black mothers still made it possible for their daughters to have more than they did. In Walker’s mother’s time, mothers cared for the home, the children, the husband, and outside-the-home work, if economic situations were poor. Walker saw this firsthand with her own mother and again as a single mother of her own daughter once she divorced from her husband. She was fortunately able to use her writing skills to make a living and a name for herself.