Confessional poetry is based on the ideas of being raw with the audience, expressing the inner thoughts, feeling, and experiences that leave one happy, drained, exasperated, and devastated. The emotions and profound realizations these women have put into words have given any individual who identifies as a woman, and others who simply can identify with shared experiences that go beyond gender and sex, a space to share, recognize, process, and explore the feelings in a safe environment. The access that Instagram poetry gives to these individuals surpasses class, race, sexuality, and ability, to give recognition of self and experiences. Being able to see yourself and know that others understand gives you a community, much less one that has almost no bounds like the online world. All of the individuals who are listed cover ideas such as emotional honesty, an exploration of their identity or who others believe them to be, social and political issues such as abortion and basic human rights, all while using an innovative form creating each poet to have a distinct form and image that readers can identify them with.
My conversation I would like to begin with, or plan to have, is how contemporary feminism has been effected by instagram poetry, especially confessional female instagram poetry. Feminism has always been a small part of a bigger picture. Where there are issues and controversies with feminism, you usually find a conversation regarding other “isms” such as racism, which most articles discuss. I find it intriguing and sad that in a space that is built for such openness and acceptance is met with the harshness and disgust, and ultimately critiqued in a negative light, instead of listening and recognizing the voices that are speaking through this modality. A large portion of the authors I intend to use discuss how even though they are posting about their lives in a positive manner, the Western cultures tend to talk over them. Unfortunately these individuals who identify as woman are not just fighting against the fact their identity as women are being questioned but also their ethnic background and their everyday experience. As instagram poetry has created an online journal-esque form for outsiders to view, it is interesting those outsiders feel so compelled to discredit and undermine those confessions of their every day lives. These individuals identities are being called into question ever though their raw emotions and expereinces are being portrayed on the daily or weekly. As a society we have moved toward wanting authenticity over perfection of a craft to which the instagram poet modality fits perfectly.
My hope for this paper is to critically discuss how confessionary instagram poetry has helped create an even more inclusive online discourse around image, emotions, and identity of individuals, even though it is tailored to individuals who identify as female. Using the online format has allowed not just an extended space literally, where individuals can connect all over the world, but a space where one can connect visually through the images, aesthetic, and even through videos to the author. The accessibility allows for a varied background of followers, who can find commonalities through these shared spaces. Hashtags help identify poems and poets that one would not normally see and allow for anyone to post. Previously, the requirement of having to be published allowed for others to see their work, yet this modality allows for almost anyone to be apart of this community, share their experiences, and share their creativity.
Personally, poetry has never been one of my favorite forms of literature and expression, simply because it always felt out of reach. My interest in poetry started with instagram poets reading their poetry out loud while doing yoga or painting. As both painting and yoga interested me, listening to them expressing their emotions and experiences while practicing these forms of self care, made it feel more relatable to me. Understanding now that there is a whole community based upon this, helps me, and others, feel as though we can connect with others while not having to create or read the poetry yourself.
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