In Whitman’s poem “I Sing the Body Electric” he focuses on only discussing and celebrating the physical body, whereas before he had explored the interconnectedness of the body and soul. However, section five of this particular poem piques my interest most because it is the section of the poem that specifically celebrates women’s bodies. The celebration of the female form has been a pastime for centuries; however, Whitman’s perception of women is highly intriguing
Near the end of section five, Whitman pays women a high compliment by stating, “Be not ashamed women, your privilege encloses the rest, and / is the exit of the rest, / You are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the / soul.” In this passage Whitman is essentially praising women for their bodies, telling them that possessing a female body is a privilege and not something to feel ashamed about. This is important to consider since women in Whitman’s day would have been encouraged to keep their bodies covered up, and it would have been considered inappropriate for anyone to discuss the female body, especially to the extent that Whitman does in this poem. Not only does Whitman encourage women to take pride in their bodies, but he proclaims that they are the “gates” to both the body and soul, which is a significant compliment coming from Whitman, who holds the connection between mind and body in high regard.
However, Whitman doesn’t end his appreciation for women there. Another one of the final passages in this section of the poem that I found compelling reads, “The female contains all qualities and tempers them, / She is in her place and moves with perfect balance, / She is all things dually veil’d, she is both passive and active, / She is to conceive daughters as well as sons, and sons as well / as daughters.” Here, Whitman primarily wants to draw attention to how balanced he finds women in all things. The final two lines of this passage also show how Whitman views conceiving girls as equally as important as conceiving boys, since during his time it was more favorable to give birth to a boy, or an heir, over a girl.
Both of these passages from this section of the poem emphasize women’s bodies being sacred through their reproductive abilities. For Whitman, individual women and their individual bodies seem to be significant to the progression of life. In the section that follows this one, Whitman celebrates men and their individual bodies, but celebrating them for markedly different reasons. What’s important to note is that Whitman ultimately celebrates the individual, citing different bodily celebrations for either gender, but not finding one gender to be better than the other.
Interesting post, especially in the context of all the conversations we’ve had in class about Whitman’s really interesting relation to gender–a relation that seems both highly progressive (equality, etc.) but also limiting in its recurring emphasis on the woman’s role as mother in a purely reproductive capacity.