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• 1 2017-12-13T21:58:51-08:00 the sun and her flowers - "the art of growing" 6 plain 2018-04-23T17:41:40-07:00 Kaur begins this poem explaining how girls’ confidence is torn down by the objectification they face as they go through puberty and onward. This objectification is present before girls are comfortable with their development or before they understand the changes they are going through. Boys at this age think they have the right to impose on that, seeming to forget that self-acceptance is an obstacle everyone needs to go through, and this entitled attitude remains among males throughout their lives. A boy's sense of self is to be found through masculine concepts of being superior to women.
  
  Kaur starts the next stanza with “boobs” and expresses how being limited to a body part can cause body image issues. Girls should not be taught that their bodies are for boys to mess with, comment on, and strive to own. Kaur writes, “that even though it was referring to my body / it didn’t belong to me / it belonged to them / and they repeated it like / they were meditating upon it” (94). This raises questions of patriarchal beliefs that separate women’s bodies from their personal identities. 
  
  The following stanza is one of the most important pieces of the whole book; it embodies many statements undermining the patriarchal society that has reigned superior for so long. There is an insane amount of power through the truth in the line, “i can’t wrap my head around the fact / i have to convince half the world’s population / my body is not their bed” (95). Kaur is speaking volumes to issues of rape culture: the sexual double standard, slut-shaming, and the never-ending objectification of women. This kind of discourse is incredibly important, especially for young audiences to hear so they are made aware of these aspects of rape culture. Through the use of metaphors and poetic language, these concepts are more understandable and gently discussed, yet still hold massive force.
  
  Kaur states at the end of the poem, “you are not a cannibal / your actions are not my responsibility / you will control yourself” (96). She is without question smashing the patriarchal norms of objectification and claiming a strong sense of empowerment – that should be in all women instinctively, but male superiority has made that quite difficult. A tactic Kaur often uses is making her poems full circle, as seen in this work as well as “home”. To end “the art of growing,” she brings back the image of the school setting and the mention of “boobs.” Instead of having a negative and insecure connotation, though, this time the term is used with a tone of confidence and expresses the strength in being a woman.