the sun and her flowers - "the art of growing"
She 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 issues of patriarchy that separate women’s bodies from their personal identities; issues of being defined by body parts.
The following stanza is one of the most important pieces of the whole book (in my opinion, because fuck the patriarchy and go feminism). 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 issues are more understandable and more gently discussed yet hold massive power.
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 really smashing the patriarchal norms of objectification and claiming a strong sense of empowerment – that should be in all women anyway, but patriarchy has made that quite difficult. A tactic Kaur often uses is making her poems full circle, as seen in “the art of growing” and “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 it is in a tone of confidence and strength in being a woman.
