The Battle For A Soul
Hey everyone, so i had to write a poem and explanation of it for one of my classes...This is an attempt to answer the question "what do you think the ideal/perfect woman is?" even though this is quite long please read it and comment as i have taken about 2 hours to write. Thanks
The Battle For A Soul
And so they say
That beauty’s in the eye of beholders
And so I say
That beauty’s in the eye of a lover
How are we to say what’s perfection
And how are we to say what’s not?
I think its affection
And those who choose to show it a lot.
If you’re weak, you’re seen as less
But strength is nothing I must confess
Be who you are, weak or strong
You’re an equal in my book and neither is wrong
Perfection is in acceptance and it cannot be sexist
Society has the rules wrong, society is dyslexic.
And I don’t know, what is best
I know I can’t agree with, all the rest
These people scream out loud
And say they swear
That women are less
Or so they appear
How can I judge, true perfection
It’s too much for humans
There’s no definition
Can Venus be loyal to far away mars?
Without sacrificing, reaching for the stars
Is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck?
Or can it be done without a single regret
Should titan mars, be the king at the top
Or can Venus rise up and show him what she’s got
The latter is true of ideal perfection
Strong willed and confidence should gain his affection
And so they say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
And so it’s true, perfection and beauty are one and the same
It cannot be limited, defined, examined or fit into a folder
My Venus is who she wants to be, and will not play this silly game.
The Explanation of A Poem
So with this poem I went to try to answer what I thought was a “perfect, ideal” woman. I started attempting to answer the particular question with the title of the poem. (This was actually the last thing I did, I mean naming the poem). So “The Battle For A Soul” to me this means fighting a long war against society and societal norms. Women today have a certain role that society says they must fulfill; to me…that’s bullshit. I say that to really have a soul means being who you want to be and loving who you are as a result. So to me “The Battle For A Soul” means fighting society and really being who you want to be.
Let’s look at the first part of the poem where it says:
And so they say
That beauty’s in the eye of beholders
And so I say
That beauty’s in the eye of a lover
How are we to say what’s perfection
And how are we to say what’s not?
I think its affection
And those who choose to show it a lot.
To me it’s saying that who can really actually define beauty? I mean it may be beautiful to one person when a girl has beautiful eyes and is skinny, and it may be beautiful to another person when a girl is average size and has a good personality. Really beauty varies person to person and is never going to be the same. I also go onto say that if you love someone, I mean truly love someone, then they are going to be beautiful to you no matter what. (Or so according to courtly love they should be). How are we to judge what perfection is? I mean who can honestly say that perfection is defined and who can that something is not perfect. Obviously we can when it comes to machines, but in humans who has the ultimate say on what is working and what is not? To me perfection is in those who show affection, and those who not only show it, but also show it a lot.
Alright the next part of the poem says:
If you’re weak, you’re seen as less
But strength is nothing I must confess
Be who you are, weak or strong
You’re an equal in my book and neither is wrong
Perfection is in acceptance and it cannot be sexist
Society has the rules wrong, society is dyslexic.
The next part of this talks about how in this society, you are judged in value by how much strength you have, whether that be physical strength, emotional strength, or economic strength. In society that means that women are generally less than men, the poor are less then the rich and that the emos are less than the metal heads. To me that just seems like it’s the same as racism. That means discriminating against someone because of who they are. That means that strength is sexist, classist, racist, and has nothing to do with cultural upbringing. That’s how society sees it. That’s how society “reads” strength. I say that society is dyslexic because if society is reading strength as a form of discrimination…then they are reading it backwards.
The next part goes onto say:
And I don’t know, what is best
I know I can’t agree with, all the rest
These people scream out loud
And say they swear
That women are less
Or so they appear
How can I judge, true perfection
It’s too much for humans
There’s no definition
This is saying that I as a person cannot determine what is perfect. I don’t know if it’s better to be strong or if it’s better to be weak, but what I do know is that I do not agree with what the norms say and I do not agree with what society says. It’s saying that society and the norms and the people who follow these unwritten laws are screaming (whether they know it or not) that women are less because the majority of them can’t physically be as strong as men and they “can’t” emotionally be as strong as men either. But I go on to say that looks can be deceiving. Women have so many unwritten laws that say they can’t be this or they can’t be that that who knows what they are really capable of. In the other direction men also have a lot of unwritten laws that say they can’t be this or they can’t be that. One of these laws saying it’s “weak” for men to show their emotion. We all know it’s there but it’s weak to show it. So the difference between men and women is who is showing it and who isn’t. The next line says how can I judge perfection? Really…how can I it’s such a huge topic that has no real answer, it’s one of those questions that will just boggle and blow the human mind. Like if we try to imagine just how big the universe is…we can’t our human minds can’t handle it.
Onto the next part:
Can Venus be loyal to far away mars?
Without sacrificing, reaching for the stars
Is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck?
Or can it be done without a single regret
In this section I use the phrase “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” to stand in for the actual words “men and women”. So it’s saying in an ideal world according to society women should first and foremost be loyal to her husband. But it asks the question is it possible for women to chase their own dreams and ambitions without sacrificing their loyalty to their husbands. When I talk about the “stretch” I mean the reach for the dream. So is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck? The captain here is seen in an ideal societal situation as the man. The lord, the captain, the head of the household, and the mutiny is seen as a breech in loyalty to the husband. Once again it asks is it possible for a woman to achieve her dreams without being disloyal to the husband?
The next part:
Should titan mars, be the king at the top
Or can Venus rise up and show him what she’s got
The latter is true of ideal perfection
Strong willed and confidence should gain his affection
Here I use the word “titan” to describe a man as in “lord” or “big, strong”. Once again I use the word mars to stand in for man. It asks the question should man really be in control and at the top, should he be the strong one and the one who follows his dreams. Or can woman (Venus) be everything she wants to and can be and prove to him that she is just as good if not better than he is. To me I state that true perfection comes in a woman showing the man everything she has and proving to him that she is equal if not better to him. To me a woman having confidence in herself and being true to her morals and ideals will win me over.
The next part:
And so they say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
And so it’s true, perfection and beauty are one and the same
It cannot be limited, defined, examined or fit into a folder
My Venus is who she wants to be, and will not play this silly game.
Here again I state the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I also state that beauty and perfection are one in the same meaning that both beauty and perfection are different and forever changing person to person, time to time, situation to situation. Perfection just like beauty really, truly cannot be defined, it can’t be limited to a certain definition, and you really can’t write a report on perfection and put it in a folder. It won’t be a report with facts but more like a journal filled with opinions. The last line goes onto say (and to answer the over-all question) that my woman, knows who she wants to be and is willing to do everything in her power to be that person. Then when she is the person who she wants to be, she loves herself for that. My ideal woman, will not fold to societal norms and will not succumb to the ever-existing force of pressure and stereotypes, because the pressure and stereotypes…well it’s all just a game society plays to see who will fall in line and listen.
The Battle For A Soul
And so they say
That beauty’s in the eye of beholders
And so I say
That beauty’s in the eye of a lover
How are we to say what’s perfection
And how are we to say what’s not?
I think its affection
And those who choose to show it a lot.
If you’re weak, you’re seen as less
But strength is nothing I must confess
Be who you are, weak or strong
You’re an equal in my book and neither is wrong
Perfection is in acceptance and it cannot be sexist
Society has the rules wrong, society is dyslexic.
And I don’t know, what is best
I know I can’t agree with, all the rest
These people scream out loud
And say they swear
That women are less
Or so they appear
How can I judge, true perfection
It’s too much for humans
There’s no definition
Can Venus be loyal to far away mars?
Without sacrificing, reaching for the stars
Is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck?
Or can it be done without a single regret
Should titan mars, be the king at the top
Or can Venus rise up and show him what she’s got
The latter is true of ideal perfection
Strong willed and confidence should gain his affection
And so they say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
And so it’s true, perfection and beauty are one and the same
It cannot be limited, defined, examined or fit into a folder
My Venus is who she wants to be, and will not play this silly game.
The Explanation of A Poem
So with this poem I went to try to answer what I thought was a “perfect, ideal” woman. I started attempting to answer the particular question with the title of the poem. (This was actually the last thing I did, I mean naming the poem). So “The Battle For A Soul” to me this means fighting a long war against society and societal norms. Women today have a certain role that society says they must fulfill; to me…that’s bullshit. I say that to really have a soul means being who you want to be and loving who you are as a result. So to me “The Battle For A Soul” means fighting society and really being who you want to be.
Let’s look at the first part of the poem where it says:
And so they say
That beauty’s in the eye of beholders
And so I say
That beauty’s in the eye of a lover
How are we to say what’s perfection
And how are we to say what’s not?
I think its affection
And those who choose to show it a lot.
To me it’s saying that who can really actually define beauty? I mean it may be beautiful to one person when a girl has beautiful eyes and is skinny, and it may be beautiful to another person when a girl is average size and has a good personality. Really beauty varies person to person and is never going to be the same. I also go onto say that if you love someone, I mean truly love someone, then they are going to be beautiful to you no matter what. (Or so according to courtly love they should be). How are we to judge what perfection is? I mean who can honestly say that perfection is defined and who can that something is not perfect. Obviously we can when it comes to machines, but in humans who has the ultimate say on what is working and what is not? To me perfection is in those who show affection, and those who not only show it, but also show it a lot.
Alright the next part of the poem says:
If you’re weak, you’re seen as less
But strength is nothing I must confess
Be who you are, weak or strong
You’re an equal in my book and neither is wrong
Perfection is in acceptance and it cannot be sexist
Society has the rules wrong, society is dyslexic.
The next part of this talks about how in this society, you are judged in value by how much strength you have, whether that be physical strength, emotional strength, or economic strength. In society that means that women are generally less than men, the poor are less then the rich and that the emos are less than the metal heads. To me that just seems like it’s the same as racism. That means discriminating against someone because of who they are. That means that strength is sexist, classist, racist, and has nothing to do with cultural upbringing. That’s how society sees it. That’s how society “reads” strength. I say that society is dyslexic because if society is reading strength as a form of discrimination…then they are reading it backwards.
The next part goes onto say:
And I don’t know, what is best
I know I can’t agree with, all the rest
These people scream out loud
And say they swear
That women are less
Or so they appear
How can I judge, true perfection
It’s too much for humans
There’s no definition
This is saying that I as a person cannot determine what is perfect. I don’t know if it’s better to be strong or if it’s better to be weak, but what I do know is that I do not agree with what the norms say and I do not agree with what society says. It’s saying that society and the norms and the people who follow these unwritten laws are screaming (whether they know it or not) that women are less because the majority of them can’t physically be as strong as men and they “can’t” emotionally be as strong as men either. But I go on to say that looks can be deceiving. Women have so many unwritten laws that say they can’t be this or they can’t be that that who knows what they are really capable of. In the other direction men also have a lot of unwritten laws that say they can’t be this or they can’t be that. One of these laws saying it’s “weak” for men to show their emotion. We all know it’s there but it’s weak to show it. So the difference between men and women is who is showing it and who isn’t. The next line says how can I judge perfection? Really…how can I it’s such a huge topic that has no real answer, it’s one of those questions that will just boggle and blow the human mind. Like if we try to imagine just how big the universe is…we can’t our human minds can’t handle it.
Onto the next part:
Can Venus be loyal to far away mars?
Without sacrificing, reaching for the stars
Is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck?
Or can it be done without a single regret
In this section I use the phrase “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” to stand in for the actual words “men and women”. So it’s saying in an ideal world according to society women should first and foremost be loyal to her husband. But it asks the question is it possible for women to chase their own dreams and ambitions without sacrificing their loyalty to their husbands. When I talk about the “stretch” I mean the reach for the dream. So is the stretch like mutiny to the captain on deck? The captain here is seen in an ideal societal situation as the man. The lord, the captain, the head of the household, and the mutiny is seen as a breech in loyalty to the husband. Once again it asks is it possible for a woman to achieve her dreams without being disloyal to the husband?
The next part:
Should titan mars, be the king at the top
Or can Venus rise up and show him what she’s got
The latter is true of ideal perfection
Strong willed and confidence should gain his affection
Here I use the word “titan” to describe a man as in “lord” or “big, strong”. Once again I use the word mars to stand in for man. It asks the question should man really be in control and at the top, should he be the strong one and the one who follows his dreams. Or can woman (Venus) be everything she wants to and can be and prove to him that she is just as good if not better than he is. To me I state that true perfection comes in a woman showing the man everything she has and proving to him that she is equal if not better to him. To me a woman having confidence in herself and being true to her morals and ideals will win me over.
The next part:
And so they say, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder
And so it’s true, perfection and beauty are one and the same
It cannot be limited, defined, examined or fit into a folder
My Venus is who she wants to be, and will not play this silly game.
Here again I state the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But I also state that beauty and perfection are one in the same meaning that both beauty and perfection are different and forever changing person to person, time to time, situation to situation. Perfection just like beauty really, truly cannot be defined, it can’t be limited to a certain definition, and you really can’t write a report on perfection and put it in a folder. It won’t be a report with facts but more like a journal filled with opinions. The last line goes onto say (and to answer the over-all question) that my woman, knows who she wants to be and is willing to do everything in her power to be that person. Then when she is the person who she wants to be, she loves herself for that. My ideal woman, will not fold to societal norms and will not succumb to the ever-existing force of pressure and stereotypes, because the pressure and stereotypes…well it’s all just a game society plays to see who will fall in line and listen.