“What Do Women Want” Essay Example

draw attention to all she meets. The red dress symbolically represents the persona’s desires and emotions. The red dress plays a crucial role as it draws attention of the audience to the persona, the red dress is more than a dress, it is her attitude, desire and passion. “I want it flimsy and cheap, / I want it too tight, I want to wear it, until someone tears it off me.” (Line 2-4). The persona desires that the dress be more revealing so that her admires are drawn to her sexuality. The speaker is proud of her beautiful body and wishes to display it by putting on a flattering dress “I want it sleeveless and backless, this dress, so no one has to guess”. (Line 5-6). The speaker wants her dress to fit tightly so that she can display her beautiful curves for all to see. The speaker metaphorically celebrates her prowess over men; she declares that she can outshine men in most aspects.

The attitude and image developed in the poem creates a voice of fantasy as well as defiance. The rich detailing of the red dress clearly indicates the wishes of the speaker whose desires are beyond wearing the red dress. The speaker’s passion lies in her strong description of the red dress. As she describes her walk through the streets, it is evident that the dress is not intended for a runway show, dinner, party or gala. The speakers desire to wear the cloth in the streets during the day as illustrates in the places she passes with the dress. “I want to walk down

the street past Thrifty’s and the hardware store…”

(Line 7-8). Addonizio describes the setting of the speaker who desires to embrace her sexuality while enjoying the attention of her admires. The speaker’s context is within an urban setting where people go about their duties. Besides, it is evident that social restrictions within the setting hinder the speaker’s liberty to expression. However, the speaker is illustrated a defiant to the restrictioons since she is willing to openly express her desires regardless of other people’s opinion.

The speaker further describes how she badly needs the red dress, as it will make her feel like she is the only woman living on earth. (Line 14-16). The red dress thus disconnects the speaker from the daily labor, and dirt, making her a special object to be admired by all. Therefore, the red dress metaphorically represents desire, confidence, beauty, passion and sex. Besides, the dress is a lifestyle, attitude and personality of the speaker. The speaker is therefore describing her desire to look passionate, sexy, beautiful, confident and desirable to all. The speaker’s desires are illustrated as self-centered as she publicly declares her innermost desires and feelings. On the other hand, the speaker is also portrayed as rebellious because she regards herself as a woman not hindered by social restrictions.

The speaker’s arrogance is further expressed when she states that she does not care about her viewer. She claims that she is willing to let her viewer confirm what she has to show about her sexuality. The excellent use of metaphor and imagery conveys the speaker’s message on the plight of women in the society. The poem describes a woman who desires to live in accordance to what

she wants. The woman desires to live a comfortable life without fear but full of passion “to show you how little I care about you ...” (Line 19). The phrase is a personification of the persona’s social expectations from the society.

Conclusively, the speaker is a free woman who desires to express herself in a social restricted society. The use of metaphors and symbolism is extensively used to state the speaker’s desires to the society. The speaker’s voice symbolically highlights the plight of women in the society. The speaker, who represents women, declares that she is superior to men in numerous aspects. The author effectively uses the cloth as an instrument of broadcasting women’s superiority to the society. The speaker metaphorically illustrates women emancipation in the society. By wearing a revealing dress for all men to admire her, the speaker symbolically illustrates that women are able to perform excellently until men admire their success.