Phenomenal Woman

Some poems and poets are simply so iconic, they deserve to be emulated. Nothing could be more true than Maya Angelou and her "Phenomenal Woman," a poem that speaks to the power of loving oneself like none other. Angelou was a woman ahead of her time and can be an inspiration to us all today for both her content and her style.  Look for it here:

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Flappers by S.M.(M.)L.

Modern women shouldn’t wonder where our secret lies.
Flappers were brash and brazen, proving no reason to be otherwise.
Like a young bird flapping her wings to learn to fly,
She cut her ponytail and has grown to a woman’s size.
Flappers are
The roaring twenties
Flouting social norms
Not made to just smile and nod and please
She’s a woman 
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s she.

She is mischievous and flirtatious
Her own money made
Doing the jobs left by men gone to war
She showed Rosie the Riveter what she had in store.
The Doctor says she’s “the social butterfly type . . .
The frivolous, scantily-clad, jazzing flapper,
Irresponsible and undisciplined,
To whom a dance, a new hat, or a man with a car
Were of more importance than the fate of nations,” but
Flappers are 
More substantial than that. 
She is challenging women’s traditional societal roles
Discarding old, rigid ideas
Embracing personal choice,
Advocating voting and women’s rights.
She’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s she.

Coco Chanel inspired her dress
And fashion became liberating,
No longer restricting.
An unconventional appearance
With her short hair or floppy hat
Her outrageous behavior was in Vogue.
Flappers are
Loosened from laces
That restricted breathing,
From hoops that needed managing.
These fashion changes
Catalysts for the new feminine ideal.
She’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s she.

The New Woman was pushing boundaries
Of gender identity,
Representing sexual and economic freedom.
No longer restrained,
Flappers are
In motion with characteristics 
of intensity, energy, and volatility,
An iconic appeal to authority
With her arose deeper questions
Of behavior and values it symbolized
Cause she’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s she.                        

*with thanks to Maya Angelou   ​
"Flapper - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper. Accessed 26 Feb. 2018.