Reader: Jeanette Smith
Respondent: Rob Hill
Recorder: James Hood
9/11/03 

“Blonde White Women”
(Unsettling America, p. 77)

Biographical Information:
Patricia Smith is an African American writer who is known for her unique style of performance poetry, defined as “slam” poetry. It is called “slam poetry” because Smith has stated that she likes to “slam the point home”. I think she accomplishes this in “Blonde White Women”. 

She wrote this autobiographical poem in 1992.

Literary Terms (found in The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms)

1.Alliteration (p 10)  

2. Allusion (p. 11)

Vocabulary

Ebony – black-owned publication which features celebrities, fashion, etc.

Madonna- lady deserving of respect; the Virgin Mary

Objectives:  

The Immigrant Narrative

Stage 3 – Shock, resistance, exploitation and discrimination – Smith feels that she is discriminated against because of her skin color. Her experience with her teacher when “she pried her away” during their hug and the “curt, dismissive glares” of the blonde white women on the train confirm her feelings of discrimination.

Stage 4 – Assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity – By her childhood attempts to become “white”, Smith suffers the loss of identity of her African-American identity.

Stage 5  - Rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity – By the end of the poem, Smith has rediscovered her ethnic identity.

Cultural Objectives

1a – American Dream versus American Nightmare – Smith achieves the American Dream by becoming a successful writer, yet she also lives the American Nightmare every day.  Despite her success, she continues to experience racial discrimination, as did the first African immigrants to this country. Africans were forced to come to America. Their social contract was much different than the white European immigrants, who came voluntarily.

1b  - Internal migration  - Smith’s mother moved from the southern state of Alabama to the northern state of Illinois.

Interpretation: The poem expresses Patricia Smith’s anger as she is forced to live in a world where beauty is defined by the dominant culture of white Europeans. Forced to deal with the issue of whiteness as the “standard” for beauty, she finds no escape. When Smith reads the magazine, Ebony, she sees advertisements that support the culture’s claim that white is better than black. Pamela Buhler, the reader of the 2001 presentation of “Blonde White Women”, comments that even Ebony seems to accept the culture’s idea that white is better by promoting products that straighten hair and lighten skin.  As a child, Smith embraced the dominant culture’s definition of beauty – she “strives”, she “wishes”, and she “practices” to be white. She even gives herself a “white” name. Eventually, she accepts herself. This is seen in her declaration:  “My name is Patricia Ann”. Smith discovers that she doesn’t have to be a blonde white woman to be beautiful. Her final declaration says it all:  “I can find no color darker, more beautiful, than I am”.

Reading of Poem

Discussion Questions:

1.      What does Smith mean by the last few words of the poem  -  “explain my treachery”?

2.      The poem refers to “breathing” or “breathlessness”. What does Smith mean by the statement: “When I was white…I was always out of breath”.  Is there an allusion here?

Open Discussion

1)     What does Smith mean by the last few words of the poem - “explain my treachery”?

Student A:      If the speaker in the poem is not subordinating herself to the white women around her, they view it as threatening or treacherous.

Miguel:            They want her to explain why she is not acting in a more subservient manner.

Jeanette:        [moving her head side-to-side as she speaks, with hands on her hips in a confrontational pose, as if impersonating one of the “offended” white women in the poem]

Just who does she think she is?

[pauses]

I like that idea.

Rob:                Maybe the people around her were jealous of her confidence.

Dr. White:       It’s kind of like she doesn’t need cultural “justification,” and the others   do, so they feel threatened.

Student A:      Like a southern belle?

Jeanette:        That’s good!

[Several students comment on the similarities, and the discussion now turns to the second question]

2)     The poem refers to “breathing” or “breathlessness”. What does Smith mean by the statement: “When I was white…I was always out of breath”. Is there an allusion here?

Student B:      I keep envisioning Marilyn Monroe when reading this poem.

Jeanette:        That’s whom I thought of, especially when she speaks of “breathlessness” and being “out of breath.” It reminds you of certain characters that Marilyn Monroe portrayed in her films.

[Several students join in, commenting on Monroe’s physical attributes and how her image fits in relation to the stereotype of the “blonde white women” of the poem.]

Dr. White:       You also see a reference in this poem to “washing,” which connects it to other works we’ve seen, like Soap and Water.

Student A:      I liked the descriptions of the women. For instance, she describes them as having “candle flames of hair.”

Student C:      They mimic each other.

Dr. White:       That’s good—she takes the standard definition of “beauty” and reshapes it.

Miguel:            Does anybody else think that “Donna” in the poem refers to the Madonna?

[Several students simultaneously voice approval of Miguel’s observation]

Rob:                I’ve got a question…[pauses]. Would  Marilyn Monroe write a poem titled “When I was Thin” if she were alive today?

[Several]:        Our standards have changed, too.

Jeanette:        That’s right! You have to remember that when she was growing up, Smith had no black actresses to idolize or emulate. The only “role models” were those of the dominant culture, such as Marilyn Monroe or other popular white actresses.

[Several students concur, and the discussion ends.]