One of the aims of the feminists during the 1960s was to challenge the accepted concepts of masculinity and femininity and to eradicate the cultural disadvantages suffered by women. They asked why the traditional tendency of the male poet in pursuing the abstract was more highly regarded than the more personal, emotional approach preferred by women poets, and which suited their psychological inclinations.
It was argued that to favour the idea that elevating the feminine tradition of personal and emotional discourse would be to accept that women were incapable of a more masculine and formalised writing, and therefore to devalue them as poets. This was a dilemma for the feminists, perceived as a choice between competition and diversification.
Read about how iconic women helped to address these difficulties for future generations. Women's poetry is also the story of feminism with all its historical baggage and angst . The women in this book include Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Emily Dickinson, Christina Rossetti, Mary Borden, Edith Sitwell, Stevie Smith, Maya Angelou, Sylvia Plath, Adrienne Rich and Eavan Boland - each one of them committed, passionate and also more than a little eccentric. I have chosen them because they are not only courageous but immensely interesting women.
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