Eileen Myles writes the poem Mad Pepper from a feminist point of view. The poem gives a symbolic meaning to the word pepper, which the poet equates to masculinity based on its hot nature. Mad pepper is about masculinity, which the poet feels desolated from. She uses the word itself to refer to the condemnation and critical attitude the society considers female gender and the choices they make. As a result, the poet uses the poem to satirize the power society accords the male gender and reveal her critical attitudes towards masculinity as she expresses in the poem. Mad pepper therefore, is a poem the poet uses to justify her life style and express her critical and nauseating attitude towards the male gender.
Analysis of Mad Pepper
and Other Supporting Texts
From the first line of the poem, the poet already asserts her feelings and justification of her opinion and state. She says, “I wonder if anything really needs to be revived.” (Myles 1). The use of the word, revive
and the full stop after it shows the finality with which the poet feels her hatred towards the mad pepper. In addition, her usage of the word, mad
further reveals her attitude in order to justify her choice of life style. She further indicates her indifference in the second line when she asserts the death of the mad magazine instead of making it cheaper. Myles is a lesbian whose attitude towards men is indifference and critical. She believes in feminism and that alone she has to defend and justify. In her life as a poet, Myles feels that the society has accorded male gender certain enormous power that gives them a special standing ovation and control of the society. According to her, everything viewed as masculine seems mad and should either be ruined and disregarded. Much of this attitude and position is revealed in the following lines:
“…rather than: $2.50 CHEAP It’s difficult
to impossible to just buy pepper. You
can get a vast amount on sale for $2.99
an exquisite amount for $1.49—nicely packaged
like a spice but it’s just pepper…” (Myles 3-7)
Although the poet renders importance to pepper, she does so with a sense of belittlement in order to underscore her satire, which she very well expresses in the poem. In line four, the poet confirms this significance by accepting the difficulty in acquiring pepper. She feels the mad magazine is cheap, which to her is ironical, the mad magazine would have rather died before ages. However, she feels that according significance to the mad pepper is an exaggeration, all together, which perhaps should be given to the mad magazine. In other words, it is senseless making the mad magazine cheap while increasing the price of a pepper and wrapping it nicely while it is just pepper.
In addition, pepper is a spice that at any time should make one feels nice in taking their food. Nonetheless, the poet treats pepper with a more hidden meaning to reveal the gender conflict between masculine and feminine. She draws a line between the two genders and goes ahead to call the society to attention in order to consider lesbianism as sex and sexuality similar to male and female. She uses the following lines to very this fact:
“…Would you like
some freshly ground pepper on your salad?
Oh, yes. Leaning over to my companion —
oh, this is nice. Dan recommends I go
to MeadowSweet and get some special Lesbian
Pepper. Pepper’s male I snort. I want
some cheap male pepper…” (Myles 8-14)
From line 8, the use of the rhetorical question by the waiter seems satirical. The poet thus uses the question to seek for the indulgence of the audience to determine whether they need pepper to spice their lives. The meaning the poet gives pepper throughout the poem is masculinity, therefore asking the question in a way foregrounds that every woman; for instance, needs a man to spice their lives. On the other hand, the response Dan gives the persona in line 12 confirms the point of view of the poet. She paints a persona, who possibly is female, and would rather travel to a place where she can find a lesbian pepper instead of serving the masculine pepper the waiter offers her. In retrospect, the poet is becoming open to advocate and spread news on the new gender and sexuality. Referring to the lesbian pepper gives an in-depth meaning that the poet would want the audience to understand. She appeals to the society that lesbianism is as spicy as the masculine pepper. As a result, she calls upon those disinterested in the mad pepper to travel to places and seek the lesbian pepper.
The poet further makes her message clearer in lines 24-33 as quoted below:
“…Why don’t women
have back-room bars? It just wouldn’t
work, that’s why. Pepper’s male,
sea salt’s female, it takes longer
to gather, waiting for the ocean
to dry up and come back, overwhelmed by
the immensity of it. It’s nice to have
a friend like you to sit on the shore
with. Maybe I’ll bring some pepper.
From MeadowSweet. I seek adventure…”(Myles 24-33)
The first line of this quote begins with another rhetorical question that gesture to the intention of the poet. She aims to make the audience believe that society undermines and oppresses the female gender so that no one can accept and respect their choices. Additionally, she worries not to hide the meaning of her statement in line 26 where she confirms that, ‘Pepper’s male’. Furthermore, the contrast the poet creates between male and female in lines 26-27 reveals her assertion that the female gender is more expensive and hard to find as compared to the male gender. The poet thus uses the contrast to justify her choice to become a lesbian. She also uses the contrast to defend her position on sexuality. The meaning of her justification is contained in the metaphor of line 27 where she compares the female gender to sea salt, which one can only get when the ocean dries up.
Consequently, other works of the poet reveal the same theme of sexuality and lesbianism. In her poem, An American Poem, the poet narrates the feeling she had to experience from both family and the society when she made her decision to change her sexuality to lesbianism. She recalls, it was not an easy experience because the family and society had not come into terms with lesbianism and homosexuality. As she narrates from the first few line of the poem, Myles although a lesbian, had never wanted society and family to know of her hidden sexuality. She says:
“…I never wanted
this fact to be known, in
fact I’ve spent the better
half of my adult life
trying to sweep my early
years under the carpet
and have a life that
was clearly just mine…” (Myles 2-9)
This verse portrays her first instinct to hide her sexuality from the public eye. Nonetheless, she confirms the assertiveness and finality with which she made the decision to be a lesbian in line 9 where she says the life was clearly hers. In a way, the poet has to justify her stand, voice the stigma, and shame other women face anytime they decide on their sexuality contrary to the expectation of the society. In the following lines, the poet further unfolds the actual challenges of taking own chosen sexuality.
“…What could be more
foolish and obscure.
I became a lesbian.
Every woman in my
family looks like
a dyke but it’s really
stepping off the flag
when you become one.” (43-50)
The phrase, stepping off the flag, carries the whole challenge women have to endure in defending their sexuality.
On the other hand, the poet gives another title, For My Rampant Muse, For Her, which she writes to proclaim her lesbianism openly in the public eye. Far from worries and stigma of the time, Myles uses this poem to praise her loved one, a woman, in order to confirm to the world her enchantment to move on and behave normally like any one in love. In the last stanza of the poem, Myles says:
“ For Love, I would dream
when my schemes fall through, Man,
could that little girl dance! For Love I will read
it 10,000 times for my tomboy cousin Jean Marie,
for radio song, For Love
I would not pity me, my 28, sneakers, bourbon
the unseen
future of my communications, and the lamp-
light, Her, she holds me here, so
rampantly
in her evening beauty.” (Myles 5)
The first and second lines of this stanza displays in inner meaning the poet would want the audience to understand. She makes a choice to abandon man and pick a fellow woman. Her lust and desire is extremely for the girl and so she questions whether the girl can dance. In retrospect, the poet portrays a sexual desire for fellow women. As a result, she gives the audience such feelings that any homosexual would have towards another. She believes, it is not wrong to be transgender and express your sexual feelings openly concerning your gender. Similar to the first two poems discussed above, the poet uses this poem to intensify lesbianism and female sexuality in accordance to the choices women make as far as their gender is concern.
In addition, the life of Myles demonstrates her sexuality and her urge to defend lesbianism at all cost. In her interview with Olidort, she explicitly gives her an opportunity to give her personal view and interpretation of lesbianism. In the interview, she explains the reason she chose the title of the book evolution. Myles says, “I love the word evolution because it holds a lot and is very uneven…” (Olidort). The poet uses this word, the book, and the title to outline the change in sexuality that everyone needs to accept and live with. Actually, she calls lesbianism an evolution that has occurred within human sexuality. Trying to deny the fact thus creates the stigma and the problems women or any other transgender face in the society. The interview text therefore fits well within the main text of this paper as it gives the personal view and one on one interaction with the poet as she explains to the world her opinion and assertion on the matter.
Again, she confirms the meaning of the words and phrases as she used in her poem, evolution. The word crazy for instance, accords to Myles, means:
“Obviously, crazy is the word men use whenever a woman says something they don’t like. It’s crazy! Is she crazy? You think she’s crazy? I heard she’s crazy! I was trying it on a bit, while also alluding to a moment when I felt I was going crazy. I was coming into existence, and that was scary. I think every time you transition in your life in a way that feels radical, it’s a bit of a dance between craziness and evolution.” (Olidort)
From her point of view, it feels crazy to be a lesbian. The crazy feeling overwhelms an individual at the early stage when they make the decision to take on a different sexuality. However, she the feeling fades as you continue to believe on your consciousness. This text thus explains the poems the poet has been writing including, The Mad Pepper. Her writings outline her decision, challenges, and life of acceptance through to her old age.
The last text to justify Myles sexuality is the analysis of her book, Afterglow
by Fishgold. In the analysis, Fishgold contends that, “Myles’s latest, Afterglow (A Dog Memoir), warps the canon by embodying the mutability of memory and mind. At the crossroads of a book about the fading life of Myles’s beloved pit bull, Rosie, is a blueprint for dismantling conformity and exploring the sublime planes of our existence.” This contention lauds the theme of the book itself. Myles is not afraid to outline her life with one beautiful woman, Rosie. In essence, she confirms in writing her lesbianism and her needless intention to end it. As Fishgold indicates, the book embodies the mutability of memory and mind. In simple terms, Myles uses her memoir to foreground her assertiveness in being a lesbian.
Additionally, the author of this text explains the loneliness of female gender, especially one who chooses to be a lesbian like Myles. She will face a lonely life equivalent to that of a dog or animal living without anybody to care for them. In close review, the author’s opinion adds to the challenges of stigma and denial she faced in her early life a lesbian.
Conclusion
Lesbianism is the life and death of Myles. She takes the first chance to voice the evolution in sexuality and to address the challenges that come with the decision to be a lesbian. In the main text for this paper, the Mad Pepper, the poet narrates and defends her feminism while she castigates masculinity, which she compares to hot pepper. The other texts as included thus aims to support the theme of lesbianism and sexuality either from the poet’s perspective or from critic’s perspective. The poem, an American Poem, for example, narrates the poet’s life from early childhood and her decision to become a lesbian. She also uses the same work to outline the challenges that come with the decision. The poet thus is an assertive lesbian who advocates and acclaims the sexuality.
Works Cited
Fishgold, Carlie. Eileen Myles: When Dogs and Mothers Die. 14 March 2018. 12 December 2018 .
Myles, Eileen. "Mad Pepper." Paris Review, vol. 29, Spring 1987, pp. 97-100.
Myles, Eileen. “An American Poem”. Poetry foundation. Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53965/an-american-poem
Myles, Eileen. “For my rampant muse, for her.” Brain pickings. Retrieved from https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/11/30/eileen-myles-reads-for-my-rampant-muse-for-her/
Olidort, Shoshana. Trump Is a Performance Artist: An Interview with Eileen Myles. 5 September 2018. 12 December 2018 .
