I agree with the post and wish to diversify the arguments. Rich’s poem “women” is a short analysis of how women suffer in pain and how they handle the experience, especially from the societal view. The first category of women is those that do not hide their pain. “She is going as the transparent lady/and all her nerves will be visible” (lines 5-6). The first sister represents the women who let society into their pain by displaying their emotions publicly. The author mentions that the first sister is sewing her costume, meaning that she is trying to get her act together by trying to recover from her pain. These types of women heal faster because they let out their pain.
The second sister represents a category of women who takes time to heal from pain because they do not share their feelings with other people. Rich says, “…her heart which has never healed entirely” (line 8). These types of women act strong, attend to their daily duties looking alright but are hurting from inside. Therefore, by withholding their emotions, they take time to heal and suffer for a long time. The second sister is also sewing meaning that she is healing and even though slowly, she hopes to be free of the suffering soon.
The third category of women is showed by the third sister whereby these are the women who do not allow their hearts to suffer. They try to avoid pain by avoiding situations that can hurt them. To society, these women are assumed to not care much and it is their attitude that helps them to stay away from pain. “Her stockings are torn but she is beautiful” (line 12). The women may be having problems but because they have refused to be held down by the suffering, their hearts are free and happy.