A pioneer to the contemporary Latina/o writers, de Burgos, in her poem “I was my Own Route,” shows how the women are troubled with the patriarchal beliefs from the past. Therefore, de Burgos urges the women to separate themselves from the past so as to trace their identity within. In short, I Was My Own Route by Julia de Burgos is a poem about freedom and self-sufficiency.
About the writer Julia de Burgos
Julia de
Burgos was a Puerto Rican poet and political activist. She was also a key
figure in both Latino and feminist literary movements. Due to her vast body of
work, she is considered one of Puerto Rico’s national treasures.
In fact, she
is often referred to as La Poetisa del Pueblo (The People’s Poet). She has
often been compared to Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda in terms of their
prolific output, political activism, and internationalism. Her most famous
works include Desolación (1933), El alma llanera (1935), Sobre el hombro de la
Mujer Negra (1940), and Tengo (1960). Her poems are known for being extremely socially conscious, particularly those
that were written during World War II. This was an era when many Latin American
intellectuals were heavily involved in left-wing politics.
About the text I Was My Own Route
I Was My Own
Route, more commonly known as I Was My Own Woman in English, is a memoir
written by Julia de Burgos in 1947 and published in New York City. The memoir
covers the entirety of de Burgos’ life, including growing up poor with ten
siblings in Puerto Rico during the mid-20th century; moving to the U.S. to earn
her doctorate in Latin American Literature at Columbia University; and later
spending most of her life in New York City as she became one of the leading
voices within Puerto Rican Literature, feminism, and social activism during her
time.
Summary of the poem I was my Own Route
The poem ‘I
Was My Own Route’ has been written by a feminist writer Julia de Burgos. As a
feminist writer, her goal in the poem is to challenge the systemic inequalities
women face on a daily basis in a patriarchal society. To achieve the very goal,
Burgos encourages women to detach themselves from the past so as to locate
their identity within.
In a sense,
the poem ‘I Was My Own Route’ is about the need for freedom and liberation for
women. Through the poem, Burgos suggests women to search for new paths that
allow women to define the exact way to follow the choice of their own route.
Searching for a new path, according to Burgos, is possible only by rejecting
the ideology of men that decide women’s life.
‘I Was My
Own Route’ is based on the idea that women must rebel against the social
injustices that are targeted to dominate female. Burgos begins the poem
recounting her own experience in the male dominated society. She tried to be like
the way men wanted her to be because she was curious to see what the males
wanted from her and how they would act being male.
But soon,
she rejected to accept males’ concept of superiority against females. Instead
of accepting males’ dominating ideology (male are superior to female), she
dared to race with male. And thus she invented her own racing track (own path) to
manage her journey instead of following what she was supposed to follow as a customs
or usual practices. She mocks at the male created paths and chooses a new road
that she wants.
While trying
to challenge patriarchal notion, the speaker faces multiple obstacles to move
forward on the path she created. However, she overcomes all those barriers with
her strong determination. Some
traditionalists who are obsessed with the patriarchal dogmatism grow desperate
as they see the speaker’s improving lives of the and her independence.
The speaker
suffers a great deal trying to balance her life to walk in her newly created
path. She wishes to go farther and get all the freedom that men have been
enjoying. That way, she is able to experience various levels of freedom and
pleasure in life. In her new path, the speaker feels easy to move. Also, she is
intensely happy to experience intimate liberation.
The speaker
finds herself in a situation where there is no history, future, edges or
anything else of the men’s world. There are various limitations of men and for women
under patriarchal rigidity. Patriarchy has set up multiple barriers for women
and confined their freedom. However, the speaker feels like a flower that can
grow in any soil of this earth in her new path. In her new route, she feels
extremely happy because she blooms just like a flower without men’s history and
boundaries.
The speaker realizes
her strength that comes with choosing one’s own route.
The speaker,
finally, compares her past situation with the present. She reveals that what
she was like and what the males wanted her to be. She states that she was
everything in herself because she tried hard to be who she wanted to be.
Message of the poem I was my Own Route
The author
repeats that she was free to be herself, free to think for herself, and free to
create her own world. She felt like she could do anything if she put her mind
to it. The only thing holding her back from being completely free was herself,
but even then, it wasn’t really holding her back because there were no limits
on what she could do or how far she could go.
She had
everything under control in life because of how independent and strong willed
she was. That’s why she didn’t need anyone else in her life. Even though some
people would say they need someone else to make them happy, it isn’t true
because all you need is yourself. You don’t need anyone else to tell you who
you are or what you should do with your life; you know better than anyone else
what makes you happy and fulfilled as a person.
If people
try to push their opinions onto you, ignore them because they aren't worth your
time anyways. They're just trying to bring you down so they can feel better
about themselves. People who try to bring others down are weak and pathetic.
They have nothing going for themselves so they have to tear other people down
in order to feel good about themselves.
They're
jealous of others' success, so they want everyone else around them to fail as
well so it'll make them look better when compared against those failures. Don't
let these types of people bring you down! Ignore their negativity and continue
doing what makes you happy.
I Was My Own Route by Julia de Burgos Class 12 Exercise and Question Answer
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
Reference to the context