Cisneros/”Loose Woman”

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A 3 page explication of the poem “Loose Woman,” Sandra Cisneros, which turns a societal signifier of patriarchy completely around and uses it as a declaration of female empowerment. Under the patriarchal sexual double standard, a “loose woman” has traditionally indicated a woman of poor reputation, that is, a woman who has been “loose” in her sexual behavior. In the past, this societal pronouncement has meant ostracism and social censure for the woman on whom such a judgment was collectively given by a community. Cisneros reinterprets and redefines what it means to be a “loose woman” by, first of all, redefining an appropriate reaction, and then redefining the term itself.