For Colored Girls

I saw internalized oppression the most in the poem from page 42, as read by the Orange Lady. It's a very complex piece that discusses the struggle to ignore one's oppression and not see it as a part of what has shaped their identity and lived experiences. In the poem, she describes how she scorned and tried so hard to refrain from becoming the stereotypical angry, bitter black woman. She felt the need to police her behavior so that she could play the part of the pleasant woman both to keep her man but also to keep herself from having to deal with the oppression she felt as a woman of color. It really resonated with me because of the fact that she was suppressing her personality, her true emotions, and ultimately herself-- kind of trying to feign ignorance to oppressive forces for her own self-preservation. When she is wronged by her man despite trying to be this ideal woman she has had enough and can't pretend that she doesn't feel the weight of being a woman of color. The poem altogether reminds me of how the burdens of being a woman of color is oftened de-legitimized through stereotypes of dramatic, angsty, and irrational behavior.