love them for what they can do. Placing this
revelation in the context of the liberation move-
ment, the critic Lynn Keller notes in a 2001
differences essay, ‘‘While Fraser’s poetic per-
sonas have freed themselves from the traditional
position of passive object defined by the male
gaze, they are rarely able to deviate from the
decade’s ‘normal’ gender roles.’’ That is, ‘‘Poem
in Which My Legs Are Accepted’’ ends with a
heterosexual relationship between the narrator
and a man and with anticipation of childbirth as
a result of their physical union. In light of the
strong feminist voice of the 1960s, calling women
to cast off cultural roles such as spouse, mother,
and homemaker, Fraser’s narrator has not gone
beyond the traditional roles of femininity at the
conclusion of this poem. She has abandoned her
preoccupation with body image for mother-
hood, which some second-wave feminists see as
a concession to established gender roles.
The second wave of feminism was an impor-
tant movement because during this period,
women earned rights equal to those of men in
the workplace and in education, rights that are
supported by law. Third-wave feminism emerged
in the late 1980s as a response to the failures of
and backlash against second-wave advances. The
third wave is primarily concerned with definitions
of gender, race, femininity, and sexuality and puts
less emphasis on an us-versus-them mentality,
often evident in arguments for equal rights
between men and women. The third wave also
directly challenges the second wave concerning
what is good for women, what women want,
and how to go about fulfilling women’s needs.
This opens up a dialogue for women who are
feminists as well as homemakers, for example.
The historical context of this piece is that
Fraser, at the time she wrote ‘‘Poem in Which
My Legs Are Accepted,’’ was publishing her first
book of poetry (a creation that needs steward-
ship) and, even more significantly, was becoming
a mother for the first time.Change of Address
was published in early 1966; her son David was
born in December 1966; and ‘‘Poem in Which
My Legs Are Accepted’’ first appeared in a 1968
anthology. As Keller argues, there may be a
temptation to read the end of this poem as some-
thing less than liberation, but actually it is a very
personal poem. Fraser’s social, feminist com-
mentary is secondary here to the joy she feels at
giving up the myths of bodily perfection and
embracing the real power of her physiology: the
ability to reproduce.
Fraser’s ‘‘Poem in Which My Legs Are
Accepted,’’ as interpreted from a third-wave
point of view, is not a failed feminist’s conces-
sion to her biological role but instead an anthem
of a woman who has found confidence in her
body, fulfillment with a partner, and joy in the
child their union will produce. In a modest salute
to feminism, Fraser is underlining an activity
that she and her legs can accomplish which no
man can: childbirth. Fraser’s choice of title for
her ‘‘Poem in Which My Legs Are Accepted’’ is
another salute to feminism. Her narrator is not
merely speaking of her own forgiveness of her-
self, or she might call it ‘‘Poem in WhichIAccept
MyLegs.’’ Fraser’s poem title thus pays quiet
homage to the women’s liberation movement
and sexual revolution occurring when the poem
was written: because of advances in social tol-
erance, the narrator’s legs are acceptable to
society; she is permitted to decide for herself if
she is attractive, rather than accept what is por-
trayedinmagazines.Thetitlemayalsoreferto
the implicit (or explicit) acceptance of her legs
by her male partner. At peace with herself, legs
included, the adult woman narrator ends the
poem as much happier and more stable than
the girl of the beginning. In ‘‘Poem in Which
My Legs Are Accepted,’’ Fraser seems to have
inadvertently written a poem that has a very
avant-garde feminist message for the 1960s but
is only mildly experimental in its structure.
Source:Carol Ullmann, Critical Essay on ‘‘Poem in
Which My Legs Are Accepted,’’ inPoetry for Students,
Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009.Lynn Keller
In the following excerpt, Keller examines Fraser’s
experimentation with both poetic form and content.
...I will begin with Kathleen Fraser, who
from the start straddled divergent poetic camps.
The first writing workshop she took, while pur-
suing a career in journalism by writing forMade-
moiselle magazine, was taught by Stanley
Kunitz. From him she learned to admire the
work of Elizabeth Bishop, and through both
Kunitz and Robert Lowell she began to hear of
Sylvia Plath. ‘‘In the summer of 1962 we were
listening to her poems,’’ Fraser recalls. ‘‘[B]y
1963, she was dead. Plath was my first female
role model in poetry’’ (Translating the Unspeak-
able28). Also in the early sixties, Fraser firstPoem in Which My Legs Are Accepted