Shout

Anderson meditates on why Melinda in Speak is able to free herself from her silence when so many other survivors may be pulled under by it: “Melinda’s trick is looking hard / in the mirror, absolving herself / and cracking open doors to the next place” (212). She tells the story of Danuta Danielsson, whose mother survived a Nazi concentration camp: When confronted by a Nazi years after, Danuta hit the man in the head with her purse. Anderson posits that this is a lesson we must teach our young girls especially: It is ok to be impolite if someone means you harm.

She moves into a humorous musing about the Ken dolls she had as a child and how their lack of genitals caused her great confusion, calling her young self “pig-ignorant of [men’s] precise geography” (222). This confusion extends to the disgust many men feel about women’s menstruation. She sings the praises of women’s periods, arguing that the fact that women can give birth makes them stronger and more resilient.

The shame women are supposed to feel about their periods also parallels the shame survivors of sexual assault feel in the aftermath of violence. Anderson tries to invert shame, reminding women that “shame / turned / inside out / is rage” (227), and implying that anger is a far more productive and healing emotion.