Justin Lerner

Who Needs a Man?: Blues as Social Criticism

Too neglected is the impact of Gwendolyn Brooks’s early poetry on both feminine and African American progression in an oppressive, patriarchal society. Scholars agree that it was not until 1967 that Brooks underwent a radical transformation into a fighter for social justice for the oppressed, but this erases the potential of Brooks’s earlier poetry to do the same and ignores the courage of writing socially-critical poetry in a time of intense oppression. 1945’s “Queen of the Blues” uses Blues verse mixed with Eurocentric verse to critique and dismantle the existing white patriarchal society that both objectifies and disrespects women and is indicative of daring social criticism from a voice that would have been ignored and suppressed.

“Queen of the Blues” portrays an instance of how women use Blues as a sense of empowerment in a society that favored men and allowed for the commodification and objectification of women’s bodies. Brooks’s depiction of the singer’s history with abusive men presents a daring social critique in that, as a singer, the speaker is publicly criticizing male mistreatment in a male dominated society–she uses her platform to expose the unjust actions of men and thus implicitly incites the demand for social change. Brooks reveals female use of Blues music as a source of empowerment; women are given a voice through music by which they can expose the wrongdoings in a society that objectifies them. I argue that by using African American and feminine-popularized Blues verse, ultimately reclaiming independence from men, and donning the title “Queen of the Blues,” Brooks’s Blues poem functions as a daring critique of the dominant white male patriarchy through a speaker who publicly orates the severe wrongdoings and oppressive actions of the men in her society; the Blues are a vehicle by which women’s voices and issues are heard.

Justin Lerner is a PhD Candidate at St. John’s University.