Di Prima's Perspective: Not Much Greener

          Although the dominant male writers of the Beat Generation did not fail to keep my attention with their works, the sexist and parochial views declared by their writings and lifestyles has become exasperating for me as a reader. Because of these views, I had gotten the impression that females associated with the Beat Generation were artistically and intellectually useless, as well as being naïve and ignorant. The Beats writings reflect a complete disregard for women on any greater level than their sexual benefits. I had not considered that along with independently choosing to live this way with no greater expectation from men, the women of the Beat Generation had a great deal to offer in their own writings and expressions.

            In reading some works written from the female perspective of the Beat Generation, I found Diane Di Prima's section "Conversations" from Dinners and Nightmares most enlightening. The compilation of conversations (as the title implicates) discloses the other side of the Beats: the woman's view. Despite that Di Prima's perspective differs from those of other female Beat writers', the same variation goes with the males. While some are more hopeful, others are darker. Some are confident in their identity, and others are shaken by society's influence.

            Di Prima's perspective is one of independence and a secured identity. She chose her lifestyle without any expectations of maintaining traditional or mainstream American values. Di Prima was on a quest for freedom as much as any other Beats writer. While the section entitled "Conversations" expressed her independent lifestyle and views, it also separated her from the male perspective of the Beats even further. In the section, she is constantly being ignored by the men, and when they turn to her for artistic support, Di Prima's perspective makes them out to look like a fool to the reader, and her a fool to the men. This equal indifference for men, although not universally applicable for women of the Beat Generation, makes sense of the relationships in the writings from both perspectives.

            While women play a significant role in The Beat Generation from the male writer's perspective, that role is generally sexual and interchangeable. They are placed as objects to reveal that promiscuity is a component of the male Beat writer's quest for freedom. Women are often portrayed as being dull. Di Prima portrays men in a similar fashion. In the portion of conversations entitled "The Poet," a man is speaking to Di Prima of love and sorrow that he feels, clearly getting the impression that she is not intellectually capable of this understanding, all the while ignoring a woman being beaten by her boyfriend in the street. The man is too caught up in his own self-appreciation to understand that he is contradicting himself.

 

            In reading works from both the male and female sides of the Beat Generation, I can see that they are similar. The only difference is that, despite the Beats' attempts to counter societal standards, men still hold the power. However, women and men in the Beat Generation are similar in that they are all on a quest for individual freedom, and that they will use the opposite sex (and likely the same sex) in order to attain that freedom.