homage to my hips is a poem written by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, Lucille Clifton. The poem is a message of empowerment, celebrating both the female body and mind.
Clifton used the poem to draw upon the physical attributes of black women, denoting key attention to the “big hips” that break the social barriers of beauty and womanhood. The speaker highlights the fact that whilst her hips may not be conventionally attractive, and they “need space to move around in”, ultimately, she is happy with them because “they do what they want to do.”
Use of a free verse throughout the fifteen line poem, as well as a lack of consistent rhymes, reflects the strong narrative and the fierce tone of the Speaker when describing her womanly attributes.
Many have likened the poem to Maya Angelou’s, Phenomenal Woman, which similarly celebrates womanhood and is a nod to feminism for people of color.
