Beat poets/writers who were not sexist?

February 10, 2018 6:54 PM

I want to appreciate the writing of the Beats, but I have a hard time stomaching misogyny and/or stories that depict women as "cardboard cutouts with vaginas." To help me connect with this period, can you recommend Beat literature with strong female characters, or if the stories center on men, an absence of throwaway comments demeaning women? Bonus points for female writers; double-bonus for a San Francisco connection.
posted by rogerrogerwhatsyourrvectorvicto to Media & Arts (9 answers total)

Best answer: Please allow me to recommend Elise Cowen: Poems and Fragments. She was part of the San Francisco Beat scene of the late '50s.

Also, if you're not already familiar with it, Joyce Johnson's Minor Characters is perhaps the best-known memoir of the beat scene from a female perspective.
posted by eschatfische at 7:10 PM on February 10, 2018 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Yay for Minor Characters. Irving Rosenthal’s very queer Sheeper is the best beat novel but it’s out of print and expensive.
posted by otio at 7:32 PM on February 10, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you're interested in poetry, definitely check out Diane Di Prima.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti's work doesn't have demeaning comments about women, if memory serves (it's been a long time since I've read him).
posted by the return of the thin white sock at 7:32 PM on February 10, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Diane Di Prima is heavily recommended, esp Brass Furnace after an Abortion, from 75.
posted by PinkMoose at 7:38 PM on February 10, 2018 [2 favorites]

Muriel Rukeyser, poet from this era but more NYC than SF.
posted by mermayd at 4:49 AM on February 11, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: I'd also recommend Diane DiPrima's memoir, Memoirs of a Beatnik, because she talks about living an extremely cool sex-drugs-poverty-and-self-publishing lifestyle, while also being a conscientious parent to her kids.
posted by ITheCosmos at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2018 [5 favorites]

Again, more NY School than SF, but check out Anne Waldman. Very important figure in poetry to this day.
posted by lilies.lilies at 8:04 AM on February 11, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: This is my wife's main area of research for her postgrad! Here's her recommendations:

• Diane Di Prima, Loba or Pieces of a Song, as noted above.
• Joanne Kyger, who wrote a retelling of the Odyssey from Penelope's point of view.
• Girls who wore black - a ( very good) academic book about the female beat poet scene.
• Troia - Mexican Memoirs by Bonnie Bremser.
• Off the road by Carolyn Cassady.
• Minor Characters by Joyce Johnson, which is specifically looking at less well known and often female beat writers.

When it comes to male beat poets who aren't casually (or actively) misogynistic, she shrugged and said Lawrence Ferlinghetti is probably your best bet.
posted by Happy Dave at 8:34 AM on February 11, 2018 [3 favorites]

Poets on the Peaks is a lovely read.
posted by seawallrunner at 9:11 PM on February 12, 2018