Power of the Spoken Word | Rose Drew | TEDxPocklingtonED
The speaker argues that feminism is not obsolete because systemic issues like rape culture and pay disparity demonstrate ongoing power imbalances. She compares the performance aspects of poetry—from ancient oral traditions to modern slam—to how society continues to guard power, asserting that poetry and storytelling remain vital tools for collective progress. The central message is that everyone has a voice and should engage in performance poetry to speak truth to power.
## Speakers & Context
- **First Speaker:** A poet addressing claims that feminism is obsolete.
- **Rose Drew:** An anthropologist and poet, who delivered a performance poem/slam poem.
- **Allan (Drew's husband):** Co-runs a poetry open mic in the city of York.
- **Context:** The second speaker's talk is framed as an educational piece on performance and slam poetry, delivered after a provocative performance piece.
## Theses & Positions
- The claim that feminism is obsolete is factually incorrect because systemic issues like rape culture and wage gaps reveal ongoing power imbalances.
- **Power and Control:** Rape culture, the speaker contends, is fundamentally about power and control, not simply sexual attraction.
- **Storytelling as Power:** Storytelling is an ancient, fundamental human activity, tracing back to campfire discussions about survival and morality.
- **Performance Poetry's Democratic Nature:** Performance poetry (especially slam) is democratic theater accessible to all, involving both the poet and the audience as active participants.
- Poetry and performance poetry are necessary mechanisms for ensuring that all voices, regardless of background (old, young, damaged, normal), are heard and that "words will be freed."
- All systems—religious, political, or cultural—ultimately return to the core function of telling stories about "how to live a good life."
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Feminism is obsolete:** The counter-argument presented by the first speaker; refuted by evidence of disparity and systemic control.
- **Rape culture:** A system of power and control, distinct from simple sexual acts.
- **Performance poetry:** Defined as an act of performance—a dynamic, living communication between the poet and the audience, unlike solitary reading.
- **Slam poem:** A specific form of performance poetry that is entirely performance theater, involving judgment, audience participation, and a clear focus on message/politics.
- **Griot:** An African tradition of oral historians/storytellers who traveled from town to town to spread news, morals, and oral history, a tradition estimated to be about 2,000 years old.
- **Democratic theater:** A style of performance characterized by accessibility to all participants, including the audience, making the exchange a "two-way street."
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Demonstrating wage disparity:** Comparing the pay for skilled jobs (nurse/teacher vs. builder) when one is predominantly female and the other is not.
- **Deconstructing 'No':** Teaching sons that a boundary ("no") is definitive, regardless of intoxication or suggestion.
- **Slam judging:** Poets are judged by up to five judges selected from the audience, who score the poem from 1 to 10; the audience participates vocally by cheering or booing.
- **The cycle of tradition:** Oral histories (Iliad, Odyssey) and later religious teachings (Bible) are structured like pro-poems, guiding how to live life—paralleling the campfire setting.
## Named Entities
- **Rose Drew:** Anthropologist and performance poet.
- **Allan:** Drew's husband; co-runs a poetry open mic in York.
- **York:** The location where the poetry open mic is held.
- **Sir Kenneth Muir:** Unnamed figure associated with the poem's content (implied by the context of the first performance).
## Numbers & Data
- **Time running open mic:** 9 and a half years (since January 2006).
- **Age of Griot tradition:** Approximately 2,000 years old.
- **Yale's age:** 300 years old (referencing the university's history).
- **Slam scoring:** Judges assign scores from 1 to 10.
## Examples & Cases
- **The first speaker's performance:** Confronting the idea of post-feminism by referencing statistics on violence against women and wage disparities (e.g., nurse vs. builder pay).
- **The "peckers out and see-through shorts" critique:** A critique of the superficial nature of sexual display used to dismiss feminist gains.
- **The "roofies" example:** A modern example of systemic sexual violence impacting mental health, leading to suicide.
- **Modern Minstrel/Griote:** David performing, representing the modern traveling poet/storyteller spreading politics and moral guidance.
- **Historical shift in poetry consumption:** Moving from solitary, intellectual reading (John Keats, requiring classics knowledge) to mass-produced, performative acts.
- **The origin of Slam:** Mark Kelly Smith recognizing that poetry needed a mechanism beyond elitist circles; creating the structure that allowed the audience to participate.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Open mic:** A physical venue where one signs up to stand up and read for a set five minutes.
- **Slam:** The organized, judged, and highly participatory performance poetry event format.
- **Manually typed poetry:** Represented the older, solitary style of poetry writing.
## References Cited
- **The Iliad, the Odyssey:** Epic poems cited as foundational examples of storytelling narratives.
- **Bible:** Mentioned as containing long pro-poems reflecting foundational societal teachings.
- **TED talks:** Originated in 1984 with the concept of promoting valuable ideas.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- **Caveat on feminist status:** The dismissal of feminism as "obsolete" is presented as a superficial opinion, not a factual reality.
- **Caveat on poetry:** Reading poetry alone is described as a "solitary act," potentially "elitist," contrasting with the communal experience of performance.
- **Caveat on the first speaker's performance:** The initial poem was delivered as a "slam poem" and was therefore inherently a performance.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The fundamental human need is to tell and listen to stories, which is the core function of performance poetry.
- The pathway to participating is simple: write down thoughts (ideas, hopes, annoyances) on a small piece of paper, take it to an open mic, sign up, and perform.
- The final call to action is for the audience to "get out there and read" at an open mic, slam, or performance event.
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to engage in storytelling means forfeiting the chance to guide cultural memory and guide living practices, as demonstrated by the Griot tradition.
- Performance poetry ensures that cultural value is not restricted to the wealthy or educated, but is accessible to everyone.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"So, it's all equal. The fights are done. Feminism's obsolete. The battles are won. So then tell me why."* (Repeated rhetorical challenge)
- *"It's for power and control. You're missing from your life. You take it out on someone else to boost you up inside."*
- *"Because no means no. No matter what you perceive."* (Instruction for sons)
- *"I'm here to talk today about my my butt's loud."* (Opening line about her poetry subject)
- *"Open mic means open microphone and it means what it sounds like. You show up, sign up, stand up and read and you get your five minutes and they belong just to you."*
- *"Performance is this. This guy was singing opera as well as doing poetry at the um at the French Open mic up in Edinburgh."*
- *"They are all long pros poems and it all leads back to the same thing. We have a campfire here tonight."*
- *"It's a give and take and there's a communication between the audience and the poet."*
- *"The props are minimal. They are your thoughts, your ideas, your hopes, your dreams, what annoys you, what you like, whatever it is."*