The Taboo The Art Of Bernadette Mayer And Patti Smith Essay

Verse the Taboo: The Art of Bernadette Mayer and Patti Smith When someone says, â€Å"New York,† people may imagine the smell of a hot dog stand, the congestion of people in suits and ties hastening down Wall Street, or the sound of taxis honking and rushing to get through brief, green lights. For others, however, New York City has always been known as a creative place where one can express themselves through their art and music. For Patti Smith and Bernadette Mayer, New York City was their safe-haven where they could freely express themselves through their work. Bernadette Mayer was born in 1945, and she began to write poetry about the truth of motherhood, and her feelings about topics that hadn’t been previously addressed during the time. Patti Smith was born in 1946, and she beautifully fused rock and poetry in order to create a unique sound that would pave the way for punk rock. In her poetry, Bernadette Mayer spoke honestly about her opinions and feelings about motherhood; this was something that wasn’t commonplace at the time. It was often expected, and ingrained into women, that they were to have children and be nurturers, and Bernadette was no exception. She had children, but through her poetry, she expressed her conflicting emotions and thoughts about the way her world operates. Patti Smith, like Mayer, addresses her experiences, and shares how her pregnancy was looked down upon simply because she wasn’t married. These two women had the courage to write about what other