Name: Nicaela P.

Lopez Date: February 12, 2024

Year & Section: BSED English 3-1 Professor: Ms. Irene Joyce Biscocho

A century later
by Imtiaz Dharker

The school-bell is a call to battle,

every step to class, a step into the firing-line.
Here is the target, fine skin at the temple,
cheek still rounded from being fifteen.

Surrendered, surrounded, she

takes the bullet in the head

and walks on. The missile cuts

a pathway in her mind, to an orchard
in full bloom, a field humming under the sun,
its lap open and full of poppies.
This girl has won
the right to be ordinary,

wear bangles to a wedding, paint her fingernails,

go to school. Bullet, she says, you are stupid.
You have failed. You cannot kill a book
or the buzzing in it.

A murmur, a swarm. Behind her, one by one,

the schoolgirls are standing up
to take their places on the front line
 Final Paper in Contemporary, Popular, and Emergent Literature

Social criticism of the poem “A Century Later” by Imtiaz Dharker:

Correlation of Sexism to the Philippine Society.

Imtiaz Dharker was born in Pakistan and raised in Scotland. She classified
herself as a Scottish Muslim Calvinist. Aside from being a poet, she is an artist and
documentary filmmaker in London and India. She bravely includes social issues like
conflict in gender politics, cultural displacement, and geographical issues. When she is
talking, she talks with a great sense of emotional intelligence to those people in
multicultural complexity. She uses questioning and visual imagery in her poems to
greatly express the core message of her work and uses the poetic devices of
symbolism, diction, and allusion in her poems. As the Cambridge University Library's
Poet in Residence, she created several poems inspired by the St. Paul's Cathedral
Archives. Imtiaz Dharker is indeed a globally known poet, and because of that, she was
awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry in 2014. Aside from that she also received
the Cholmondeley Award, an Honorary Doctorate from SOAS, and a fellow of the Royal
Society in Literature.

Imtiaz Dharker is known for being culturally aware. In 2014, a century after the
beginning of World War I, she created the poem “A Century Later” as a response to the
poem of Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Anthem for Doomed Youth”, it is a piece that serves as
a tribute to the young soldiers that died in the war. Dharker used the honorable event as
a chance to create a comparison of girls who are fighting for their rights to have access
to education. She compares the girls to soldiers because girls are in a traditional war
against the oppressors who withhold their rights to education. She also used it as a
recognition of the shooting of Malala Yousafzai in 2012, Malala Yousafzai is a youth
human rights activist who fight for the rights of women in terms of education.

In the first stanza, Dharker uses metaphors to compare the terms that are used
in school to the terms that are used in war. It describes that school was a battlefield for
girls since it is the place where they need to fight for their rights in education. It also
illustrates how the school was a cruel place for girls since they were the main target of
sexism, discrimination, and anti-feminism practices even if they were innocent. The girls
often take all the dreadful treatments that they receive just to access education where in
the first place, access to education without negative treatments is their right.

100 year later that was the situation of the girls, they didn’t have many rights,
and they couldn’t attend school or choose the future leaders of the society. It shows
how women are being oppressed in the early century. But even though it is a century
later, sexism is still evident nowadays. Sexism negatively impacts the mind of society, it
causes injustices to society. Philippine society in the Spanish-Colonial era is one of the
great examples of how sexism is a negative mindset towards the people. Women in the
Spanish-Colonial era were trained to be housewives, they only had access to education
on how to maintain a home but not in the academic aspect, and that is bad since
women should have access to that kind of education. They can't prove themselves
since they are being oppressed for their education rights.

Up to this day, some people in the Philippines adopt that sexist mindset, but the
fight against sexism is still not over. There are so many situations in which women are
still at war against sexism but here are some of the most prominent representations of
sexism in the Philippine modern society: first, the media frequently presents women in
objectifying ways, promoting negative gender norms. This may lead to the normalization
of misogyny and the objectification of women's bodies. Next is the violence against
women, which is one of the major concerns in Philippine society. This includes domestic
violence, sexual harassment, rape, and human trafficking. Cultural norms that tolerate
or excuse such violence worsen the situation. Lastly, women in the Philippines are
underrepresented in politics and leadership roles. While there have been efforts to
enhance gender equality in governance, social barriers and cultural attitudes often stop
women from fully participating and leading in these areas. For example, when choosing
a righteous leader for the country, some will choose the male opponent even if he has
doubtful records while the woman opponent is more capable of being the leader.

Back in the poem “A Century Later”, the remaining stanzas describe how girls
stand for their rights in this modern time. Woman nowadays have their voice in many
aspects. “This girl has won, the right to be ordinary,” these lines represent how woman
earn their rights to be equal with other genders, to be ordinary people who have access
to all kinds of human rights. The poem indicates that even though women have gone
through many obstacles and difficulties in achieving their goals, they will stand free like
soldiers on the battlefield. They can do what they want now, they can establish their
own careers, and live independently by their will. In the past century, many things have
changed, Dharker wants to express in her poem that even though woman still faces a
lot of difficulty in terms of rights nowadays, still, women’s situation nowadays is far from
what it used to be before.

The Philippines’s society has become more progressive over the years. People
became more educated about the issues that are related to the negative impacts of
sexism. The social structure of the Philippines now become more complex towards
women. The discrimination that they face lessens every day, women in the Philippines
already prove that their skills and potential can outgrow the other gender. They become
more expressive and vocal about the current situation. The rights and freedom that they
are aiming for in the meantime are nearing their goal. It is safe to say that the battle
against sexism in Philippine society is not over, but the fight already attained so many
goals in improving the situation of women. Addressing sexism in Philippine society
requires diverse efforts that include legal actions, education, awareness campaigns,
and dealing with typical gender roles and stereotypes. Promoting gender equality and
empowering women and girls are critical steps toward building a more inclusive and
equitable society.

A huge amount of respect for Imtiaz Dharker’s poem “A Century Later” because it
illustrates the education situation of women over time. Her poem gives justice to
women’s difficulties over the century and how they slowly achieving their goals. This
poem serves as an honor for women who fight for their rights.

Reference:
 A century later – The Poetry Society. (n.d.). Poetrysociety.org.uk.
https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/a-century-later/