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Although women?s efforts to achieve equal rights with men began in the late 1700?s and early 1800?s, it was not until the 20th century that women finally secured basic privileges such as women?s health care and reproductive rights, equal pay and work prospects, and childcare. The second wave of feminism greatly contributed to this factor, as well as gave women the opportunity to discover aspects about their personal identities. The body, to include the mind and spirit, was one of these characteristics, being written about in a number literary and poetic works. Six poems that portray the female body and emphasized the changing representation of women?s bodies are poet Joy Harjo?s ?Fire? and ?Heartshed,? Lucille Clifton?s ?June 20? and ?Daughters,? Gwendolyn Brooks? ?The Mother,? and Adrienne Rich?s ?Diving into the Wreck.? Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1951, Joy Harjo is part of the Native American Muskagee (Creek) Tribe. In her poetry, Harjo combines Native American and feminist political views and aesthetics ? two very different customs - and constructs a ?subjective and coalitional presence that resists oppression? (Whitehead, 155). Harjo uses the notion of empowerment to endure not only her own subordinate position as bo