Summary of I Was My Own Route

The speaker Julia de Burgos, a radical feminist, challenges the masculine concept of defining a female's existence and journey via traditional paths in the poem "I Was My Own Route." She links male mentality to gender inequality and male prejudices towards women. Women's own freedom and liberation are portrayed in this poem. She also rejects the masculine ideology of deciding a woman's life and journey along traditional paths as a result of this. 

She connects masculine thinking to gender inequity and men's prejudices against women. She's looking for a new path to take on her own journey, one that she can choose. She supports women's rights and freedom. This poem demonstrates that a man and a woman are equally important. As a result, her life should not be influenced by the ideas of others, as the law guarantees females the same fundamental rights as men. 

Above all, the poem 'I Was My Own Route' teaches us the moral that men and women are both members of the same society, and they both require freedom, liberty, independence, and other aspects of life, and they should be permitted to pursue their own paths rather than those dictated by patriarchal society. 

About the Author of I Was My Own Route

Julia de Burgos Julia de Burgos (1914-1953) was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and came to New York, where she worked as a journalist, and then to Cuba, where she continued her education at the University of Havana. De Burgos, a freedom fighter, returned to New York after two years in Cuba to work as the art and cultural editor for the progressive journal Pueblos Hispanos. 

De Burgos' poems deal with issues of women's liberation and social justice, and they predate the Nuyorican poetry movement. In her poem "I was my Own Route," de Burgos, a predecessor to contemporary Latina/o writers, portrays how women are shackled by patriarchal ideals from the past. As a result, de Burgos encourages women to separate themselves from the past to find their identity within.