Men swear, the bitches!

I thought I’d try my hand at analyzing one of Mullen’s poems from Trimmings. As there is so much ambiguity in her poetry, I decided to have a little fun playing around with the way the poem reads aloud instead of just purely basing my analysis on the words as they are written. Upon my first read of “Menswear…” (page 28) in Trimmings, I saw an obvious description of pants: “britches,” “flies,” “jeans,” actual “pants,” and “slacks.” There is perhaps a girl, “Rosie,” who seems to be flustered and upset. She could literally be riding a bike, and “fl[ying] off the handle,” as in physically falling, “pant[ing],” from the bike ride, and wanting to “cool out,” as in cool down and relax. However, as we know, Mullen tends to suggest alternate interpretations of her poetry, inviting readers to let their imaginations wander to more promiscuous, if not darker, readings. When I first read “Menswear, the britches” aloud, I heard “Men swear, the bitches,” as in men complaining about women, most likely feminists, or just wild women who are “out of line.” This poem could also simply be describing the fashion changes occurring for women as pants became more popular, and not just for men. I interpreted “Rosie flies off the handle” as expectant men ready to bust out, if you will. “Rosie,” reminds me of expectant mothers for whatever reason, perhaps because of their flushed rosy cheeks, which also has a sexual connotation. I quickly began to interperate this poem as a description of a brothel, or sleazy jazz club. Hear me out. “Jeans so tight, she pants” has me picturing a promiscuously dressed woman who is literally out of breath because of her tight jeans, or even a transvestite who has exploded (“flown off the handle”) and finally decided that dressing like a woman is too much work, and begins “slack[ing] off.” I got the jazz club feeling by the phrase “cool out,” and “slack off,” perhaps solely because it reminds me of the poem “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks. If I continue on the sleazy jazz club/brothel track, “want[ing] to cool out” could mean wanting to go do the deed, thus the “slacks [coming] off.” In summation, men watching women dancing in tight jeans, viewing them derogatorily, panting, rosy with anticipation, practically exploding, wanting to escape up to a bedroom, where the slacks will come off. Perhaps my mind is in the gutter, but as we have read in Mullen’s other poems, any interpretation is fair game.