In 1855, when the first edition of Leaves of Grass was published, the first Women's Convention had already taken place in Seneca Falls. According to Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass is a women's book. In Walt Whitman's epigraph to Sherry Ceniza and the Nineteenth-Century Women Reformers, she quotes him as saying: "Leaves of Grass, I am essentially a woman's book: women know that, but every now and then a woman shows that she knows it” (Ceniza). The implication here combined with the text of Song of Myself suggests an all too common phenomenon. Whitman is considered and considers himself a poet beyond racial and gender lines, but like many people in positions of privilege, their appropriation of the pain felt by these opposing groups only serves to make these communities uncomfortable. easy. Throughout Walt Whitman's Song of Myself, he depicts women in different ways. In some cases, he equalizes them, putting them on par with men in his eyes, as he does with the slave. In other passages he defends and honors them against the humiliating words and actions of other compatriots. Despite some of his more receptive passages about women and their place in society, there are times when what Whitman says is problematic in the context of women's rights. Whitman's dynamic portrayal of women in Song of Myself highlights the fact that even though he fancies himself a forward-thinking man, a champion of women's rights in some cases, he can't help but put women back there where they have always been in literature. Despite all the inequalities. of the world, Whitman has a habit of appealing to the oppressed side of American society and putting himself in the same basket. His bold claims say that he too, regardless of his privilege, is part of this group ... middle of paper ... that he simply views women as receptacles for what Whitman gives them, Simpson misses the point . that Whitman considers these women to be beneath him. Whitman mentions their protests in the sense that he cannot be moved away from what he wants. This implies that he believes in his better knowledge, that even if a woman doesn't want it, he is more informed and he knows that it will be good for them and for society. Overall, Whitman's attitude reminds me of many people who claim to be part of a marginalized group. Whitman also does this with the slave, he pretends to feel the pain, to support this group which has been systematically oppressed by the most privileged. However, Whitman's ideal of being part of this group is folly because, while he attempts to support the woman in a poem, he makes sure to take away any freedom of action he might have given her in the following poem..