A stereotype is a trap, a cage, which restricts individuals to a single identity. Once created, a stereotype is difficult to overcome and leaves traces of prejudice. In line with Alicia Ostriker's The Thieves of Language: Women Poets and Revisionist Mythmaking, Margaret Atwood's poem "Siren Song" is a way for women to express their feelings about gender discrimination without coming out in a way that would generate negative support. "Siren Song", is written from the point of view of a mermaid, in a mythological framework but with a contemporary tone, which is limited to the stereotype of a seductress who seeks to sing men to death but who in reality wants to free himself. and find someone who won't fall in love with his song. Opening the poem, the mermaid introduces her song as “the one everyone would like to learn: the song that is irresistible” (Chartes 914). Many people, whether leaders or middle classes, would love to use the song to control others and defeat their enemies. Skimming the surface of the poem, the mermaid appears to have a mocking, sarcastic and condescending tone towards her victim as she sings her song. The men know that death awaits them if they allow themselves to be trapped by the song: “they see the skulls washed ashore, but they still jump overboard” (Chartes 914). The Mermaid seduces her victim by promising to reveal the secret of the song in exchange for helping her escape from her “bird costume”. There are two versions of the mermaid, one with a mermaid's tail and the other with harpy wings (Charts 914). Women are very often associated with birds and their songs. These women, just like pets, are sometimes locked in a cage made of different stereotypes of what a woman could or should be. It was believed that women were allowed to do what men did. Atwood is not alone though, Alicia Ostriker attests that many writers and poets have changed the way language is used. Women are not only defined as weak, vulnerable, conniving and mean, they can also be strong, intelligent, loving and fierce. The Mermaid is a woman stuck in a stereotype, but if she is freed, as contemporary women seek freedom, she will show everyone a different character that they might never have imagined her to have. Works Cited Charters, Ann and Samuel B. Charters. “The song of the sirens.” Literature and its writers: an introduction to fiction, poetry and theater. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford, 1997. 914. Print. Ostriker, Alicia. “The Thieves of Language: Women Poets and Revisionist Mythmaking.” The Language Thieves: Women Poets and Revisionist Mythmaking 8.1 (1982): 68-90. JSTOR. Internet. May 14 2014. .