A Women's Beauty Susan Sontag Summary

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

Anne Roiphe’s “Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow” first appeared in the magazine New York in 1972. In this essay Roiphe aims to convince her readers that women must put faith in the idea that they are equal to men, not superior. “Women who want equality must be prepared to give it and believe in it . . . .” Personal anecdotes, contrast, and comparison are techniques Roiphe skillfully uses to create a strong, convincing essay.

She’s beautiful when She’s Angry tells the story of the women's movement from 1966-1973. This documentary tells a story through the use of footage, photographs and interviews from the women who helped shape second wave feminism. There were a few key players during that time, such as Kate Millett, Susan Brownmiller, Frances Beal, and Betty Friedan. Throughout She’s Beautiful when She’s Angry these women discuss issues that were problematic during this time period, most of which still are today. A few examples are child care, rape, birth control, and the right to not get married and start a family. This historical overview of this time period reminds us that feminists continue to fight for many of the same rights, fifty years later.

Women have long been fighting for their right to be seen as equal to men. Even to this day, women continue to fight for their rights, things such as the right to non-gender discriminatory wages. While there may be some arguments over the state of gender equality in the modern world, it is undeniable that there have been great strides made toward recognizing the female 's worth in the workforce and as a human being. Despite these strides, however, things are still not yet ideal for women and many of the issues females face today are the very same issues that have been plaguing them for decades. While it is unfortunate the oppression of women has been so long-lived, the length of that exposure has thankfully enabled many talented writers to both lament over the fact and emphasize the need for gender equality.

“I’m a woman…Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” This quote from Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” characterizes the common theme between the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the speech, “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and “Phenomenal Woman”. The common theme between these three different pieces is the idea of a strong, independent woman, which ties into feminism and the concept of being equal to men. Even though these three pieces are each diverse genres, they are all conveying the same general theme in their own way. Throughout any of these texts, it is evident that the authors are pushing the idea that a female is not inferior to any man just because they have a different body structure or a different gender.

In "A Woman's Beauty: Put-down or Power Source," Susan Sontag portrays how a woman's beauty has been degraded while being called beautiful and how that conceives their true identity as it seems to portray innocence and honesty while hiding the ugliness of the truth. Over the years, women have being classified as the gentler sex and regarded as the fairer gender. Sontag uses narrative structure to express the conventional attitude, which defines beauty as a concept applied today only to women and their outward appearance. She accomplishes this by using the technique of contrast to distinguish the beauty between men and women and establishing a variation in her essay, by using effective language.

In her next chapter, Kerber examines the newfound need for the educating of women. Women were not allowed freedom or a political opinion, but they could not be completely pushed aside. For years women had been taught that education made them undesirable to men and educated women were scorned. Kerber argues that a new need for

Although she was prohibited from attending college due to her sex, she did not hold back from demanding more educational opportunities for women. During the late 1700s, women were finally given the opportunity to get involved in political discussions and hear orations. In 1790, Murray wrote her landmark essay titled “On the Equality of the Sexes,” which she thoroughly shed light on the fact that women are not different from men in the powers of “imagination, reason, memory, and judgement.” Her essay preaches the idea that women had the same rights as men did and deserve to practice their talents. She claimed that “the fertile brain of a female have been utterly despoiled,” meaning that women’s competence were diminished by the foolish idea that they were not intellectual beings. She also states, “our souls are by nature equal to yours; the same breath of God animates, enlivens, and invigorates us; and that we are not fallen lower than yourselves.” She explained that although men and women are different, they are still equal beings on a spiritual level. Despite the common beliefs about women, Murray’s perseverance represents the traits that many women carry today. Whether the topic of discussion is about war or women’s health, women can bring new perspectives on different matters. They should not be

Women have power, power over you, me and everyone. What makes them so special is that we (men) can’t live without them. They are sensitive, and at the same time strong, they care, they love, and most important, they are beautiful. Women have come a long way in society throughout time. They 've gone from being nothing to being something. But yet, there are issues with women in today’s society. Naomi Wolf with her essay “A women’s place” and Zulu Kente’s poem “I know you good woman” they address that the role of woman in our society needs a lot of improvement. Women face daily issues such as their voices are not being heard, they are being paid less than men, their opportunities and education are very limited, male sexism through woman, and last but not least, woman are criticized by their physical appearance.

After reading from the excerpts of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman I have concluded that the situations of women, as far as rights are concerned, have indeed improved vastly. However, even though their situation has been amended and they are now afforded the same equal rights as men, not all women take advantage of these rights. A fraction of women still care more about their own physical beauty, appearance, and the prospect of finding a husband than anything else. Furthermore even, some of the more juvenile women will even occasionally go so far as to play dumb, thinking to attract the affection of men; while others get so self-obsessed with their appearance that they don’t even have to act in order to be received as dim witted or

INTRODUCTION Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes. ’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.’

In Sontag’s “A Woman’s Beauty” the structure the author uses for the story has a dramatic impact on the readers. In the story, Sontag structures the essay base on many historical events and other religious ideas to support her idea, how a woman sometime is only judge by her appearance. Specifically, Sontag uses three ideas in the story to support her argument. First is in history what the Greeks believe in a woman’s beauty. Second, Sontag discuss about how the Christian religion plays a major role in shaping how a woman is judge only base on her beauty. In the end, Sontag talks about in today’s society how woman are still judge by her beauty. However, in the end Sontag mentions how the society should stop judging a woman only base on her beauty.

To be feminine is to be pretty, sexualized, and passive. “Marked Women” by Deborah Tannen, “Sexism in English: Embodiment and Language” by Alleen Nilsen, and “A Woman’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?” by Susan Sontag are three essays that show these negative connotations of femininity. Together, they exemplify that females are “marked” as pretty, sexualized, and passive.

Throughout history, women have been seen in many different lights. From a woman’s perspective she is strong, smart, helpful and equal to men. In the eyes of men, she is seen as the weaker being, the housewife, and the caretaker. By looking at the following pieces of writing, one can see that through the centuries, women have struggled to break out of the mold that man had put her in and make themselves known in society as important.