An Analysis Of Margaret Atwood's Poem Helen Of Troy Does Countertop Dancing

The main ideas that we have read in our readings covered what Women’s Studies is and Dominant Ideas About Women. Three passages that caught my attention out of the 32 passages were “A Work of Artifice” by Marge Piercy, “Gender Inequity in School: Not a Thing of the Past” by Karen Zittleman and David Sadker, and lastly, “Have you Ever Heard of Asian-American Feminists” by Stacey Yap. With these three passages, there was good information for me to interpret and to reflect upon in these readings.

Throughout Gwen Harwood’s "Selected Poems", Harwood continually seeks to examine the many different faces of human nature, which have been heavily influenced by her experiences as a child, a woman and in the moments prior to her death. Her poems explore and reveal the power of reminiscence and memories, rebellion against authority, as well as the idea of mortality, which are illustrated by many of Harwood’s different personas.

The “striptease” is still very much relevant and alive today as it was when it was first introduced to the world nearly 80 years ago. This timeless and provocative dance was the product of Gypsy Rose Lee, but by no means should one refer to her as a “stripper”. Doing so would be a great injustice to this iconic figure; it would be sacrilegious. Gypsy, born Rose Louise Hovick, brought more than sensual allure to the stage; Gypsy was intelligent, funny, and witty. An example of her immense wit and improve skills can be seen in how the striptease came into being. When the strap to Gypsy’s costume came undone during a performance, rather than run off stage in embarrassment, Gypsy noticed the positive audience reaction, causing her to implement the act into the focus of her performance.

It all started with a comic book. Reuben Sturman was the one who started the business of exploiting women to give men pleasure. He began his quest at a large warehouse in Detroit, where his business would bloom not only nationwide but internationally as well. This might be a dirty subject to get into but, Pornography is just as important as Marijuana and Underground labor because it too created much revue as “$15,000 to $20,000 a week to dance at strip clubs, doing four twenty-minute shows each night.” (181). It’s staggering to see that a young businessman

These physical expressions through “processes of non-traditional literacy production, gender/race/sexuality articulation,” is presented in ways that outside of these spaces, would be “definitionally obscene,” much like the harassment and violence that transgender and gay individuals, along with drag queens, often encountered in 1980s hegemonic spaces (Gregory 28). “The irony is that the very real experience of difference, the heightened awareness that it brings, should help to create a disguise so immaculate that nothing remains but the in-joke of one 's private knowledge,” proving that successful gender performances are not innate nor natural, arguments that 1980s heteronormativity argued to justify oppressive power hierarchies (Hentzi 36). These performances exposed the truth of outside society’s discomfort and defensiveness of their beloved and seemingly meaningful gender, race, sexual, and class boundaries. This is because “if men can be women, blacks can be white, the poor can be rich, and gays or lesbians can be straight (and vice versa in each of these examples), then the necessity and inevitability of these boundaries become suspect,” and these boundaries can indeed be crossed and ceased (Schacht 148). 1980s balls ultimately could prove that “hierarchical borders that previously demarcated superiority and subordination would lose their omnipotent meaning” and these

Starting off by addressing the noticeable prevalence of “[b]lack men...surrounded by dozens of black and Latina women dressed in bathing suits...in strip clubs, some at the pool, at the beach, or in hotel rooms” (Perry 1), Perry attempts to parallel such imagery with pornography and female objectification. By painting such an explicit, arousing picture in the minds of the audience, she immediately explains the effects of “pornography [being] increasingly mainstreamed” (1). She relates this phenomenon almost as a causation, and underlies her implicit position that pop culture is

The entertainment of a Harlem cabaret hypnotizes Helga Crane, the protagonist of Nella Larsen's Quicksand. She loses herself in the "sudden streaming rhythm" and delights in the sexually suggestive moves of the dancers. Helga is "blown out, ripped out, beaten out by the joyous, wild, murky orchestra" in a moment suggestive of a sexual climax. But when the music fades, Helga returns to reality and asserts that "she wasn't, she told herself, a jungle creature." Helga feels this struggle between sexual freedom and restraint throughout the novel. As Larsen shows in the cabaret, black women of the early twentieth century repressed their sexual desires so that white America would perceive them as respectable. In its fight for equality, the black social elite wanted women to emulate the conventions of mainstream society. Maintaining a good image was intended not only to produce change within the race, but also to combat white stereotypes that caused discrimination against black people. Thus, described as primitive and promiscuous since slavery, black women hid their sexuality under socially accepted behavior. But, as Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham refers to it, this "politics of respectability" had profound consequences.

The 1920s are known as somewhat of a risqué time period, all across America, cultural changes became a movement. Women decided it was a time to throw away the old Victorian style of long dresses with tight corsets, and try something new. They cut their long hair to above their shoulders, wore short dresses, and tried to

Allen’s music video introduces half-naked women committing sexual acts in a provocative scene to establish the role of women in pop culture as dehumanizing. The scene starts with Allen joining the female dancers, clothed enough to barely cover their genitals, beginning their dance routine. As Allen sings, the dancers are seen performing the twerk, and the video zooms on the dancer’s genitals as the dancers lick their hands and slap their genitals. Allen’s incendiary scene highlights women as needing to be overly sexualized in music videos and performing suggestive behaviors to be included in pop culture. This scene dehumanizes women in music videos because women are expected to behave and dress in a specific manner or not be included in the

There are 14.8 million American adults between the ages of 15 to 44 who experience depression in some point and time throughout their life(“Depression”). Although depression is a word that is commonly misused 14.8 million people have experienced some form of depression, weather It may be major depression or mild depression. Often more than not, individuals confuse the days of unhappiness and the lack of desire to function with the rest of the world with major depression. When analyzing the poem Marks by Linda Pastan and the poem Myth by Natasha Tretheway I notice key features of a depressed individual. Pastan and Tretheway portray each of their characters as a depressed individual; because they focus so keenly on their unhappiness with their lives, and even suicide. Many people will argue that poetry and writing does not help with the effects of depression, but I disagree and I will explain why and how each author may be battling with their own form of depression as well as how writing these poems has empowered them and also given them the ability to handle depression.

During the Roaring Twenties, women gained more rights, and this allowed them to roam out of society’s standard of a woman. This was a time where “women bobbed their hair, ventured out to speakeasies and dared to shorten their hemlines” (Jamie). These types of women were known as flappers. A studies professor, Rosanna Hertz, said that flappers were rebels, and fashion played an extensive role in allowing them to express their freedom. Women were supposed to wear clothes that covered their legs, “even [if] flapper dresses were knee-length, it was still enough to raise eyebrows” (Jamie). A New York designer named Regina Kobler was a woman of this time period who designed these new styles of clothing. Her work is showcased “in the small show at

Round, busty breasts are very arousing for the men of America. They promote sexual lusting and popularity. The more a woman flaunts her breasts, the status of her voguishness increases. Why must a woman’s popularity be based solely upon how busty or perky her breasts are? The answer is found by delving into when, how, and why the sexual status arose. The history of the breast depicts a highly distinguishable desire from today.

This is a blatant representation of feminism saying, “look here! These parts shouldn’t be wrong.” This is, in my opinion, correct as well. As a patriarchal society we have made so much of the female body an object of desire, but also rude, in human history that we now have a problem viewing a naked figure. This also reflects things such as the “Free the Nipple!” movement of late. Matheson also touches upon this point saying that it is a gesture of trust offering your naked body on stage and the audience needs to deserve that intimacy, which helps to give power to an objectified

In the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture ch.6 "shopping for sex" by Ariel Levy, critiques the highly sexualized American culture in which women are objectified, objectify one another, and are encouraged to objectify themselves. Levy refers to this as "raunch culture". There is no denying that raunch culture is everywhere today. Music videos, advertisements and even children products are more often targeted as ‘sexy’ because, let’s face it, sex sells. Ariel Levy explores and discusses how this culture has risen and how the second-wave feminist struggle has appropriated into the war cry that sex and stripping now means liberalisation for women. Levy sets out to ascertain why raunch culture is so appealing to women, particularly young, educated women and more concerning, young teenage girls, some as young as twelve, who strive to embody the raunch culture by wearing make-up and snapping g-strings at boys. Levy discovers that raunch and sexual appeal have become separated from the act of sex itself. Levy also details the history and battles of the second-wave feminist movement and key activists. Women have finally broken through the barriers and have presumably gained gender equality. The problem is, as Levy suggests, that women are still not free to act as ‘women’ or as themselves but they are now pressured to act as ‘men’ so they will be

Ever since its national appearance little girls are coiffed, heavily made-up, sprayed with tanning lotion, lathered in sequins and poured into showgirl outfits. They prance about the stage, with music telling them to “Work it, own it”. The film exposes how cruel and unreasonable the process actually is. Prepubescent girls are trained to compete as sex dolls. Who knows how will this affect these children in the long run and what does it say about the society that invents and promotes such psychologically damaging