Analysis Of Written On The Body By Jeanette Winterson

Contemporary novels have imposed upon the love tribulations of women, throughout the exploration of genre and the romantic quest. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their eyes were watching God (1978) and Virginia Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (2000) interplay on the various tribulations of women, throughout the conventions of the romantic quest and the search for identity. The protagonists of both texts are women and experience tribulations of their own, however, unique from the conventional romantic novels of their predecessors. Such tribulations include the submission of women and the male desire for dominance when they explore the romantic quest and furthermore, the inner struggles of women. Both texts display graphic imagery of the women’s inner experiences through confronting and engaging literary techniques, which enhance the audiences’ reading experience. Hurston’s reconstructions of the genre are demonstrated through a Southern context, which is the exploration of womanhood and innocence. Whilst Woolf’s interpretation of the romantic quest is shown through modernity and an intimate connection with the persona Clarissa Dalloway, within a patriarchal society.

Over the past 200 years sexual liberation and freedom have become topics of discussions prevalent within western culture and society. With the recent exploration of sexuality a new concept of sexual and gender identity has emerged and is being analyzed in various fields of study. The ideology behind what defines gender and how society explains sex beyond biology has changed at a rapid pace. In response various attempts to create specific and catch all definitions of growing gender and sexual minorities has been on going. This has resulted in the concept of gender becoming a multi- layered shifting hypothesis to which society is adapting. Since the 19th-century, philosophers and theorists have continued to scrutinize gender beyond biological and social interpretation. Margaret Atwood 's The Handmaid 's Tale captures the limitations and social implications forced upon a set gender based on societal expectations. Gender is a social construct that limits the individual to the restrictions and traditions of a society, or if it’s an individually formed self-identification of sex and sexuality that is formed autonomously. Evidence of gender establishment can be seen within literary works and supported by various schools of gender and sexuality theory.

There is a fine distinction in the fabric of DNA that separates men and women- one has the opportunity to give life and one does not. Although beneath skin and flesh is the foundation of a body, the bones. What every human being also shares with each other is the ability to cast emotions. However throughout history, men have been brought up to be seen as if they have little to no feelings at all and women are to be too emotional. Everyone has the potential to feel pain at some point in their lives. Objectification is the central concept dear to feminist thinkers. Many think that objectification is something that remains in history, but it continues to be a problem in modern society. F. Scott Fitzgerald applies this to the characters in his book: The Great Gatsby. The underlying theme of the podcast: Relationship Radio dealt with the objectification of human beings. Aidan Buckner, Olivia Lujan, and Penelope Tucker’s three podcasts: You Can Buy Me Love, Daisy, Money and Usage, and Puppy Love tie the notion of objectification through the relationships: Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, George and Myrtle Wilson, and Tom and Myrtle Wilson through the book The Great Gatsby.

In this essay, the female body is described as something too absent to be true with beautiful words, intending to evoke sympathy from the readers. “Over time my injured friend’s feet have become blue and smooth from disuse. Their blue is the blue of skim milk, there smoothness that of a baby’s” (Nelson, 41-42), which is the description of her injured friend’s body. This part sounds melodic and beautiful for readers because of the use of words “skim milk, smoothness and baby” and they are all nice words used to depict the beauty of the female’s body. With the use of such words, it can be seen that Nelson basically appreciates the female’s image. In the meanwhile, Nelson also considers the female to be fragile and depressed with the use of words “blue and baby”. Undeniably, on one hand, blue stands for a kind of color; on the other hand, blue can be used to describe depression, suggesting that her injured friend

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

Love between two genders is one of the most common themes in writing. In literature, love is often praised, appreciated and cherished. Another common theme in writing is the looming specter of inequality between men and women, which has been strongly depicted throughout history and is still worryingly present in the world today. It is extremely interesting to realize that though love is treasured and valued, in most cases, it takes both genders to create love, and those genders are often separated by inequality. Both these themes coincide well together; the clash of love and gender inequality is interestingly captivating. In John Updikes A&P and Ernest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants, both stories send a conclusive message to the reader that equality between both sexes in love and attraction is almost impossible; one gender will always be more powerful than the other.

Throughout time, there has been a battle present in which females try to rise above the power of men and the hold they have on women. Whether the battle be for the equal treatment of both sexes or simply establishing a level of respect and understanding from the opposite sex, the meaning stands the same in which there is an ever-present power struggle that is continuously ongoing between the sexes. No matter the intentional meaning of the work, women suppression by men are seen when one looks beyond the simple statements given and examines the female characters in great detail to better understand the struggle she endures daily due to men. One author in particular that allows an interesting viewpoint into the mind of a blossoming woman is Susan Minot. Minot demonstrates in her story “Lust” how the female narrator is influenced and altered by her male sexual partners. Through each sexual encounter, the reader is able to see the changes these encounters have on the young woman emotionally and other affects a man has on her as she grows up in a male dominated world. This can all be determined by observing closely the figurative language used in the story, the fluctuations in emotions seen in the female character, and the thoughts the woman has about men throughout the story.

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

During the 20th century, the women’s rights movement changed the role of women in society for the better, causing a change in the traditional gender roles that culture dictated before the turn of the century. Women won the right to vote in 1919, which was a major turning point in the respect of women as equal members of society as compared to men. In addition to this newfound right, women also took steps to become part of the work force rather than stay home and raise the children like traditional housewives of the time. This sudden interest was sparked by the two major wars that were fought during the 20th century, each causing women to feel that it was their duty to fill in for men while they were fighting for our country. Another significant feature of this time period was the exploration of sexuality for women, especially in the case of determining whether or not a woman was a lesbian. Given these issues, John Dos Passos and Patricia Highsmith both wrote novels that touched on the issues of being a woman during the 20th century and the certain rights that one had as a woman in society. In their respective works, Dos Passos and Highsmith explore the view of women through the characters of Janey and Therese Belivet, which portrays the distinct nature of women that are defying the traditional gender norms of the time.

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

In Ian McEwan’s ‘Enduring Love’, Ken Kesey’s ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ and Sylvia Plath’s ‘Ariel’ Collection, the themes of gender and identity are clearly linked. Kesey and McEwan explore gender and identity through the male perspective and consequently present themselves as misogynists through their texts in their deleterious portrayal of women who do not adhere to what tradition dictates is ‘ideal’. Plath, on the other hand, presents the female perspective, providing readers with an alternative view, that of the female sufferer. However, in her portrayal of men, Plath comes across as a misandrist, and hence readers are exposed to biased views from both the male and female perspective. All three writers incorporate controversial matters in their exploration of gender and identity and depict how sexual identity is constrained due to society’s norms and values, and events that had occurred and influenced opinion.

American Literature has always been about men and for men. In this essay, we are going to analyze the women’s role in the book, as inferior and weaker gender.

The aim of this comparison is to present how an author’s time period, rank in society, location, personal beliefs, and political opinions, affected his portrayal of gender, including men and women in his works. In the same ways, these works themselves also allow readers to peer into the way the societies of that time functioned

While reading both “On Growing Up Between Genders”, by Stephen Burt and “The Female Body” by Margaret Atwood, I was so moved by both poets writing that I felt as though I was living their experiences with them. Throughout the course of both pieces, I felt emotionally drawn to obstacles of both writers, while understanding their wants of an experience very different from the ones previously given to them.

Just as film shapes reality, so too does literature: Cixious writes, “Nearly the entire history of writing is confounded with the history of reason … it has been one with the phallocentric tradition” (879). In the same way that the contributions of black women have been ignored in film, the feminine discourse has been ignored in favor of “the language of men and their grammar” (887). In comparison to the rigid format and linear narrative employed by men, Cixious argues that feminine discourse is more fluid and creative, just like the continuous and flowing nature of the female body. She also likens women to Africa, a “dark continent” that we have been taught to fear. In many ways, Esther and Mignon embody this concept as they are cloaked in shadows and made to feel ashamed of their race.