Comparison Of Standing Female Nude And Helen Of Troy

As Helen said “Have you a favorite mortal man there too?”, she regarded Aphrodite as the embodiment of sexual desire, implying that Aphrodite was trying to use her immortal power of lust to enslave Helen as the sex partner of Paris. Holding the one cardinal idea that she is not supposed to be a sex slave, Helen used her words to punch Aphrodite right in the face, as she replied “Is that why you beckon here beside me now with all the immortal cunning in your heart?” But with the infuriated reply “Don’t provoke me — wretched, headstrong girl! Or in my immortal rage I may just toss you over, hate you as I adore you now…”, Aphrodite had implied that she could either love or hate Helen. More importantly, Aphrodite also noted that if Helen chose to be hated, then Aphrodite as an immortal could use her power to make other people hate Helen, as she said “withering hate from both sides at once… then your fate can tread you down to dust!” This had really left Helen with a great shock, as she could not afford the consequence of being hated by both the immortals and mortals. So as a result, she had no choice but to obey Aphrodite and return to Paris, failing to establish her agency. Bear in mind that Helen was the daughter of Zeus and she got such treatment, it could be even worse for other

In the text Mythology by Edith Hamilton, women are portrayed as being property and objects. During this time women were seen to be not as "good" as men. They saw perfection in relationships between men and young male adults as the best relationships to have. However, homosexuality was frowned upon. Men were considered knowledgeable and educated, but women were seen as a burden placed on man by the Gods. When it came to women nothing was valuable about them but their beauty. When a woman was beautiful she was wanted by many men: a man would do almost anything to have the possession of a beautiful woman and have her as his property. It was as if a woman’s role was to only be a man’s beautiful possession and to procreate the lineage of a

The picturesque siren is invariably familiar to most as a creature of myth and seductive danger. It is through the perspective of such a creature that Margaret Atwood showcases a cruelty that has stereotyped women into having methodical and sinister motives. The “Siren Song” is a rendition of such a type-casted woman who has become bored with tricking and killing men beyond count. In this interpretation, I will analyze “Siren Song” while focusing on the feministic ideology.

Helen displays her flirtatious attitude to Hector, however it could also be inferred that she is unsatisfied with Paris and Menelaus. During her argument with Aphrodite, she claims she does not want to be looked at poorly by the Trojans for serving Paris is bed. This shows a sudden desire to be socially accepted and looked beyond just her beauty or as a nuisance by the Trojans.

of Helen. The speaker believes that her “cold feet” and “slenderest knees” could not move Greece as opposed to the other speaker. He harshly believes that the only way that she can be praised for her beauty is if she was “laid, white ash amid funereal cypresses.” (H.D., line 17)

1985 (Figure 2) first appeared in 1985 plastered on billboards around New York City. The piece is illustrated in monochrome colours so to not distract viewers from the meaning of the poster. The harsh contrast in colours between the black writing and white background make the piece stand out and draw the attention of bypassers. Written on the artwork is a list of well-known museums in New York City and beside them is a score of how many women artists have had one-person exhibits there in the past year. The results showed that the Guggenheim, Metropolitan and Whitney museums each had zero, whilst the Modern museum had one. These results are supposed to shock the audience and make gallery curators feel a sense of guilt, that it’s clear the art world don’t appreciate women artists like they do men. Whist they are confronting the public with that truth they are also providing another critical message with this piece. The Guerrilla Girls identified these museums by first name, not out of convenience, but to make a statement, that the only museums to allow women artist some form of respect like male artist do was the ‘modern’ museum. Emphasising the fact that gender discrimination and bias nature in the art world should be in the past, and the only museum that realises and recognises this is the modern one. The poster’s main message challenges the patriarchal world of art and confronts art galleries

Through the setting of the novel, Atwood examines a woman’s role and contribution to society. Throughout history, oppressive regimes

Under my feminist reading, I see the poem as an attempt by the poet to exist as an independent autonomist woman by rejecting the traditional patriarchal ideology that women were subjected to at the time. Plath begins the poem with the line ‘stasis in darkness’, symbolic of the fact that women at the time were trapped in the darkness of patriarchal society. She uses the term ‘God’s lioness’ as a reversal of gender expectations to show her support for the rise of feminism.

Homer’s epic, The Iliad, highlights the influence and jurisdiction that beauty provides. The prizes and glory a man accumulates from war measure his power, while beauty measures a woman’s power. Since conquering a woman is the ultimate prize to a man, her beauty represents ultimate power. Though the beauty of mortal women has the power to turn men against each other, mortal women have no influence over this power and are instead objectified by men. Immortal women, however, have authority over their beauty and are able to control men with their power. Helen, on the other hand, though mortal, has the beauty of a goddess. Yet, Helen is bound by her fate to Paris, making her power obsolete. By presenting Helen’s hopeless power and supplying the reader with insight on her suffering through her thoughts, Helen is portrayed as a tragic hero.

While at the same time as exemplifying masculinity through chivalry this line also begins the subversion of gender roles by putting the woman in the more dominant position - she is now in control of this situation. In the following line it is stated that “all the others honored her and offered to serve her” (166). The use of the verbs honor and offer are direct effects of the way they “see” her which continues to implicate the importance of her beauty while also putting her in a dominant role. This is emphasized once again in lines 611-612 “When they had looked at her well, when they greatly praised her beauty” (166). This is another instance in which a verb, “praised,” is a direct result of seeing her beauty. This direct relation between such verbs and her presence helps to demonstrate her force and impact as a woman along with her characterization as a sovereign being. In lines 613-614 it is stated that “she spoke in this way, she didn’t want to wait”

I fell in love with methodologies of art history. I felt empowered in that, through my own interpretations, I could attach words and meaning to objects. My study of art history reached a turning point when, in 2012, I took a class entitled Identity in a Post-Identity Art World: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Trans/Nationality, 1990 to the Present. The course endowed me with another lens with which to examine works and, more importantly, shed light on representations of marginalized identities. As a result, I was introduced to the writings of Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir, both seminal theorists who inspired my own analyses. I enjoyed every minute of conducting research and forming arguments to support my claims. Ultimately I was interested in developing my understanding of issues in contemporary art further and sought to accomplish this by engaging with a larger

the many constraints to which she is subject.Helen appears in only six encounters in the Iliad, with a different audience

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.

Helen first insults Paris for being a coward and not fighting Menelaus,, as he ran from battle, following up with a plea for Paris to go back and fight Menelaus. However, Helen has a sudden change of heart and asks Paris to stay because she realizes that no matter how much she doesn’t like Paris, her sexual affairs with him is all she has. Like all the male characters in the Iliad, Paris completely disregards her self interests and instead takes her to bed; he only thinks of his desire to be with her and takes her to bed without hesitation. Despite her scorn for Paris, she soon realizes that without him, she would be stranded between two opposing forces, so she decides to keep whatever she has and please Paris and keep him as

There is some disparity between the way critics and philosophers like Judith Butler view Cindy Sherman's work and the way that Cindy Sherman speaks of her photographs. It may be the disparity that exists between many modern artists, who often operate on an intuitive level, and the philosopher critics who comment upon them from a theoretical perspective or a pre-established framework. On one level, Cindy Sherman may only be playing "dress-up" (as she herself admits) in her famous History Portraits (1989-90) (Berne, 2003). On another level, however, her "dressing-up" may be indicative of a deeper problem in modern gender identity theory which is the problem of "becoming" woman (Butler, 1994) or, as Judith Butler sees it, the problem of performativity. In the History Portraits, Sherman may certainly be said to be "performing" and perhaps even attempting to "become" the male and female characters she represents in her work. Indeed, it is upon such a premise that philosopher critics and gender theorists find her work so engaging. This paper will examine Cindy Sherman and her History Portraits in relation to Judith Butler's gender theory, the portrayal of the self, and how gender identity has changed throughout the course of modern history. It will examine representations of womanhood from Romantic Idealism to Post-Modernism and will also