Cuyler's Sexuality In The Stone Diaries, By Carol Shields

Throughout human history, various minority groups find themselves the targets of prejudice, discrimination, and even violent acts of hatred. One of the most notable ways in which the struggles of these groups are documented and exemplified is through literature. Sexual orientation, and more specifically homosexuality, is a prominent point of controversy within the world of fiction writing, as well as through the nonfictional history of various societies. Sarah Waters’ Affinity is a prime example of how history and fiction can intertwine. Waters wrote this novel in the 1990’s, but set it in London during the Victorian Era. In order to create a realistic narrative, Waters had to ensure that it was historically accurate, even down to the societal impact of Margaret’s sexual preferences. Though it was not overtly discussed, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries marked the era in which “…homosexuality in its modern form truly began to emerge”(Willett 351). From the start of Affinity, Margaret’s emotional and psychological flaws are exposed through her diary. She also reveals details about her relationship with Helen, which ultimately foreshadows the outcome of her future romantic relationships. Many of Margaret’s hardships come from the pressures that her society puts on her and, in turn, she develops unhealthy relationships with those around her. Her isolation plays a huge factor in her dependence on Selina, another woman who appears to be in the same position as Margaret

“Just Treatment of Licentious Men. Addressed to Christian Mothers, Wives, Sisters, and Daughters” was one of many articles included in the first printing of the newspaper Friend of Virtue in 1838. The group behind the newspaper was the Boston Female Moral Reform Society (later to be changed to New England Female Moral Reform Society), made up of white women who were set on promoting sexual abstinence, and ridding society of promiscuity, prostitution, and in the process eliminating the sexual double standard. The article, written by a woman known only as L.T.Y., questioned the logic behind the treatment given to men and women who’ve had relations outside of marriage. For men the behavior was ignored- perhaps even expected, but women were cast

A true libertine of the Restoration Era, John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester – better known as his literary persona Rochester – is recognized for his poetry that often breaks barriers and social conventions in obscene ways. One such poem that is particularly explicit, some might even say pornographic, is entitled “A Ramble in St. James’s Park.” Including the sex, alcohol, and debauchery that is so characteristic of Rochester, this poem creates a unique balance between depravity of content and elegance of literary form. While there is much evidence that Rochester represents sex explicitly with obscene and shocking language in “A Ramble in St. James’s Park” for the purpose of satirizing both himself and contemporary love poems, I will argue that in doing so, he also makes a broader statement regarding the tension between the public and private spheres of sexuality, specifically representing female sexuality in the public sphere and erotic female bodies as communal property; finally, the lewd language hints at an anxiety about the power of the feminine over men, thus queering gender roles by becoming the abject feminine.

It was a genre with detailed descriptions of people’s sexual life. This was a result of the confessionals in which it went from religious to secular. The third one is looking at sexuality regarding the interests of the state. Sex became the public interest in order for the state to classify sexualities and tracking and policing sex. These all are seen to explain as part of the repressive hypothesis.

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

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

Ladies ' lives all through Europe amid the Middle Ages and Renaissance were unequivocally formed by the irresolute states of mind of a capable Church whose ethical solutions were authorized not just in the confession booth, additionally by the laws of the state. Eve was the villainess of Christian history, the reason for unique sin and of man 's fall. God made her from Adam 's rib, subordinate. (Brown, 2001, p. 27) Be that as it may, she was enticed by the serpent, and enticed Adam to sexual

Irene’s queer personality lives repressed in her id and the attraction can be noticed through many too detailed descriptions of Clare body parts and personality. “Her lips, painted a brilliant geranium red, were sweet and sensitive and a little obstinate. A tempting mouth” (45). It is impressive to see how this supposedly straight woman describes Clare’s mouth as tempting, yet she does not stop there, because Irene also describes her voice, “What was it about Clare's voice that was so appealing, so very seductive?” (52). The utilization of these adjectives is questionable because even when Irene talks about her husband Brian, she never uses adjectives that could express desire or even love. Irene is aware that her marriage is an arrangement where according to Brian sex is a just grand joke (60).

The book Sexuality in Medieval Europe: Doing Unto Others written by Ruth Mazo Karras introduces the reader to a fresh new way of analyzing sex and gender related topics in the Middle Ages. The book takes on an argumentative approach as it explains the differences in sexual identity as defined by society today versus the way it was defined in a traditional medieval society. The book covers a range of topics in the study of sexual identity in the years between the fifth century and the fifteenth century. It is important to explore sex and gender issues in the Middle Ages because it is where many opinions held today originated from. The book delves into the differences in the way we experience gender and sexuality today and in the way it

The sexuality downplayed in the Victorian culture is able to be exploited in Stoker’s writing because of the social norm to express sexuality through literature. “The cultural (literary and aesthetic) was consumed with images of mystical, deadly and sexually enticing female subjects” to exemplify what a “fallen woman” is (Moore). A painting by E.C. Barnes made in the 1860’s shows the moral downfalls of a woman working in a city. The insinuations of the painting direct the viewer into seeing the darkness and negative connotations of a working woman. There are implications to what may happen to the woman if she lets her guard down.

Stone’s value of queer relocates the hermeneutic for me to a place of power; it now, centralizes power in being able to see pass the norm. It now makes queer the normative response instead of being the outlier of society. No longer does the harlot, the women or the miscreant become demonized while those who finger-pointed become heroes and sheroes because they told on the sinner. Stone gives us a new way of approaching the sinner without first condemning them prior to knowing their sin. This speaks too Dr. Ray’s book Do No Harm, where people are condemn because of they do not meet the qualification of said person who is pre-judging them. Queer perspective provides change through relationship with bodies as text without exegesis.

The central belief of history is that most Pop artists personal reason was to purely to be artistic and creative in the creation of their work. Nowhere is this clearer than in the amount of attention Pop artists commited to the issues of Eros, understand both narrowly under the rubric of the erotic and more broadly. We have already seen considerable bodies of work devoted to facets of the subject in the output of Lichtenstein and Indiana. This examination is of those artists for whom the issues of sex and love ere even more central to their Pop production: Mel ramos, Tom Wesselmann, John Wesley and a pair of women: Marisol and Roslayn Drexler. What is interesting to observe is how differently the subject was described by the two genders. Whereas the men, like those discussed earlier, were concerned with issues of desire, the two women understood the arena largely in terms of male aggression. That these artists, unlike their homosexual colleagues, were able to express themselves so openly on matters heretofore virtually excluded from American art was the result of a huge shift in national attitudes towards sex that began in the 1950.

Women in literature have been portrayed in a multitude of ways throughout time. From goddesses to witches, and even prostitutes, women have not been limited in their representations. One challenge, in particular, is repression of their sexuality. In novels by Kate Chopin, George Orwell, and Kazuo Ishiguro, female characters live in societies that seek to regulate their sexuality. Published in 1899, The Awakening by Chopin focuses on Edna Pontellier, a woman who seeks to create a life outside her marriage by pursuing relationships with various lovers. George Orwell’s 1984, which was published in 1949, features Julia, a woman who rebels against her society by having sex for pleasure and not for reproduction. In addition, like Chopin and Orwell,

In patriarchy, male privilege is marked as having control over women’s sexuality. Cultural representations have been designed to accommodate male preferences and patterns of gratification. Women’s pleasures have been relegated to marginal position to disallow gratification and to be enfranchised. The focus in Silence! The court is in Session is on Leela Benare, a middle class working woman and her sexual relationship with men. She willingly offers her body to the men she loves. First she offers herself to her maternal uncle, and later to a married man, Prof. Damle.

People around the world tend to say that this is a man’s world, and in the novel Disgrace by J.M Coetzee, the author demonstrates how men are more “powerful” than woman through the way the characters use women for sex and the experience each women in the novel goes through. The three main female characters that demonstrate the different experience of women and sex are; Melanie, Lucy, and Bev. Melanie is a young, ex-student of Professor Lurie, who is beautiful enough to seduce a men but also vulnerable enough to be taken advantage by them. On the other hand, Lucy is neither old nor young; she does not care about her image and is a country woman, which makes her characteristics be less sophisticated. Lucy is an important character for sexuality, since she is a lesbian, giving her somewhat male characteristics also. Bev is an older, more experienced woman, with country characteristics as well. Each woman has different characteristics but all three of them contribute to the terms of sexuality and gender differences.