Feminine Figure In Archetypal Psychology

In the excerpt “Why Do We Make So Much of Gender?”, from his 1997 book The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy, Allan Johnson argues gender through identity and culture. Johnson starts out by expressing opposition on how women are looked at through a patriarchal society and not the biology from which they came. He mentions the feminist argument that women in a patriarchal society are “oppressed” and that this comes from social order (545). He goes on to point out, the focus should be on raising children to adulthood rather than worrying about reproduction. Although, I agree with Johnson’s arguments, there are things in this world that cannot and should not be changed.

An expecting couple awaits to discover the gender of their baby. The nurse announces that it’s a girl. The couple is extremely excited, but do they truly grasp the weight of what this implies? Gender is not simply a physical trait, as it affects nearly every aspect of a person’s life. Stereotypes repress the potential in all men and women. The same stereotypes are found throughout literature such as Medea by Euripides, Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, “Sonnets” by Shakespeare, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Frederick Waterman’s “The Best Man Wins”. A common thread between these pieces is that power can be gained by those who are suppressed by defying gender stereotypes and social hierarchies.

Think Like a Man (2012) is an American romantic comedy directed by Tim Story. It is based on Steve Harvey’s book Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, which was a mega best-seller of 2009 that provides women with insights into the male’s mind and strategies for conquering a man’s heart. As suggested by its title, the movie encourages women to think like a man so that they can learn to control the man. Under the advice from Harvey’s book, four women determine to learn Harvey’s strategies in order to solve the conflicts with their male partners, who are the perfect embodiments of four types of men: "The Mama's Boy," "The Non-Committer," "The Dreamer," and "The Player." Though Harvey tries to use his works to empower women with their self-respect, all he does is to teach women to “lie, cheat, manipulate, beg, borrow and steal to get into a relationship” (Lang). The idea, “It’s a man’s world,” presented in the opening credit penetrates the whole storyline, in which relationships are depicted as battlefields. The movie only acknowledges females’ sacrifices in the end for a reconciliatory happy ending. This essay argues that Think Like a Man involves tons of gender stereotypes, which convince women that to nag and to trick men is the only way to obtain their respect.

Joosen’s thesis revolves around the didactic potential fairy tales hold, arguing the feminist side in criticizing the gender bias and influence that fairy tales have on young children. She goes on to introduce the idea that retelling fairy tales, with a feminist twist, provides a new perspective on the traditional ones, using Sleeping Ugly as an example. Joosen then compares Lieberman’s critiques to the tale – traditional versus transformed. Following, she analyzes the purpose of retellings and problems within the example tale. The writer highlights the idea of “read[ing] against the text” to question the intertextual connections (135). To conclude, Joosen reiterates the argument between the educational and aesthetic aspect of the

Because of today’s society, its standards and how we treat young girls and women, mothers want to protect their daughters with a good reputation and want to be appreciated by the men in their lives. In some cases, mothers can be stern on their daughters, because they want to teach them to be a better woman that they once were. Sometimes, mothers have to be considerate when trying to educate their daughters about the real world. In other words, parents help their children make the right decisions, but it is the children’s choice to do what is best for them. In conclusion, “Girl” is a perfect archetype to show that young girls are trained a particular way to become a woman that are mostly skilled in household chores with a non-promiscuous

Idealized as the symbolic figure for obedience and domesticity, the power of society’s gender expectations has dictated a woman’s identity. A dominate belief held throughout American history, these traditional femininity norms were and still are reinforced by immigrant communities today. Nonetheless, what often goes unacknowledged are the stories of those female immigrant youths, Pachuca’s or female gang members, who have rejected societies beliefs to construct new identities centered around hyper-masculine subcultures. Alienated and labeled as hypersexualized or masculine, both Catherine Ramirez’s novel The Women In The Zoot Suit and T.W. Wards ethnographic study “Gangsters Without Borders” explores the erasure and double standards present for young immigrant women in a matriarchal world (2009, 2013). Moreover, the authors highlight how immigrant female youth’s identities are used as a form of oppression in both the public and private spheres. Whether women conform to being obedient housewives or decide to break gender and racial boundaries, the Pachuca’s and female gangsters consciously chose to make a critique of American gender expectations.

“In this respect, male characters have been portrayed as being strong, potent, and powerful, with mastery themes such as cleverness and adventure, whereas female characters were portrayed as impotent, weak, passive, naive, even sweet, with second sex themes such as beauty. Gentility, domesticity, marriage, emotions, motherhood, and so on” (Ruterana, 5). I will argue that these literary genres should strive to change for a more equal and independent role for female characters in these fairytales. In fairy tales and folklore women can be portrayed as two

“Girls do this; boys do that.” From a very young age, children are taught what they can and cannot do solely based on their gender. We are told what we can and cannot like. Society has set up expectations and rules that we “must” follow, referred to as gender stereotypes. With each generation these stereotypes become stronger and stronger. Those who do not obey these stereotypes are called names and picked on. But society has never told us what happens when someone does not fit this mold. We have never been instructed on what to do if someone does not like what they are supposed to like, when someone does not do what they are supposed to do. Jared Jennings, not only five years old, was living his life as a lie.

In this paper I will present an analysis of two fitness magazines, Self and Men’s Fitness. Having read a lot of fitness magazines myself, I am used to the way women’s magazines look and what approach they have, so I find it interesting to compare that to how fitness is presented in a magazine for men. The feature I have chosen to look closer at is food, how it is presented to reach a male and female audience

Interpretively, the form-content of this sculpture undoubtedly expresses the subject of feminine beauty. The shapes and structural relationships can be directly interpreted to reveal some quite enchanting archetypal mysticism on the subject. (Martin and Jacobus 53, 54, 105) The diamond shape formed in the upper body can be interpreted as a symbol of emotional strength. Diamonds are notoriously hardy stones and the area that the diamond is placed suggests matters of the heart. Women are often characterized as being emotionally strong. The archetype of the moon is quite apparent as an interpretive form in this sculpture as well. The moon is associated with water because of its pull on the tides, and water is associated with emotion because of

The notion of masculine and feminine archetypes in both historical and present day terms undoubtedly exists in today’s society. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common for individuals to regard both sexes in different manners, perspectives, and viewpoints even as young as their adolescence. Where women are considered passive, home-oriented, and objects of sexuality, men are often thought of as aggressors, public figures, and protectors. There are many various explanations why men and women are regarded so oppositely by their peers. Such variances in opinions and perspectives can arise from the different biological and psychological traits of both sexes, the upbringing of an individual, and the roles the two genders have played historically and in the modern world.

Visual media such as video games have developed so much over the last twenty years. Games have become a popular media with all types of people throughout the world. This media affects many different people of all ages, religions, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation and especially gender. Gender bias is a huge issue within the games media. Issues such as stereotypes, objectification, overly sexualised characters mostly female and poor representation of female characters for example ‘damsel in distress’. These issues have been changing over time but are still within the media today. I want to discuss in this essay positive female archetypes within games and be able to compare overused female stereotypes in games to heroic female

The media, in all forms, plays a significant role in constructing and promoting the normative notions of femininity and masculinity. Gentlemen’s Quarterly, or GQ, is a men’s magazine which, focuses primarily on male’s fashion and culture through advertisements and articles of varying topics. Despite being a men‘s magazine, there is a fair amount of women and femininity displayed throughout the magazine. This paper will be focusing on and analyzing only the visual representation of women and femininity within the men’s magazine. There are three main modes in which women and femininity are shown in the visuals of the magazine. First, Femininity, in this September 2014 edition of GQ, is often displayed through the application of males exhibiting feminine qualities. Second, notions of women and femininity are shown through the interactions between males and females throughout the magazine, being almost exclusively showing women as accessories for the men. Finally, the subjects of interest are shown through females in ads with solely female models. The magazine enforces many of the social norms dictating what femininity should be and how females should act. Additionally, despite the magazine mostly using female models in a degrading way, it proceeds to, on many occasions, seemingly mask masculinity behind feminine characteristics.

Imagine a world of endless wonder, where historical artifacts actually contain powers beyond our control. If something like this were to occur who would you picture protecting said artifacts? Most people would say men because in our society men are deemed the protectors and leaders. In SyFy’s Warehouse 13, there are powerful artifacts but in season one out “of the six principle characters, four of them are women, including the boss” (Atchley, 2014, para. 4). In the show “masculine attributes are given to women and feminine qualities are given to men” (Atchley, 2014, para. 4). Overall the characters are treated as just people. Gender is more often than not thrown aside unless it is something that only that specific gender goes through, such as ovarian cancer. In fact, “all of the women are presented as intelligent, strong and more capable than their male counterparts” and the same goes for Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer (McMillian, 2010, para. 6).” Which is why the females in Warehouse 13 are not only great feminist characters but also highly influenced by Buffy. Because of this, in this paper I will discuss why these female characters in Warehouse 13 are feminist along with the similarities between them and the characters in Buffy followed by a discussion on why Warehouse 13 is important to science fiction programing. This essay draws from Stephanie Genz’s Singled Out (2010), A. Susan Owen’s Vampires, Postmodernity, and Postfeminism (2010) and Sharon Ross’s

The role of gender was evidently defined before the twentieth century. However, the twentieth century brought a lot of changes to women and their condition, inside and outside the house. Women started getting appreciated in the previously male dominating society. However, this didn’t last for long and by the mid-century men continued their dominating role back in the society. Tennessee Williams wrote this play in the fifties when this change was happening in society. In this play, male dominance is clear. Women were confined to the household and away from the outside world. By analyzing the character of Stanley; a masculine and Stella; a symbol of femininity; and other characters of this play, readers can clearly see how male-dominated world it was.