Femininity the Fickle Friend
Femininity has several denotations especially from person to person however, the general definition means the very essence of being a woman. How would one even measure this essence? What does this even mean? “The very essence of being a woman” is a pretty broad statement. Maybe for some femininity means being dainty, angelic, or virginal. Perhaps for others femininity means rearing children while continuing to be graceful and frail all the while oozing with sexuality; while at the same time maintaining a certain amount of innocence. No matter which definition best suits the word “femininity”, the woman of Cranford all showcase what femininity actually means to them and it is manifested in vastly different ways.
This novel opens by stating that Cranford is populated by Amazons. The word Amazons connotes fearless females towering over the very men in which they do not hold in a very high regard. Amazons would be far too busy living out their lives to become enamored with such trivial sentiments as men. However, as soon as Captain Brown arrived at a dinner party that the ladies were also in attendance at the demeanor changed completely “Ruffled brows were smoothed, sharp voices were lowered at his approach.” (Gaskell 9) The very presence of a man was enough to stop these alleged Amazons dead in their tracks and make their expressions soften? Hopefully a mountain out of a mole hill isn’t being made here, but it seems like the women at a first
Femininity is a concept whose attributes are contingent on the culture it is in—what one culture may consider typically feminine traits could largely vary from what another culture views as being feminine. While theater can sometimes subvert theses ideals and present women who function in ways that are not typically feminine, theater can often present idealistic representations of women who exemplify that culture’s ideals of femininity. Take, for example, the female characters in both Guan Hanqing’s Snow in Midsummer and Hroswit’s Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins. While both texts come from largely different cultural contexts—Snow in Midsummer was written in thirteenth century China for a general population whereas Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins was written in tenth century Germany as a closet drama—both texts have female protagonists whose rebellions exemplify feminine ideals of the respective cultures.
During the 19th century, social life began to become more sexualized and people began to be defined by their sexual behaviors. With this, the idea of love and romance was feminized; and women were considered the ones who expressed their emotions, accepted strong feelings, and remained pure. In contrast, men started to be considered sexualized creatures that were expected to be emotionally reserved. Today there is a sexual double standard that puts pressure on women to engage in less sexual activity than men and puts pressure on men to maintain a standard of masculinity, just like in the 19th century. Below we will not only explore the “feminization of love” as discussed in class, but also expand on how it has made an impact on sexual expectations of men and women and how this relates to the sexual stigmatization of casual sex.
The film industry has created the conventional gender roles of society into their movies; A majority of films have supported some of the male and female stereotypes. In the history of the film industry, the role of men is primarilythat of the stereotypical working class man or hero, while the roles of women are primarily portrayed as being somewhat inferior to men. In the 1930s through the 1970s, men held the leading roles in films while women played smaller roles. Men were typically employed, successful gentlemen, while the woman’s only job was a housewife. The film industry was mostly dominated by men. In terms of jobs, women were given mostly family roles and rarely were shown outside of their homes, while men had
It is interesting to see that Brown decided to present this information in the form of a quote instead of using his own words to describe the women of his novel. One of the reasons for this is to stay consistent with his novel. Brown is continually sourcing quotes from other authors at the beginning of his chapters as well as throughout the novel, to have us look on other people’s words with a
The Simpsons is a TV show that airs on the Fox network. During the fifth season, in an episode called Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy, Lisa challenges the makers of the Malibu Stacy doll to create a less sexist doll. The original creator of Malibu Stacy teams up with Lisa to create Lisa Lionheart to create a positive influence for young girls. This episode raised a lot of questions regarding gender roles and stereotypes. Gender stereotypes are prominent in today’s life style. Per gender stereotypes, girls like princesses and boys like cars. These gender roles, however, do not just apply to children. These roles are still very prominent in “grown up” society. The pay gap between men and women Gender roles are a big part of humankind society.
2.Yes. She is deriding/mocking them since she says that the ladies just have the longing to ensure their friends and family when they feel they are in danger but then the danger is perhaps nonexistent and not genuine or not real. She likewise mocks them by saying that they idolize their youngsters and love their spouses. Also growing wings are a mockery of women since they assume the role of angels or supernatural powers in order to protect their loved ones.
housewife, to stay at home. This is my explanation of the essay, "The Cult of
Women in today's society are still being held accountable by stereotypes. For example, how women get hired in the work environment, how they drive on the streets and strength. Stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. Meaning stereotype of women can be fixed widely.
Annette Bair and Marilyn Friedman have opposing views on whether women have distinct moral perspectives. Like Friedman, I believe that women have no different moral perspectives than men. Some people, like Bair, think that women base their moral perspectives on merely trust and love and men base theirs on justice. Friedman points out that care and justice coincide . People use justice to decide what is appropriate in caring relationships and care is brought into account when determining what is just. Since these two moral perspectives correspond, gender does not distinguish different moral perspectives.
"For most of history, anonymous was a woman", quotes Virginia Woolf. (1) Throughout history, women’s lives were restricted to domesticity and family, and they were left oppressed and without political voice. Over the decades the roles of women have dramatically changed from chattels belonging to their husbands to gaining independence. Women became famous activists, thinkers, writers, and artists, like Frida Kahlo who was an important figure for women’s independence. The price women paid in their fight for equality was to die or be imprisoned along with men, and they were largely forgotten in written history. However, the roles they took on were wide-ranging which included working in factories, tending the troops, taking care of children
For many years society has embraced the idea that the difference between men and women were biologically determined. Thou through traditions, media, and peers we act accordingly to how others view us. Each individual has pressure placed upon them based on their gender. Our sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Some theories interpret that a women is tender and a loving mother while on the other hand men are aggressive hunters and are the dominant one of the family. People who support this theory seems to believe that men and women are happier when fulfilling the roles nature determined for them. Women are to be nurturing and men are to be providers by
The textbook identifies four approaches to gender development: biological, interpersonal, cultural, and critical. Define each theory. Then answer the following question: which of the theoretical approaches to gender do you find the most valid? Be sure to include at least two examples from your own experience as well as two scholarly sources to back up your claim.
Given that the structure of gender qualities has been a large part of our views, in regards to a variety of issues, a number of people take exception to variances from within these rules. Keeping this in mind, we will discuss the reasons why many individuals are discouraged from crossing traditional gender traits, and closely examine parts of the article assigned for this paper.
Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.
In 1990 Judith Butler first published her book Gender Troubles, where she questions gender roles. Butler theorizes that gender, as in male and female, is a type of societal/gender colonialism created to keep people who do not fall within the gender roles from being part of the mainstream society. In her 1999 preface, in which she addresses the impact her book had in the decade since its original publication, Butler expresses the concern she had with the “heterosexual assumption in feminist literary theory (61).” Butler utilizes the works of other feminist philosophers to further demonstrate the inconsistency, and disconnect between fighting for women rights and fighting for human rights. Judith Butler makes an interesting argument on the failure to recognize the spectrum of gender, however, she makes a compelling argument on the use of language perpetuating a patriarchal society.