Feminism Critical Anthology

It is possible to argue that Duffy's collection Feminine Gospels is a cry of rage and frustration. Certainly, The Map Woman and The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High present the persona's rage at the suppression of their individuality and identity, whilst The Diet presents Duffy's frustration at the expectations society places upon women.

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.

I believe that God commands it because it is already right or wrong. This could possibly mean that whether or not God exist, those right or wrong actions were already right or wrong instinctively. The only difference is that, some people believe that they need a creator or God to tell them what is morally correct or wrong to believe it is.

The most prevalent and popular stereotype of the post World war II era in America is one filled with women abandoning their wartimes jobs and retreating into the home to fulfill their womanly duties. In Joanne Meyerowitz’s Beyond the Feminine Mystique: A reassessment of Postwar Mass Culture, she shows how far women departed from this one dimensional image. While Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique is reflexive and focused on the mainstream, Meyerowitz’s analysis is a broader and more inclusive exploration of media, as she draws upon multiple sources. Although Friedan effectively unveiled the thought process and reasoning behind society's belief that the message of media was to make women think that their place was to be the happy housewife, Meyerowitz expanded her media archives and found a differing message in analyzing both female responses to media and exploring their stories.

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.

Through both poems, Duffy establishes the cause of both the women 's suffering and how it 's the foundation for both of their lives. In the 'Map women ' Duffy uses an extended metaphor that the "women 's skin was a map of the town", the

Through both poems, Duffy establishes the cause of both the women's suffering and how it's the foundation for both of their lives. In the 'Map women' Duffy uses an extended metaphor that the "women's skin was a map of the town", the skin is the

In this essay, I will be exploring the similarities and differences of female characters in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ by Tennessee Williams; and ‘The World’s Wife’ by Carol Ann Duffy. Both texts denote women as somewhat weak and incompetent and as having a predatory attitude towards the mainly dominant male characters. A Streetcar Named Desire was written in 1945 and it initially connected with America’s new found taste for realism following the Great Depression and World War II. William’s based the character of Blanche on his sister who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Williams himself was homosexual, and

During, the 1960s and 70s American Feminist Movement, women had begun to protest for the same human rights as men. The main areas of protest in The United States of America were Boston, Los Angeles, and New York City. There were many ways to protest, including writing, art, and organizations. There were many writers who wrote about feminism during this time, some include Betty Friedan, Robin Morgan, and Kate Millett. Art also encouraged feminism, specifically the paintings by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro. There were many feminist groups that protested for equal rights, some of which were The National Black Feminist Organization, The National Organization For Women, Bread and Roses, and The Chicago Women's Liberation Union. In the 1960s and 70s,

Haney-Peritz attributes this to it being, “unreadable in its own time because neither men nor women readers had access to a tradition of shared context which would have made the “female meaning” of the text clear” (122). However, in 1973, “the story’s feminist thrust” (113) was illuminated and these key ideas that embody a feminist story are examined by Haney-Peritz.

Writers consistently use poetry as a lens through which they scrutinize and delineate society. The poet, Carol Ann Duffy, uses her anthology, “The World’s Wife” to portray her strong feminist views. Within this collection Duffy gives a voice to female Biblical, historical, mythical and fictional figures, whose voices have previously not been heard. A famous feminist author, Simone de Beauvoir, once said, "Representation of the world is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth". Mrs Beast upholds the feminist literary tradition of re-writing literature to include these missing female perspectives, with Duffy's clear intention encapsulated in the line ‘These myths going round…

According to the stats, Christianity in America is declining. A massive research on religion changes from 2007 to 2014 in America showed that Christianity in America has dropped from being the religion of 78.4% to 70.6% to Americans, while those who identify with unaffiliated has risen 6.7% (America’s Changing Religious Landscape). The drop in Christianity, according to the study, is “driven mainly by declines among mainline Protestants and Catholics” (America’s Changing Religious Landscape). A quick observation can tell a person that the percent of Christians going down is about equal to the percent rise of the unaffiliated. Some people might assume that the drop in Christianity comes from the fact that more people are realizing that it is

This paper will analyze, the bill dubbed as the “slapping law”, in Russia. Using the perspective of Radical Feminist Thought, I argue that such violence is normalized through the lack of current public resistance to this crime and contends that women themselves begin to see this type of treatment as acceptable. Structurally, this paper will begin by providing a concise summary of the values of Radical feminism to give clarification on the standpoint of this feminist position in analysis of the current event. It will describe the history of criminalizing domestic violence; how liberal and radical feminist views differ in looking at the private/public and how popular understanding of domestic violence has shifted significantly over the years

"People who are liberal thinkers have been enslaved by these poseurs, these racketeers, people who are pretending to be liberal but who are in fact just naïve politically. I have been congratulated by women...who are so sick of being bullied by these sanctimonious puritans who call themselves feminists." --Camille Paglia

The definition of feminism is very elusive. Maybe because of its ever-changing historical meaning, it’s not for certain whether there is any coherence to the term feminism or if there is a definition that will live up to the movement’s variety of adherents and ideas. In the book “No Turning Back,” author Estelle Freedman gives an accurate four-part definition of the very active movement: “Feminism is a belief that women and men are inherently part of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies” (Freedman 7).