Feminist In The Captured Goddess

The Venus of Willendorf can be a considered a landmark of the Paleolithic Era for various reasons. For one, it is not native to its land. It is unknown as to where it was originally created. Whenever it was found in 1908 researchers discovered that the statue was made of a type of limestone that was not native to that area, which led them to conclude that it had been brought to that particular area. Secondly, some experts believe that the statue gives a clear indication of what the people of that time worshiped. Some researches found that many people during the time worshiped the Venus of Willendorf as a fertility goddess.

The Puritans were a religious group who left the Church of England because they wanted to have more freedom with their religion. They thought the Church of England was “too Catholic”. They believed the Bible and its rules were the number one thing to go by and that all humans were evil and had to overcome their sin. Women had to cover their whole bodies in clothing. They couldn’t show their ankles or wrists. They also had to wear their hair up and out of their face at all times, except if they were in a room alone with only their husband. They always were on one side of the church away from the men or in the back on the church. These women in the society that will be talked about have broken laws and have been misjudged.

Gender inequality has been a controversial topic for numerous religions and cultures throughout history. Women were commonly regarded as the subservient gender, an idea that was no different in Ancient Greece. Throughout Greek mythology, women were considered inferior and troublesome symbols, while men were known for courage, leadership, and strength. While there is no argument of the flagrant sexism that is illustrated in Greek mythology, it can also be claimed that women were given a situated position of freedom, necessity, and power as well. Many popular Greek plays and myths contain several complexes and well described female characters. These goddesses themselves, partook the role of victim, heroine, and villain as it illustrated the diversity of characters in which women were portrayed and seen in both Ancient Greek society and mythology, allowing us to question “Were the women of Ancient Greek mythology equally represented as free and superior?” The creation of the Greek mythological universe, the creation of multi-gendered goddesses or deities, and the free and superior personalities accredited to women in Ancient Greek mythology to answer the question that women were fairly represented as powerful in Ancient Greek mythology.

“I’m a woman…Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” This quote from Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” characterizes the common theme between the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the speech, “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and “Phenomenal Woman”. The common theme between these three different pieces is the idea of a strong, independent woman, which ties into feminism and the concept of being equal to men. Even though these three pieces are each diverse genres, they are all conveying the same general theme in their own way. Throughout any of these texts, it is evident that the authors are pushing the idea that a female is not inferior to any man just because they have a different body structure or a different gender.

In the story of The Chaser by John Collier you might be able to analyze the story with a feminist analysis, which mean with the eyes of a female. Using my eyes and knowledge of feminist, women want to be created equally no more, no less, but sometimes men don’t understand this knowledge of the feminist culture. Although many may like the story of The Chaser, many may not like it due to their perspective on their initial perspective. The Chaser is basically about a man trying to find something to make a women fall in love with him, now if you can’t see that making a women fall in love with a man is wrong then stop reading now, but if you agree with this perspective carry on.

Though it was uncommon during the 1800’s, some women didn’t want to assume the traditional role of a typical Victorian lady. Such is the case in Kate Chopin 's The Awakening; she introduces us to Edna Pontellier a mother and wife during the said era. Throughout the story, we follow Edna 's journey of self-discovery and self-expression through emotions, art, and sex thanks to the help of people she meets along the way. Chopin decides to end the book with Edna’s suicide in an attempt to convey a sense of liberation from her repressed life, but was the reasoning behind her suicide what everyone else thinks? Consequently, this said journey took me along for the ride, and I had no complaints. As Edna figured out who she was, I felt as if I was

Author Zora Neale Hurston begins the novel by saying, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others, they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now women forget all those things they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly” (page 1). In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston indicates the relationship between men and women by using gender roles. Although seeming undeniably contrasting, there are not many differences between the two besides their incentive in life. Men being stubborn to fail, give up their dreams in spite of that, whereas women acquire what they want from life; that which is most important to them, to support them through failure. Knowing this, a main theme to take from the novel is that despite the distinction between men and women, they both should not be restricted to the gender roles of society.

Sexism and feminism are controversial issues, that is why they are a global issue in today’s society. People who argue sexism does not exist tend to focus only on the wires of the issue in relation to a birdcage. Like Frye said, “...step back...and take a macroscopic view of the whole cage, that you can see why the bird does not go anywhere; and then you will see it in a moment”(Frye). So if people expand their focus to the world it is overwhelmingly apparent that in many countries women are second class subjects. Sexism is still a problem which feminists in our society today are still trying to fix. Through her use of characterization, symbolism and changes in relationships, Zora Neale Hurston argues in Their Eyes Were Watching God which is widely viewed as a feminist novel that even though American society is majority sexist and are uninformed about feminism, feminism will ultimately overtake but will not be enough to eradicate the sexism that has been embedded in all aspects of our daily lives. As Janie retrieves her independence after being maltreated by men, one must know that the novel cannot simply be regarded as a feminist novel because there are aspects that dispute with talks about feminist theory. The novel grapples in a way with feminist ideals of equality of men and women and traditional gender roles which is referred to as sexism.

In the modern world women work, vote, run for office and the list goes on. In most aspects, women are equal to men. However, this was not always the case. In centuries past, women were not viewed as being equal to men socially, intellectually, or politically and were thought incapable of accomplishing anything of value. Consequently, many cultures held the view that women were possessions whose only purpose was to be subservient to men. The view of women as mere objects is evident in various works of literature throughout the ages. Two classic works of literature that exemplify this are The Thousand and One Nights and Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of

Nanette Salomon, a very well known feminist writer, wrote the article, “Judging Artemisia: A Baroque Woman in Modern Art History.” The article opens up with a discussion about the 2001-2 exhibition of Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy. The author explains that three things are unusual here: the fact that two famous artists were presented at the same time, that they were related as father and daughter, and the fact that the woman was better known than the man. Her intent in this article is to look at the effects of this trope (figure of speech) in the past and in the present.

The title of Sarah B. Pomeroy's book on women in antiquity is a summary of the main categories of females in the literary imagination and the societies of ancient Greece and Rome, over a period of fifteen hundred years. Beginning with goddesses, Pomery retells some Greek myths, outlining the social functions of female Olympians – the goddesses are archetypical images of human females, as envisioned by males. Desirable characteristics among a number of females rather than their concentration in one being are appropriate to a patriarchal society. Demosthenes states in the fourth century B.C. this ideal among mortal men, "We have mistresses for our enjoyment, concubines to serve our person and wives for the bearing of legitimate children (Pomery 1995)." Pomery’s goal in writing this book was to detail and outline the true significance of women in all other their roles in antiquity.

Pomeroy, S. B. (1995). Goddesses, whores, wives, and slaves: women in classical antiquity. New York: Schocken Books.

The conflict of this poem is male authority and control versus the right of a

In book five of Plato’s Republic, Socrates argues that in the ideal city of Kallipolis, both men and women will serve as guardians and auxiliaries. Consequently, Plato appears to endorse feminist ideologies. Firs,t I will define proto-traditional feminism, and modern feminism. I will then argue that Plato presents Socrates, and thereby himself, as an advocate for feminism. However, I will show that Plato is only a feminist under the proto-traditional definition of feminism. He fails to fit the modern definition of feminism, as this definition is contingent on equality and equity. Furthermore, I will consider the objection that Plato cannot be a feminist due to his motivation for equality. Although Plato endorses some feminist ideologies,

In Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam and Laila were brought together due to circumstances they could not control. Although they were both oppressed wives of a cruel and violent husband, Rasheed, they were eventually able to regain power over their own lives. The two women supported and learned from each other, finding strength in their relationship. Their relationship was an alliance of sorts and was essential to their ability to regain power over their lives. Once Mariam and Laila befriended each other, they each started to gain courage and hope and began to take more control over their lives in separate, small acts of courage and rebellion that eventually led to significant events which cemented their newly regained power. The developing of power did not come without obstacles, but Mariam and Laila were able to persevere and continue to stand up for themselves against both Rasheed and their societal constraints. Finding strength and motivation from each other and from other loved ones essential to their efforts, Mariam and Laila were able to take power over their own lives by standing up to and retaliating against oppressors in a series of events which led to the pivotal moment when Mariam kills Rasheed, finally setting both women free and giving them both complete power over