How The Female Body Is Displayed In The Story, Where It

The author’s white, female characters act as an example for her white, female readers to model themselves after. This argument is more than go out and vote or start protests, because those methods of change are not a reasonable expectation for a group of people whose role is to be polite, hospitable, and demure. Thus, the methods the women are expected to take are indirect by being more subtle and persuasive instead of direct and confrontational. Subtlety and persuasion are demonstrated by the female characters, Mrs. Emily Shelby and Mrs. Mary Bird. Mrs. Shelby used her subtlety to throw off the plans of the slave trader and allowing her slaves to escape. She slyly suggests to her slaves take their time in collecting the horses, before then offering her guest dinner and pushing back the time for eating, because the meal is supposedly not suitable enough for guests. Mrs. Bird discusses her opinion on slavery and fugitive slave laws with her husband in a very womanly manner, respectful and persuasive, in a successful attempt to convince him to take an abolitionist stance in his job as senator. Both Mrs. Shelby and Mrs. Bird are able to receive their desired results by working within their role as women. Even though they are not taking a direct action of fighting slavery, they are still making a difference just through different means. These fictional women are embracing their hidden power of their gender and acting as examples for the real life

The first chapter in “Song of Solomon” immediately sets a precedence for the traditional gender roles for this particular community of the man working and of the woman taking care of domestic duties and ensuring her outward appearance matched the societal expectations (Morrison 3-4). The Author writes “men were at work; and most of the women were fastening their corsets and

How does Carter represent gender and explore gender issues to create meaning in either ‘The Tiger’s Bride’, ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ or ‘The Bloody Chamber’?

‘The Historical Notes’ highlights that Offred’s story of patriarchal attitudes which does not only exist in the past, it threatens the future as well through Professor Piexioto’s dismissal of Offred as a figure belonging to a vanished past and his sexist attitudes. ‘The Historical Notes’ highlights the fact that the objectification of women has a cyclical nature as ‘The Future’ dehumanises and objectifies women, just like ‘The Republic of Gilead’. This is evident through the use of puns, where Professor Pieixoto compares Professor Crescent Moon, the ‘Arctic Chair’, to an ‘Arctic Char.’ The word ‘Char’ is slang for a domestic servant, once again highlighting the dehumanisation of women. The reference of Professor Crescent Moon to the ‘Arctic Char’ fish, belittles the female gender and emphasises the notion of consumption, the recurring idea that women are food, which is continuously used throughout the novel. Furthermore, the ‘laughter’ that follows, exemplifies the fact that sexism is funny and acceptable. Additionally, The Handmaid’s Tale’s ‘homage to the great Geoffrey Chaucer’ who wrote The Canterbury Tales trivialises Offred’s story and undermines the female authorship, thus accentuating the imposition of the male voice. Moreover, this ‘reconstruction’ of her story by men silences the female voice and removes Offred’s authority over her own life story by rending it in a gesture similar to Gilead’s suppression of a woman’s identity. This deconstruction of her story in such a scientific manner sanitises the importance of connecting emotionally to Offred’s story as well as silences the female voice by the dominating male gaze. Therefore, it is evident that through the use of her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood is attempting to warn us against female subjugation in a patriarchal

The two publications that best contextualize gender are the Lowell Offering and the Godey’s Lady Book periodicals as the articles found in both magazines depict traditional gender roles for males and females. For the Lowell Offering, this is best seen in the article entitled, “Woman’s Proper Sphere”, which focuses on the thoughts associated with oppression like, “Is it ambitious wish to shine as man’s equal, in the same scenes in which he mingles” or “Does she wish for a more extensive influence, than that which emanates from a woman’s home?” Yet these progressive questions are met with answers like “How necessary, then, that she should understand these pursuits (of men), that she may truly sympathize with and encourage those, with whom she may be associated. In this way…her influence must and

In the novel, Song of Solomon, most of the women are mistreated, and men are seen as the superior. This book addresses feminism from various perspectives. Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes. Throughout the novel, women are not treated equally. Men automatically assume that women will take the “motherly role” and take care of all the children. All the women seem to have to reach this “beauty standard,” or else they will be embarrassed. Most of the women are sexually objectified by the men, also. Overall, it appears that men have too much control of the opposite sex in Song of Solomon. There is only a small portion of women who are independent of men, but those who are get rejected by

What I find amazing is that women did not even question their place. They just accepted things for the way they were and didn't question why things were like that. It was like they didn't even contemplate the idea that they could have a say in anything at all. Ma is a prime example of this. She has stood in the shadows and discreetly controlled the goings on for her whole life. An example of this is when Casy is being invited to join them on their move. "And then he stood, embarrassed by his own speech. Ma looked to Tom to speak, because he was a man, but Tom did not speak. She let him have the chance that was his right, and then she said 'Why, we'd be proud to have you.' " (Pg. 127) The degradation of women in this quote is clearly evident, and ridiculous. Tom is Ma's son, and yet she has to look to him to wait for him to speak before she is allowed to voice her opinion because of her gender. Neither age nor the fact that she gave birth to him can give her the right to speak her mind. On the flip side, Ma let him have his "right." She let him; as in allowed it to

Patriarchal culture has dominated society throughout history. Males have control in many aspects of life and women have continued to fight for equal rights in society. There are many ways women have contributed to the fight for equality; some more physical and other less abrasive. Education and Literature gave the voice to a few women in a male-centered world. Poet Lady Mary Wroth captures the injustices experienced by women in the feminine narrative of Sonnet 9 from her collection of sonnets, songs, and lyrics entitled 'Pamphilia to Amphilantus. In this poem, Wroth explores the thoughts of elite women in the 1700s and uses aspects of her own cultural and historic circumstance to convey the theme of a religious patriarchal society.

Male seducers are represented as boys sowing their oats -- part of normal living. Seduced females are viewed as weak and treacherous --  a treachery that woman in her "frailty" is unable to avoid. This is a very bizarre message.

Original fairy tales such as Perrault’s ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ or De Beaumont’s ‘Beauty and The Beast’ depict women as both socially and physically inferior – they reflect a hegemonic patriarchal social structure that restricted female voice and independence in order to maintain the status quo. In ‘The Bloody Chamber’ Angela Carter effectively draws out the theme of feminism by contrasting traditional elements of the fairy-tale genre and Gothic fiction – which usually depict female characters as weak and helpless – with strong female protagonists. This provides Carter the ability to create sexually liberated female

“We’re never, ever, ever going to be able to fly as high, unless we’re both in support of each other” is what Emma Watson, actress, model and humanitarian, said during a speech as the U.N. Women Goodwill Ambassador to introduce the launch of the “HeForShe” campaign, where the “solidarity movement for gender equality that brings together one half of humanity in support of the other half of humanity, for the benefit of all”. Feminism, the act of advocating for female rights in order for them to be equal to those of men, has been an issue for hundreds of years that is sadly lacking present-day progression. In The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, five females narrate their experiences in Congo during the sixties under not only the Belgian’s rule, but more terribly, under the tyranny of Nathan Price, a Baptist preacher on a mission to convert “arrogant” Congolese people into faithful Christians. Ironically enough, Nathan’s wife, Orleanna, and four daughters, Ruth May, Adah, Leah and Rachel, whom were formerly blind followers of him realize that their patriarch is actually the imprudent and arrogant one. In the end, one by one, they dynamically turn on Nathan and stand up for themselves. The Poisonwood Bible challenges the oppression of women by bringing light to female strength and capability, pointing out gender inequalities and strengthening the regard for female voice.

With few exceptions, our male dominated society has traditionally feared, repressed, and stymied the growth of women. As exemplified in history, man has always enjoyed a superior position. According to Genesis in the Old Testament, the fact that man was created first has led to the perception that man should rule. However, since woman was created from man’s rib, there is a strong argument that woman was meant to work along side with man as an equal partner. As James Weldon Johnson’s poem, “Behold de Rib,” clearly illustrates, if God had intended for woman to be dominated, then she would have been created from a bone in the foot, but “he

As he is escaping through the swamp, he hears ‘nothing’, for the first ever time. He then realises that the silence is coming from a girl, she is the first girl Todd has ever seen. Both novels show the hierarchy of men and women and how gender inequality and sexism is something that is so recent, but has also been a really big problem and debate for a very long time, and that maybe we haven’t addressed the problem completely. They both show us difficult relationships, with all the blame usually being put on the woman even if she had done nothing wrong. Section

Carter always had this emotion in his voice on how serious this issue was and how it affects all women around the world. How abuse has gotten so far as to murder a woman because she has disgraced the family, through how they act, bringing someone their father does not approve of or even the clothing they wear. Carter uses the fact that all women are abused globally in many different ways, and how apathetic people have become of it. Using the example that not many cases of sexual assault are actually recorded and even in the military which only now are starting to report sexual assaults, its up to the commanding officer to report them in and it is a gamble if they will be marked down. Even such a thing of genital mutilation occurs in Egypt, where “doctors” will close up a woman’s genitals enough for them only to urinate or menstruate, or even worse, to cut off piece of it until there is little to nothing left. The ways of abuse gather a long list for women, through this

Atwood's focus on sexism shows readers the importance of feminism and equality. For example, on page 72, the author writes, "This week Janine doesn't wait for us to jeer at her. It was my fault, she says. It was my fault. I led them on. I deserved the pain." This quote shows that the women are being conditioned into blaming themselves if something such as sexual assault were to happen to them. It's important because readers should recognize the unjust way of thinking and oppose sexism such as this. Continually, in the novel it says, "Women can't hold property anymore, she said. It's the new law" (178). In the story, when society abruptly changed, women had their rights taken away as displayed in the quote. This illustrates how sexist the society is in the novel and how Atwood believes life would turn out if people were to disregard equality. Finally, the job and treatment of the handmaids throughout the story is very unjust. The handmaids are used for couples who can't have children on their own and must follow strict rules and complete their job or else they face severe consequences. This conveys, yet again, the inhumane way a lot of the women are treated and the wrongs of sexism. Ultimately, this theme of sexism