Kate Spencer And The 1999 Film Rosetta

Rose Mary Walls is far from being a caring mother or a positive role model to her children. She is unable to provide the basic necessities required for survival and even resorts to stealing what little resources the family has for herself; “I wondered if she had been looking forward to

As a child, Jeannette’s sense of wonder and curiosity in the world undermine the need for money. During her young adult years, a new wave of insecurity associated with her poor past infects her. Finally, as an experienced and aged woman, Jeannette finds joy and nostalgia in cherishing her poverty- stricken past. It must be noted that no story goes without a couple twists and turns, especiallydefinitely not Jeannette Walls’. The fact of the matter is that growing up in poverty effectively craftsed, and transformsed her into the person she becomeshas become. While statistics and research show that living in poverty can be detrimental to a child’s self-esteem, Jeannette Walls encourages children living in poverty to have ownership over their temporary situation, and never to feel inferior because of past or present socio-economic

In life we are told to “have it all” by raising a perfect family, getting a beautiful house, and having a high paying job; but is it possible to have it all? How many people can honestly have it all, when so many are just trying to survive? In the articles, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” and “Why Men Still Can’t Have It All,” Anne-Marie Slaughter and Richard Dorment, discuss how women function in the workplace and the different expectant outcomes for each, mainly focusing on the upper class. The primary objective of Slaughter’s passage was to show how women are treated poorly and how they are held to a different standard than their male counterparts. Dorment focused mostly on how neither women nor men should strive to “have it all” because nobody can. Together they consider the subjects of workplace discrimination, housework standards, family involvement, and striving to “have it all.”

“Look at us! We’re just like everyone else. We’ve bought into the same ridiculous delusion; this idea that you have to settle down and resign from life.” (April Wheeler, Revolutionary Road). It has become a society norm that women are meant to serve housewives; to cook, clean, garden, and nurture children, even though they are much more capable of other things. The role of women is greatly overseen, as they are not perceived to be of their full potential, rather than as societies idealistic expectation. This is because men and those who are wealthy are unable to look past gender and accept women as of equal significance.

Dating back throughout history woman were often considered to be too soft or docile to work. In the early 1800’s, as well as the 1950’s, it was thought that woman should not only be pure in heart, mind and body, but that they should be submissive to their husbands and not work outside the home, this was known as the Cult of Domesticity (Keister & Southgate, Inequality: a contemporary approach to race, class and gender, 2012, p. 228).

“The Importance of Work” is an essay from The Feminine Mystique, by Betty Friedan. The whole essay talks about how humans can contribute to the society with their full capacities through work and that women should hold jobs equivalent to men. Friedan insists that men and women need work that satisfies their creativity and contributes to human society. Today, doing paid work is a necessity because it helps us get through the day wether for our needs or our pleasures. The money earned from work supports the whole family. According to Mrs. Olive Schreiner, “if women did not win back their right to a full share of honored and useful work, women’s mind and muscle would weaken in a parasitic state; her offspring, male and female would weaken progressively, and civilization itself would deteriorate.” (Friedan 8) I strongly agree with this statement. I believe that the work ethic of most generations are influenced by parents. It is obvious that we look up to our parents. If the parents do not show any desire to work, their children will copy them and will not contribute to society. If a mother who is a stay-at-home mother or has a different job does not work hard or does not show any work ethic, her children will look up to her and follow her footsteps and eventually “civilization would deteriorate.” (Friedan 8)

Many people in today’s society find themselves guilty of believing the common misconception that money can buy happiness. They go to school to become a doctor, lawyer, or other high paying job, with money and social status as their only incentives. Many will find that they have fallen into a trap, when they start earning their large salary, but still are not happy. While there were many messages present throughout Studs Terkels Working: a graphic adaptation, the most important reoccurring message seemed to be that having pride and dignity as well as working at a job that fulfills one’s life passion or is simply enjoyable are more important qualities than earning a large salary and having a high rank on the social ladder. The interaction of

These people are revered for their title and position in society. They are treated with respect and are given the benefit of the doubt. However, many other jobs are considered lower-class; janitor, garbage collector, maid, truck driver, and cashier. Unfortunately, these people are made to feel somehow less-than in a society that values money, power and education. While reading the short story, The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, I felt connected to the main character Rosaura because she was the daughter of a maid and I am the daughter of a janitor. According to the story, “‘That one’s not your friend. You know what you are to them? The maid’s daughter, that’s what.’” In this quote, her mother tries to relay a hard truth to her daughter about class discrimination in an effort to spare her hurt feelings later. Regrettably, this is a common occurrence in our community and our prejudice against those needs to stop. Rosaura’s insistence that she was truly friends with a group of wealthy girls and her shock and disappointment at being paid as an employee at the party is evident. In the story, “Señora Ines, motionless, stood there with her hand outstretched. As if she didn’t dare draw it back. As if the slightest change might shatter an infinitely delicate balance.” This evidence highlights my claim because of the spotlight on the differences associated with distinctive classes of people and how they do

Ever since the days of the hunter gather society were prevalent, the tasks and duties of the workers were divided and gendered. Typically, men would generally perform labour intensive tasks such as hunting or building while women would carry out domestic work such as cleaning and cooking. In the last century, working-class women have played many crucial roles in the worker’s movement. Even in the Fordist era of the 1940’s, where most women were not in the workforce under the breadwinner model, working-class women had a crucial role in the household. Additionally they have made great contributions towards unionization of workers and workers’ rights.

The workplace serves as an environment that dehumanizes the employees that make up its community and expels anyone who opposes its practices. This statement proposes that the workplace in Daniel Orozco’s “Orientation” is very black and white and hosts very few shades of grey. The employees are trained to follow a specific set of rules and regulations that will ultimately make the workplace an almost robotic and emotionless environment. Although a community is present in the workplace, the personal lives of the employees must not be seen; for fear that it may interfere with the job at hand that must be done at the end of the monotonous eight hour work day.

The media does not openly express the continued oppression of women among society, but it discreetly masks this ideology through the portrayal that women should maintain their traditional roles. Magazines emphasize that women can aspire and achieve in being successful. Although, this emphasis is under contradictory terms that women can be successful by using “traditional female skills” (Sidel, 166) , such as starting a business by baking or sewing. The rising role of women taking on careers is being diminished by the portrayal that they may only do so under the unrealistic standards of beauty and family duties that they are responsible to hold. This oppression of women decreases the worth of their determination to be successful members of society because of their gender.

Women’s unpaid labor in maintains a systems of oppression in many ways. In Susan M. Shaw and Janet Lee’s Women’s Voices Feminist Visions unpaid labor done by many women is, “undervalued as women’s formal productive paid labor in the workforce is prioritized” (Shaw & Lee, 2015, 471). Shaw and Lee are saying that women work at home is devalued because it is viewed as informal and as work that is done out of love or is natural work. Since the work being done is viewed as natural work, it further reinforces gender stereotypes by stating that women are supposed to do the household work which is deemed more as feminine. This thought process follows patriarchal thinking, where women are expected to do the

‘What not to do’ is mostly a bigger concern than ‘What all can be done’. The dreams that can be embarked upon, the people who can be interacted with, the experiences that can be desired, the questions that can be asked, the routes through which money can be earned, etc. are slowly and steadily ‘injected’ into the minds of the common masses. Furthermore, their professional lives throw them into a complicated maze of guidelines and policies. This ‘job’ world presents the mental cage as an inviting, supremely comfortable enclosure but with a high current flowing through its bars. The moment one tries to touch the bars to experience the world beyond the boundaries, he is jolted back to the centre of the cage and gradually made to accept the fact that his mental freedom is what has been traded for the salary he gets at the end of the month. Once acceptance occurs, he himself starts to justify the boundaries and even contributes in making the cage stronger for himself and for its new entrants. As a result, he not only succumbs to SIMS but also makes it tougher to fight against. The toughest mental restrictions, however, are not created by education or profession but by restrictive human

In this poem “Woman’s Work”, the mother is forced to do household cleaning which represents a domestic life and the impact of gender specific roles. This poem is written in the third person point of view. The speaker is the daughter of a mother who doesn’t work outside, but only inside of the house, and is forced to do household cleaning with her as she hears her friends playing outside in the street. Author Julia Alvarez uses imagery, simile, and alliteration to portray the meaning of the poem that women work harder than men.

Work can cause many issues with oneself and society. There can be a inner struggle in someone if they don’t like their job. Society can cause the discussion of jobs to become a controversial topic. In the poems “Lady In The Pink Mustang” by Louise Erdrich, “The Restaurant Business” by James Tate, and “So Mexicans Are Taking Jobs From Americans” by Jimmy Santiago Baca, the authors use divisions and conflicts to make readers see a bigger picture.