Motherhood In Herland

Eventually, there is a shift and distinction in class divisions Orwell shows, beginning with “the mob of sheep, whose chant used to be ‘four legs good, two legs bad,’ have been coached to chant ‘four legs good, two legs better’” (Orwell quoted in Gardner). The one thing that will never arise for these animals, or in a larger picture, society as a whole, is equality between the classes.

Toni Morrison’s Sula revolves around the relationship of her two main characters, Sula and Nel. The childhood friends grow apart with age. Although it is indicated that their friendship is the most important relationship they participate in, they eventually betray each other and lead dishonest lives. Throughout the novel, we see their constantly deteriorating relationship as a result of absence of a family life. Sula is a novel about the influence family may have on the make up of someone’s personality. In particular, the novel examines the effect parents can have on their children and the conscious effort the main characters make to be unlike their mothers.

Social reproduction refers to the continuous intergenerational physically and emotionally exhausting household labour that is needed to maintain life (Trotz, lecture, Jan 13, 2016). This kind of labour though is considered to be a woman’s duty. Since an economic activity happens where there is a market, social reproduction is not considered as one as it doesn’t have a visible market. Even though, it doesn’t have market value, domestic work greatly contribute to the economy (Waring, 2013). Since this work is done in homes and by women who are usually marginalized, it remains invisible and thus not considered for pay. This kind of work depends on the traditional division of labour in which women are seen as housewives while men, breadwinners. Thus, the gendering of social reproduction is a result of “doing gender,” where women’s abilities to be mothers are naturalized (Coltrane, 1989); in other words, women are made to fit into the simplistic “domestic = family = heterosexual woman = care and love” equation (Manalansan & Martin, 2008, p.2), while any man who does the caring work in a family is feminized and considered a lesser man (Coltrane, 1989).Thus, a woman’s femininity depends on her motherhood while a man’s masculinity depends on “not doing mother’s work” (Coltrane, 1989, p.473).

For my final project I will be examining the role that gender plays in the Blithedale Romance, specifically how Brook Farm as a utopia looks to represent the roles of men and women in society. I will examine how the Brook Farm looks to change the societal norms surrounding gender. My argument will be centered on the idea that although these utopia communities, specifically Brook Farm, looked to change or eliminate the typical gender roles that existed at the time, they ultimately cannot. I will delve into why they cannot, specifically focusing on the idea that the reason these communities cannot change or redefine these roles is because ultimately these utopia societies are set to fail from the get-go, as we see in the Blithedale Romance.

Gilman's female narrator, who either chose not to fight this tradition or was unable to do so, loses her sanity at the hands of an oppressive male-dominated American society. The narrator feels certain that the

It is a subject that splits even women of the 21st century. Rosalie Jullien struggled with aspects of womanhood, that even women today struggle with. She emphasized the importance of motherhood, but was troubled by its limitations. On page 45, Jullien writes to her friend, “One day I seriously offered [my husband] 25 louis to govern his children, but he objected, saying he had too much business to do, adding that it was a shame he could not do two things at once.” Perhaps, modern women deal with this issue more as they move outside of the domestic space. Yet, it was interesting to see how in such a heavy patriarchal society, Rosalie Jullien dealt with this issue. She believed that her house was a republic to which she shared power with her husband, and that is what her house became. They started a shared

For Gilman, the conventional nineteenth-century middle-class marriage, with its rigid distinction between the “domestic” functions of the female and the “active” work of the male, ensured that women remained second-class citizens. The story reveals that this gender division had the effect of keeping women in a childish state of ignorance and preventing their full development. John’s assumption of his own superior wisdom and maturity leads him to misjudge, patronize, and dominate his

Document 8 is A Guidebook Instructs Women on the Role of Mother, 1845, The author describes women’s sphere of influence as limited to the “little work of household

Women also had the legal status of a minor, meaning they could not own property or make many of their own decisions. Motherhood developed into the cult of domesticity, which was a part of the concept of members of society having different spheres of influence. A woman’s sphere was solely in the house so

In the short story, “A Jury of Her Peers,” a neighbor has just discovered the body of John Wright up in his bed, dead, with Minnie Wright in a rocking chair downstairs. The three men that come to investigate this murder don’t actually find any clues that they believe pertain to the crime; the two women that come along discover trifles that have been overlooked and do in fact solve the murder. Susan Glaspell shows that repression is brought by social expectations due to imposed gender roles, through the use of setting, symbolism, and irony. First, Glaspell makes effective use of setting to portray the role that women were expected to play in society.

From the very beginning, it is extraordinarily easy to step into the mind of the main character and narrator Manon Guadet and how the world she lives in becomes an eerie reality. Deeper throughout the novel, there are many themes presented through Manon’s eyes. Through the use of many paradoxes, the themes of racism, gender oppression and marriage in Property, by Valerie Martin is ultimately connected with the institution of slavery in America. The aristocratic life of the early 19th century is defined in the use of these themes through the pictures they create. Not only do the themes cause the novel to

Women, such as the main character were not viewed as equal to men during the late nineteenth century and had little say in what they could or could not do at times. Gilman was critiquing society for this attitude towards women, as this made it tough for women to contribute back to society with their own unique thoughts and intelligence. These accusations lead readers to the conclusion that women have much to offer society if they are treated as individuals as well.

Maya Angelou said, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow” (Wanderlust 1). The relationship a mother has with her child transcends all other relationships in complexity. Maternity largely contributes to the female identity in part because the ability to sexually reproduce is uniquely female. With this ability often comes an unparalleled feeling of responsibility. That is, mothers experience an inherent desire to protect their children from the world and guide them through life. Serving as a child’s protector then transforms a woman’s perspective, or the female gaze. While these protective instincts often arise naturally, they are also reinforced by the ideas society’s perpetuates about motherhood. Globally, women are expected to assume the roles of wives and mothers. The belief that motherhood is somewhat of a requirement assists in the subjugation of women and reinforces a plethora of gendered stereotypes. While some women enjoy the process of childrearing, others feel that having a family comes at an irreparable cost: losing sight of oneself. In response to the polarized views surrounding maternity, several authors have employed different writing techniques to illustrate the mother-child dynamic. Through the examination of three narratives, spanning fiction and non-fiction, one is able to better define maternity and the corresponding female gaze in both symbolic and universal terms.

One interesting difference between the two societies is the manner in which the children are brought up. In the Gilman story, the children are raised by the community. In some cases, a child will be taken from its mother and put under the care of a "more capable" woman (Gilman 71). The entire society of Herland is based on motherhood, so the children

It’s a hot, sticky summer afternoon in Iowa in 1910. A woman stands in the kitchen cleaning the grease from her husband’s daily work. After finally managing to make her newborn lay down for a nap, her husband busts through the front door, waking the baby. While comforting the baby, she asks her husband what his reason is for making such a ruckus. Ignoring the question, he asks for his cigars. She hands them to him as he walks out the front door. He says that he is going back to town to fetch some things. She asks if she can go with him since she’s been at home all day, but he denies her request by saying that she needs to be at home with the baby and not busy with other unimportant things. This is what women of that time and even some women now would experience in their daily life. Gender inequality has always been occurring, and it is a major obstacle being tackled today. Problems with the education system, workforce, and marriages have existed for many years, and the feminist movement was created to combat these problems. Susan Glaspell’s Trifles is one of the first feminist pieces of literature. Many themes arise in the one-act play, but the most important theme is the idea of gender separation. In the play Trifles, Glaspell uses mystery to display the theme of gender separation and to uncover an implicit conflict.