Essay on Sleeping With The Enemy

It is presently common, to label women as inherently malicious and slanderous individuals. We see these stereotypes present, in today’s society. For instance, when two women get in an argument, others around them, tend to yell ‘cat fight’, declaring that because they are women, they presume them as ‘catty’. This scenario, can also be used as a parallel, that depicts what society does to women. Society sets women in opposition to each other, by elevating a male’s status, and forcing women to seek approval from men. In the book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the main character Francie observes, a situation where, a woman is verbally and eventually physically assaulted, by other women, because she is not married (or really, she doesn’t care nor needs the

The story of Crystal Bram, wife of Tacoma Police Chief David Brame, is a picture perfect case of how many women are trapped and beaten by the men they love. Chief Brame had his wife on a schedule like no other. He would time her on how much time it would take to get to and from the store, how long to walk to and from the mailbox, and always when was David (their son) coming home? Crystal wasn’t every other woman though; her husband was the Chief of Police in Tacoma, Washington. With her husband’s position with the police department Crystal found it hard to get the proper assistance she needed. When she confronted him about stopping the abuse and control on her life, he would respond to her asking, “Who are you going to call? One of my buddies?” Eventually she did report this issue to the police, only for it to fall on deaf ears , and the City Manager prevented further investigation. When a journalist reported what Crystal had brought up, the president of the Tacoma police union threatened the writer. Crystal eventually filed for divorce. In response her husband accused her of having a bad temper and physically abusing him for multiple years also. Crystal was only about 5 foot tall and 100 pounds. This story has a sad ending as Chief Brame used his police duty weapon to fatally shoot Crystal and then turned the gun on himself. (Carter, 2003)

Women and men are born equal. However, females are receiving unequal judgement and unfair treatment in the society, and thus Marilyn Frye brings up the notion of “oppression”, claiming that women are oppressed. Throughout the essay, I will first give the definition of Frye’s oppression and then list 5 critical qualifications to be considered oppressed. After that, I will explain my appreciation on Frye’s perspective on elaborating oppression using the “bird cage” analogy. I will support Frye’s “double-bind” argument for sexism followed by flaws in the argument. Furthermore, I will point out some social group are mistakenly placed inside or outside the parameters of oppression, once the theory of oppression extends over other marginal groups.

Anne Roiphe’s “Confessions of a Female Chauvinist Sow” first appeared in the magazine New York in 1972. In this essay Roiphe aims to convince her readers that women must put faith in the idea that they are equal to men, not superior. “Women who want equality must be prepared to give it and believe in it . . . .” Personal anecdotes, contrast, and comparison are techniques Roiphe skillfully uses to create a strong, convincing essay.

“Women like us. We endure.” (Hosseini, 19). For the female protagonists Laila and Mariam in the novel A 1000 Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the two unnamed female protagonists of the movie Osama, oppression is something they face and endure everyday. Both stories take place in Afghanistan around the 1990’s and 2000’s. In A 1000 Splendid Suns, the two female protagonists, Laila and Mariam, are wives to Rasheed, an abusive Islamic shoe maker (220). In the movie Osama, there are three generations living in one small home: a grandmother, mother, and a daughter. They have lost all of their male relatives who have died from fighting various Afghan wars (Osama). Osama and A 1000 Splendid Suns both display how women are oppressed and how it

Another example of the unfairness to women is that fact, that men are also abusive to them. Being a man, means they have all the power. They make all the decisions and what they want to happen happens. Early in the book, Jalil, Mariam’s father, chooses a random suitor for her to marry. He forces it on her just to get her as far away from his family as possible. Her suitor ended up to be an abusive husband. Just in a matter of seconds, Rasheed, their husband would flip and turn abusive. As depicted early in their marriage, Khaled Hosseini wrote, “He was like this, sneering, tightening the belt around his fist, the creaking of the leather, the glint in his bloodshot eyes. It was the fear of the goat, released in the tiger’s cage, when the tiger first looks up from its paws, begins to growl” (216). Another time when Laila and Mariam try to escape Rasheed’s grasps, they both get caught and get sent back to him. Mariam took most of the punishment for leaving. “There was a sound now like a wooden club repeatedly slapping a side of beef.” His abusiveness led them to leave but only brought them back to it. As women they have no power in the relationship. Eventually Rasheed’s abuse came back to bite him, and it led to his death. Mariam had enough of his abuse. “Mariam brought down the shovel. This time, she gave it everything she had” (310 Hosseini). Rasheed tried everything in his power

The film Sleeping with the Enemy is an example of intimate partner violence. Valenti provides many important information about this type of violence in her work Full Frontal Feminism. According to Valenti, women are more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence, but men can also be a victim as well. Valenti gave three signs of a potentially abusive partner, which include isolation, jealousy, and control. We can see in the film that Laura’s husband, Martin, definitely carry these characteristics. Martin and Laura live in a very isolated house house by the beach, which isolate Laura from the people. Martin became jealous with their neighbor because he thinks that Laura is flirting with him. Lastly, Martin controls whatever Laura does

In comparing the oppression of women to a metaphorical birdcage, Marilyn Frye’s essay “Oppression” expands the definition of what constitutes as an oppressive act. In doing so, some would argue that her definition allows for nearly every interaction between men and women to have some underlying sexist tone. Others, including myself, would deny such a claim and argue that as opposed to stretching the realms of sexism, Frye’s interpretation contributes to a deeper understanding of sexism in modern society. While it is true that Frye’s metaphor could be over applied and abused, in the long term, it is more beneficial than detrimental. Because the situation of women in the western world has improved vastly in comparison to other societies,

For my rhetorical analysis, I read Rebecca Solnit’s essay “The Longest War,” which shed a light on the unequal treatment of men and women and the violence that women face throughout their lives, and around the world.

Then, we have Robin Stokes, who is a young, beautiful woman but is simultaneously insecure and anxious and looks for her self-confidence through men who abuse her financially, sexually, and emotionally. Her relationship with her family creates another burden her, as her father has Alzheimer’s and her mother is the only one who wants to take care of him. Eventually, they have no choice but to admit him to a nursing home, but it is a decision that is hard for the both of them. Her relationship with men is also a tumultuous one, in which she has an affair with a man named Russell, and even though she finds out he is married to another man, her good sense is pushed away by her attraction for him.

And not only that, they serve the use of being beaten, when something troubles the men, or just because they are woman and their wives. "Harpo ast his daddy why he beat me. Mr._______ say, because she my wife. Plus, she stubborn." (pg. 23). Mr. _______, says this to convince his son that women serve no use in this planet other than to work, have babies, and be beaten. Harpo, following his father's example and Celie's advice for Harpo to make Sofia mind, goes on to beat Sofia. Sofia's response is unexpected. Harpo thought that Sofia was going to act as Celie did with Mr. _____. Yet this strong woman, beat Harpo, who is a weak character. Harpo continues to try to make Sofia mind about his superiority, but she does not want to undergo all these problems any more, and decides to leave Harpo and seek for a better life. This is a true and big example of her fight for equality, or superiority of the female gender in the world. As Harpo does not understand that a couple can live happily without violence, Sofia runs away.

The plague of male dominancy and female oppression has spread throughout time and cultures like a pandemic infection, targeting women. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Janice Mirikitani’s “Suicide Note,” show the struggle and pain that oppressive forces perpetrated on women. Although, both speakers are oppressed the way they end the oppression and the cause of it are very different. Patriarchy has always existed, and it affects women all over the world. For example, banned bride abductions in Central Asia have continued to occur, and the women who resist abduction, risk death, or becoming ostracized from their country (Werner 2).

These constant beatings in Maggie Johnson’s home, furniture thrown from parent to parent, and every aspect of her family life as being negative, her family situation is not an extremly healthy one. But, despite her hardships, Maggie grows up to become a beautiful young lady whose romantic hopes for a more desirable life remain untarnished.

She comments on the oppression experienced by woman through three distinct lenses: that of biological differences, that of the psychoanalytical perspective, and finally through the lens of historical materialism.

War has been a part of human culture since it's birth. It has led to a great many massacres and has shown us the evil that exists within the souls of humanity. Some have even gone as far as saying that war is human nature. To better understand the reasons behind war and how it affects others, I've examined several different societies and cultures so as to better understand the necessity of war and see the cause of their external war attitude. To do so, different variables from two topics (military institutions and external war attitude) were matched up and crossed so as to look into the answers to these questions. The variables were then calculated and through these graphs, I was able to find different societies in which