The Traffic In Women Summary

MacKinnon’s categorization of gender fails to take into account the difference in sexual desires. Within the socio-legal context, the regulation of sexual activities generalizes patterns of norms and marginalizes those who do not fit within this binary. This results in the suppression of natural masochistic desire and identity. As suggested by Rubin, feminist critiques of gender hierarchy “must be incorporated into a radical theory of sex, and the critique of sexual oppression should enrich feminism’ (Rubin 180). Rubin argues that the feminist critique of protecting women due to their status as subordinates effectively displace their sexual liberation (Rubin

Sexuality has an inherent connection to human nature. Yet, even in regards to something so natural, societies throughout times have imposed expectations and gender roles upon it. Ultimately, these come to oppress women, and confine them within the limits that the world has set for them. However, society is constantly evolving, and within the past 200 years, the role of women has changed. These changes in society can be seen within the intricacies of literature in each era. Specifically, through analyzing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, one can observe the dynamics of society in regards to the role of women through the lens of the theme of sexuality. In both novels, the confinement and oppression of women can be visibly seen as a result of these gender roles. Yet, from the time The Scarlet Letter was published to the time The Bell Jar was written, the place of women in society ultimately changed as well. Hence when evaluating the gender roles that are derived from sexuality, the difference between the portrayals of women’s oppression in each novel becomes apparent, and shows how the subjugation of women has evolved. The guiding question of this investigation is to what extent does the theme of sexuality reflect the expectations for women in society at the time each novel was written. The essay will explore how the literary elements that form each novel demonstrate each author’s independent vision which questions the

Families provide the logic that translates women's into many material vantages places greater depth of emphasis on sex oppression Radical feminists and labor market, As Hamilton explains, med capitalist relations, bur rather argue that is sex oppression is buried far deeper Esoterically and psychically.

In order to illustrate this, Fahs examines seven key examples where women are caught between joyous celebrations of sexual progress and disturbingly regressive attacks on their sexual empowerment: orgasm, sexual satisfaction, treatment for sexual dysfunction, rape and sexual coercion, body hair as ‘personal choice,’ same-sex eroticism, and sexual fantasy. Ultimately, Fahs argues that the sex-positive movement must advance its politics to include a more serious consideration of the freedom from as it relates to the freedom to. In addition, Fahs argues that the sex positive movement must advance its politics to include a more serious consideration of the freedom from repressive structures. By outlining several ways that the freedom from and the freedom to are currently in conversation in discourses of women’s sexuality, the author argues that the integration of these two halves could lead to a subtler and more complete understanding of the contemporary sexual politics, particularly around tensions that arose during the infamous “sex wars” of the 1980s, thus helpings to build a more cohesive and powerful feminist movement as a whole. As a vision for sex positivity, Fahs also argues that we need three broadly defined goals, each of which contributes to a larger vision that prioritizes a

An individual’s impression of control over and ownership of their own body is essential to their feeling of autonomy. Without some sense of bodily autonomy, it is difficult for individuals to establish their own emotional autonomy. Throughout history, this bodily autonomy has been impaired by sexual control and dominance. By painting dystopian societies that heavily restrict reproduction and sexuality, Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale, her poem A Woman’s Issue, and George Orwell’s 1984 all convey that sexual repression undermines individual identity and autonomy.

Christine Swanton et al., in “Treating Women as Sex Objects”, illustrates what it means to sexually objectify women and holds that sexual objectification is wrong because it extends from the individual to an entire class of people through the usage of a real of fictive image of an individual. (Swanton, p. 11-12). Timo Jütten, in “Sexual Objectification”, defines sexual objectification different from Swanton, but nonetheless, holds that it is always wrong in all circumstances because it violates the autonomy and equal social standing of women and that it does not require actual use of a woman (Jütten, p. 29). On the other hand, Patricia Marino, in “The Ethics of Sexual Objectification: Autonomy and Consent”, shows support for Nussbaum’s theory and holds that sexual objectification need not always be wrong, as it can be consented to between adults, given the right social and political context and that weak instrumental use of a person is benign

Gayle Rubin’s Thinking Sex considers the political history of sex regulation, its current form, and a bit of theory about sexuality and its discourses. At the very apex of the flow of the article towards

Before given this assignment I never really thought about how gender affected my life, and if it did in what ways. But reflecting on my everyday lifestyle I can see how gender affects my life more clearly now. Gender norms and misogyny that attends them have affected my self-esteem and body-image, issues that feminism can help me understand and resolve gender norms. The two gender norms that I will discuss later in this paper are the: expectations of women feeling pressured as sexual beings for males and the drive from sexual desire encourages the media to set impossible standards of feminine beauty. These two examples of everyday gender norms have a big impact on not only the female population, but also my life as well.

This paper is a presentation on the theory of Feminism from the ideas of a Feminist Philosopher name Marilyn Frye. The different themes that will be explored are how Frye thinks that women can be a victim of oppression. For example, how a man opening a door for a woman is a type of oppression. The oppression can relate to the idea of the double bind and of Frye’s Bird Cage theory. In addition to that, I will present the idea of how heterosexuality can be a way of patriarchy. Furthermore, the argument of the paper is about how society crafted the idea of women having to be a so-called perfect and ideal woman in America. This results for women to look a certain image such as being pure, skinny, and a housewife. An example of this is how women

The motivation behind this content is to elucidate the meaning of the sex-sexual orientation framework. Rubin would like to characterize this term by taking a gander at the issue of women's mistreatment from an alternate edge. Meaning, she looks to Freud and Lévi-Strauss for establishments of abuse. She additionally utilizes them to characterize diverse structures. The sex-sexual orientation framework is characterized first and foremost as happening when a specific society transforms organic sex into results of human action. Women's domain turned into the home since capitalism is a foundation acquired by men and women were not allowed to lead or be in positions of power. The cravings of sexuality and reproduction must be satisfied and that

According to (Rathgeber 1990) “social feminist have identified the social construction of production and reproduction as the basis of women’s oppression and have focused attention on the social relations of gender, questioning the validity of roles that have been ascribed to both women and men in different societies”. In many societies women have been systematically instilled to be inferior to men and have been assigned secondary role. GAD emerged to examine these social constructions. (Parpart et.al 2000) “State that GAD approach argued that women’s status in society is deeply affected by their material conditions of life and by their position in the national, reginal and global economies, further more women are deeply affected by the nature of patriarchal power in their societies at the national, community and household levels”. This however differ in different societies as both patriarchal authority and women’s material conditions are maintained by the accepted norms and values that define women’s and men’s role in society.

In the history of sexual experience, Foucault, points out that sexual repression theory is appeared after the 17th century, the concept is consistent with the capitalist production order, indicate that sex and general law of capitalism are incompatible. For this kind of theory, Foucault put forward three questions. The first suspect is that really is a historical fact sexual repression? The second suspect is that play a role in the social right to force the machine is essentially maintenance depressed? The third suspected to be connected with the fact that whether depressive discourse and power mechanism interweave together?3 in Foucault’s view, in contrast to the sexual repression, in the process of capitalist development of righteousness, sex and power form a double helix, however Which sex is as pleasure, as the productive ability and get the call. In this analysis, Foucault reveals power is everywhere, power is not what a depressive, it is based on product extremely, the law of action, and desire it has simultaneously, and through the exploration of sexual experience to set up yourself. Pewter

He states that “bio-power was without question an indispensable element in the development of capitalism” (pg.141). This is a good example of how capitalism disciplines bodies in order to gain control and capital which, in turn, allows capitalist entities to obtain power and/or profit. Bio-power can also be linked to “sexuality”. Sexuality is also used as a way to control people in society, especially when it comes to women. The focus here is on negative notions as they connect to women’s hysteria and fetishism. Sexuality is being used to influence people’s choices because “sexuality” does not have boundaries. However, to include the body when it comes to “sexuality” is a way to discipline the body; this is a form of controlling relationships that people have with one

Lastly, “femininity” refers to behavioural activities or interests that are assigned to the female sex, such as cleaning and cooking (Beauvoir, 617). Although many critics have read her text and become confused due to her stylistic choice to fuse her voice with the voices of famous men, it can be said that the text ultimately leads the reader to begin to question what society sees as a woman (Zerilli, 1-2). Despite Beauvoir’s The Second Sex appearing to recognize the oppression of women throughout the world without giving an actual solution, I will argue that Beauvoir’s evaluation of each “natural” aspect of female oppression allows readers to recognize that the only thing holding themselves back as a woman is society’s unnatural definition of their body, relation to men, and personal freedoms. Of course, when it comes to one's freedom, it is difficult to obtain when your body feels like a

Sex has become an object of scientific knowledge since the Renaissance period. According to Taylor (2009), the subject of sex left the confines of the marriage a century or two ago, an argument that goes against the proponents of repression of sex. Sexuality has evolved in the Western culture to become a source of identity. As a result of making sex a source of identity, the issue of rape as a crime has continued to attract attention. Different scholars have written on sexuality and rape and how to curb the vice. There are those who advocate for strict punitive measures, while others such as Foucault (1980) advocate for the decriminalization of rape. Instead, they propose laws that punish other offenses that accompany rape, such as violence and theft. Despite the fact that sex has become a body of knowledge, repression of sex to some extent has been witnessed even in the modern world. A study done by Waskul (2007) reveals that female sexuality continues to be repressed especially to children and the teenagers. He argues that societal silence regarding the role of the clitoris may act similarly as a symbolic clitoridectomy. This essay seeks to critique the assertions and contributions of Taylor (2009), Foucault (1980) and Waskul (2007) to the study of sex and sexuality.