Themes Of Sexuality And Marriage Essay

From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.

J.G. Sime’s short story “Munitions” utilizes a limited omniscient narrative, metaphors, and imagery to demonstrate how World War I contributed to the liberation of North American women from patriarchal gender roles such as housewifery, and the unity among these newly emancipated women. The limited omniscient narrative allows readers to understand the limited opportunities for women before the war, while maintaining hope for a more eclectic future. The narrative also reveals the changing sexual codes for women as a result of independence, the internalized misogyny that forced patriarchal gender roles creates, and how when these roles are eradicated, women become supportive of one another. Sime employs the season of spring and Bertha’s name as metaphors of new beginnings for women. The bright imagery also reveals optimistic future opportunities for women, while contrasting, dark images expose the restricted lives of women before the war.

The woman’s role in society had many changes during the era of WWII to the baby boom era. It went from the strong independent woman that can work in a factory to a house wife that takes care of the family to the final slightly dominant, but still dependent female. All of these different feminine mystiques were changed because of society and through indirect propaganda in TV shows and

Unlike sex, the history of sexuality is dependant upon society and limited by its language in order to be defined and understood.

The period 1940-1975 represented a time of trouble within the United States and overseas. As World War II ended in 1945, many Cold war conflicts erupted shortly after that, increasing social controversy among teenagers, minorities and especially women. During this time period, gender inequality was ongoing in many aspects of life. Women were tired of constantly staying home engaging in domestic activities and were dissatisfied in their roles as “housewives”. The rise of the women’s rights movement was spurred by the growth of women joining the workforce, resentment of being treated as inferior to men, and the rise of unity among women.

Early twentieth century America is shaped by World War I , the effects of industrial growth, and a beginning of a new age in literature. Despite movements for progressive reforms like the prohibition of alcohol and the movement for women’s suffrage women’s rights were still limited by traditional gender roles. Women are a “detached portion” of their husbands and expected to submit to his every demand. As result of women being viewed as flighty and emotionally unstable, men must take the dominant role and every decision made in the family is approved by them. Moreover, the purpose of a woman’s life is to maintain a household and birth and care for her

This article discusses the changing role of women in America during the 1920s. It talks about the transition in the role of women from their wartime jobs during WWI to their jobs in their homes working as housewives. The article also describes the new norm of women that says women should be nurturing their own children in contrast to women who would hire nursemaids to care for their children. Moreover, the article also describes the new view of women as the topic of sex became less taboo during the 1920s. This article was retrieved from a reputable online database, Explora, but is originally found in the book Failure is Impossible by Martha E. Kendall. In addition, the book this article is found in was published in the 21st century, which contributes

New York Times reporter Lucy Breenbaum, noting these changes, declared “the courtship of women workers” at an end. These women were devastated, many of us who have been used by people can completely understand and relate to the hurt and shame that comes with the feeling being used. They felt and understood the meaning of self-gratification, something that some of them may have never felt before, and this feeling was taken away at the drop of a bomb. At one hand they were relieved that their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers and cousins were safely returning home from the war, on the other hand they were once again going to be second-class citizens to a patriarchal society. “The war workers cannot be cast off like an old glove.” Theresa Wolfson. But cast of they were. In 1946 millions of women had been fired from the heavy industry. And women, told one week they could operate cranes, were advised the next to go back to the kitchen and make jam. Pg 3. The conflict between men and women could not be ignored because the government and society had shown exactly how much more important men were than women, they used them and threw them away like old rags once the men came home, and then began to re-socialize them to be good loving wives and mothers again. How was this re-socialization taking place? It’s simple it was made via the media, they had television shows such as father knows best, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver and many more. These shows

Before World War I, women were not seen as equals to men. Until only recently, women were treated like children because men believed they were not capable of doing the things men did, such as fighting in the war, for example. Their only significance in society’s view was to have children, clean the house, and cook for the family. Women were rarely found living without a husband or parent figure because they were thought to be unable to support themselves financially. These oppressing ideas were what pushed women to change society's view of them once World War I began. No longer would the role of women be to care for the family. Women struggled to overcome these hardships by taking over the jobs left by the men fighting in the Great War, supporting

Another reckless day has passed by full of flirts, drinks, and dresses. No matter what punishment tomorrow might bring, I can still choose to act as I please today. However, before the Great War, women were bound tightly in order to mold them into an ideal wife, both physically and metaphorically. Women were greatly restricted. After the war, our country promoted normalcy, attempting to return to how we were before. Thank goodness we didn’t. Those ridiculous traditional ideals from before the war were taken out and replaced. Female values and roles from before the war were thrown away in favor of new and contemporary ideas. Now, rather than choosing between being a submissive wife or an unapproachable feminist dictator, young women such as myself were given many of the freedoms that men had. We are now able to be rebellious and take part in masculine activities while still remaining desirable.

In today’s society things are being expressed and experienced at younger ages, than ever before in our time. Children and teenagers are discovering their sexuality at very early ages. Sexuality is the discovering of who you are and what makes you different from everybody else.

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

Just as other interpersonal themes, sexual themes in film are often depictions of sexual themes that exist in real life relationships. For this very reason, it is very easy for a person to compare his relationships with that of a relationship shown in media or film. Some relationships are total train wrecks from the start while others are not necessarily ideal, but healthy. Although not seen very often, ideal couples in film are attributed with characteristics that are seen by society as desirable; youthful, attractive people who are hyper-sexual and affectionate. As cliché as it sounds, sometimes relationships are simply “complicated”. Such is the case in the film It’s Complicated.

Gender and sexuality can be comprehended through social science. Social science is “the study of human society and of individual relationships in and to society” (free dictionary, 2009). The study of social science deals with different aspects of society such as politics, economics, and the social aspects of society. Gender identity is closely interlinked with social science as it is based on an identity of an individual in the society. Sexuality is “the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex” (free dictionary, 2009). There are different gender identities such as male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual that exists all around the world. There is inequality in gender identities and dominance of a male

Males and females are classed differently from the moment they are pronounced boy or girl. Gender determines the differences in power and control in which men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their health, lives and status in their community. Our society moulds how men and women should and should not behave and can be observed in all parts of our society. As a result of these Gender stereotypes men and women have issues which affect their health which are unique to each gender. Males for example are perceived to be greater risk takers as a whole in our society than that of females. We represent risk taking behavior with masculinity and violence, high speed driving and contact sport with the male gender. (Doyle 2005)