Women 's Portrayal Of Women And Their Eras

How often do you hear your friends, family, or acquaintances say they would like to go back to simpler times such as the 1950s - the era where you could wear fancy poodle skirts, drive big cars, eat at your favorite diner, or catch a movie at the drive in. Americans tend to think of the positive aspects of the 1950’s. Unfortunately during that era women were treated unfairly. Even though women had rights, they were still unequal to men. Fortunately feminism has progressed since then. Today, women comprise over 50% of the workforce. Nonetheless, men still cling to stereotypes that should have been destroyed long ago, whether in the workplace, at home, or in society.

The idea of television began since the 1820s but it was until 1927 when the 21- year old Philo T. Farnsworth produce the first electronic television picture. Experimental broadcast began, featuring music, wrestling, and dance; however, it was until the 1950s that TV really became the new form of mass entertainment. Nevertheless, in all the shows that were produced women was denigrated and producers focused mainly on their physical appearance and not their intellect capacity. Ward and Harrison stated, “TV has depicted females by focusing on their physical characteristics, sexual appeal, and romantic success, whether they are housewives, mothers, or objects of desire.” Women did not have a choice, they were placed on TV shows with a certain stereotype needed to be fulfilled by them, and because they wanted to work they did not deny the job, therefore, they encouraged the stereotype.

Does deviating from one’s gender norms inevitably doom one down a spiral of moral corruption? Tim O'Brien, author of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” and Ernest Hemingway, author of “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”, certainly seem to hold this view, as evident by the fates of the major female characters in their respective works. The deviance of the major female characters in both works appears to corrupt not only themselves, but also pollute their partners, causing them to suffer injury or harm as a result. The degree of injury ranges from negligible, like Fossie’s demotion and broken heart, to fatal, like the bullet that rips through Macomber’s skull. It begs the question, are these stories meant to serve as cautionary tales for their female readers, or possibly for their husbands, so they may recognize gender deviance and stop it in its tracks before their wives transform into Margot Macomber or Mary Anne Bell? This essay will analyze what such characters say about pervading views of women, both in society and in literature.

The life of a lady in the 19th century is painted in a romantic light. Pictured in her parlor, the lady sips tea from delicate china while writing letters with a white feathered quill. Her maid stands silently off in the background, waiting for orders to serve her mistress. What is not typically pictured, is the sadness or boredom echoed on the lady’s face. Perhaps the letter is to a dear friend, not seen in ages, pleading with the friend to visit, in hopes that the friend will fill the void in the lady’s life made from years spent in a loveless marriage; or possiblyk20 the lady isn’t writing a letter at all, but a novel or a poem, never to be read by anyone but her. Edith Warton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, are 19th Century ladies who dare to share their writing with the world. Through their works, the darker side of a woman’s life in the late 1800’s is exposed. Gender politics in the 19th dictates that a lady is dependent on her husband for her financial security and social standing; that is if she is fortunate enough to marry at all. In Edith Warton’s The House of Mirth, Lily Bart is a beautiful woman in her late 20’s, who fails to marry a wealthy man. The narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s The Yellow Wallpaper slowly goes insane under her physician husbands misguided attempts to cure her of depression. The downfall of Lily Bart and the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper is

“Maggie” is a story that is pessimistic. It is not only a story of a character who ultimately succumbs to her situation by becoming a prostitute because she feels she has no other way if supporting

In Henry James's “Daisy Miller,” the main character Frederick Winterbourne masks Daisy Miller’s personality with his own imagination. Told from a limited narration point of view, this novel solely emphasizes Mr. Winterbourne’s perception of the world around him, focusing most on Ms. Daisy’s character. Mr. Winterbourne aims to unravel Ms. Miller’s character make-up throughout chapter one, using only his and his aunt’s preconceived notions of women in American society. By being too introspective and imaginative, Mr. Winterbourne is unable to see Ms. Miller as anything more but a conquest, and therefore he is unable to empathize with her as another human being.

Daisy Miller examines European high society throughout the 1870s. The societal norms are placed firmly in the beliefs of the class system, social status, and education: all of which are needed in order to successfully assimilate into the world of the upper class. Henry James makes it clear that these norms make up the lives of the high society through his characterization of the “uncultivated” Daisy Miller. Daisy’s character is questionable throughout the novella, and the word “uncultivated” has been necessary to coming to that conclusion.

Throughout history women have been depicted and treated as an inferior to the male all aspects of life. It is without debate, that to this day, like many other countries, the United States of America is a patriarchal society, valuing men over women and using various tactics to oppress women by constructing gender roles. These gender roles are thrust upon people before birth and are reinforced through society within the media. This object here is to provide an overview of the portrayal of women in magazines from the late 1800’s to present day. As the years progress, so do the number of women’s rights. While women are still fighting for equality, the birth of feminism has done much to close the gender gap. Mass media, magazines in particular, facilitated in fostering a stereotype which became the standard, and continues to be, used by society. A society that continues to oppress and suppress its women. However, as the mass media has the capability to demystify, or to bring down and/or destroy a particular group or person, they also have the ability of mystification, or emulating a person or group into society’s graces. I plan to review how women were portrayed since this country’s inception with an analysis of how gender equality might be possible today.

In the end, it is clear that while the loss of innocence suffered from losing a first love may have played a role in Maggie's descent into prostitution, the effects were exasperated by her abusive childhood. Maggie's home life from a young age was full of violence and alcohol. Her mother was the primary abuser of the children, but Jimmie also got in his share of abuse towards Maggie. This damaged her, making her more gullible and easily manipulated as she sought anyone that seemed even remotely different than the rest of her life. That person, to Maggie, was Pete. Yet, she was simply seeing Pete through the eyes of abuse and of a first love. She didn't truly know who Pete was until she was abandoned by him after running into an old lover.

James' manipulation of appearances in Daisy Miller as well as other character's notions of these appearances provides us with a novella of enigmatic and fascinating characters. Daisy, the most complicated of these ambiguities, is as mysterious as she is flirtatious. James gives her a carefully constructed enigmatic quality that leaves the reader wondering what her motivations were and who she truly was. He structures the novella in such a way as to stress the insights that the supporting characters provide into Daisy's character, weather accurate or erroneous. Despite their questionable reliability, they allow James to make commentary on both European and American cultures and social class.

Being seen as possessions put women at a disadvantage for progression; several believed that there was no need for women to be educated, because their job was to stay in the home. When women were not educated, they stayed in ignorance and innocence. This resulted in and further encouraged the sexual double standard. During this time period, women were oppressed into thinking their own minds were too fragile to make even the slightest decisions. In the book Fern Leaves from Fanny’s Port-Folio, Fanny Fern described a lady “Mary,” whose husband ruled her life and wanted her to unfriend a lady, “Mrs. May,” because she was too intellectually stimulating. He did not approve of their friendship and did not want his wife associating with her. After telling her this, Mary was upset and knew he was unreasonable, but eventually convinced herself that he was right because he knew better than her (117-120). Her dependency on her husband thwarted her progression and from being able to think for herself. Since women were subject to the male rule, the sexual double standard remained in society. This idea was also evident in “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets”. Maggie in “Maggie: A Girl of the Streets,” worked in a factory; but after leaving with Pete and “becoming impure”, she was cast out and forced to become a prostitute (Crane 64-65). Through this, she was able to illustrate the sexual double standard because her reputation was ruined, she was disowned

While being even less explicitly about prostitution than Mrs. Warren’s Profession the poem does hinge around the concept of lost innocence (virginity) leading one to be ruined. While there is no direct reference to ‘Melia being a prostitute in the poem, Renner proposes that she may have been “living in sin, handsomely maintained, probably as a kept woman” (Renner 20). Within the poem, ‘Melia being ruined by her use of her sexuality is not condemned but rather, consistently marveled at how it has appeared to have bettered her life overall. Given that the scope of the poem surrounds an interaction between ‘Melia and a friend from her past life before being ruined there is no opposing reaction from general society. The poem frames ‘Melia being ruined as beneficial for her social standing and her living situation on a whole, “O didn't you know I'd been ruined?”

In 1878, Henry James wrote, Daisy Miller, a novella about a young American girl and her travels in Europe. Daisy Miller is a complex short story with many underlying themes such as appearance versus reality, knowledge versus innocence, outward action versus inward meditation, and Nature versus urbanity. In this short story, one is left to judge whether Daisy Miller, the main character of the story, is “a pretty American flirt” or a misunderstood, modern young woman. By probing into the complexities and contradictions of Daisy’s character, it is obvious that Ms. Miller is merely a misunderstood young woman.

This develops the idea that her future with this man as a married woman provided a stable lifestyle where she would not have to live by the rigid patterns of society, reinforcing a modern day feminist reader’s view of the expectations and restrictions placed on unmarried women during the Victorian era.

Daisy Miller is breaking these social norms by constantly associating with different men, drawing the attention of many others and Connie expresses her sexuality by abandoning her friends to spend time with a boy in his car; this ultimately leads to society’s metaphorical murder of these women.