PREPARED BY: zaty In the novel “Pride and Prejudice”by Jane Austen, she illustrates the empowerment of women in terms of being independent individuals. Besides, she highlights that women are not simply an accessory to attract men as loveless marriage is not the only key to ‘happiness’ or economic security for them. Conversely, in the movie “The Pastor’s Wife” directed by Norma Baileyexhibits the breakdown of women’s empowerment through the cruel mistreatment towards women in marriage. First, Austen portrays the feminine world through the prominent character of Elizabeth Bennet in the novel “Pride and Prejudice” who chooses to make her own life decisions. She is the second daughter of a country gentleman who risks poverty if she does not find a husband who can provide for her as her father cannot pass on his estate or the house to her.
Women have involuntarily accepted themselves as the weaker sex, and conform to what is expected from society of them rather than what they desire from themselves. The society in ‘Chronicle’ has normalized a bigoted attitude which leads the women to innately accept the values of the society as their own and they go by them which is seen through Pura Vicario ‘devoted herself with such spirit of sacrifice to the care of her husband and the rearing of her children that at times one forgot she still existed’. This also explains why Angela’s friends helped her to hide the loss of her purity: it was society’s and the religion’s belief that women had to remain pure until. Thus, Angela’s action was shameful and therefore had to be hidden. On the other hand, men are expected to display machismo.
In this essay, it will be discussed that women were displayed positively by the Qur’an and did not shy from society itself. Women of a different religion would accuse the Qur’an of being sexist and patriarchal, but Islamic women would disagree. This notion of the Qur’an being unequal and suppressed women’s rights was due to the death of the Prophet. Ahmed stated in her research that, Muhammed enacted laws from God that were very positive towards women. The demise of women’s rights began after the death of Muhammed and the Islamic conquest.
She then begins to criticize her husbands for not taking her side. Sita’s defiance shows when Rama questions her purity upon being rescued from Ravana. These displays of defiance by Sita and Draupadi, according to Linda Hess, Sally Sutherland, and Wendy Doniger, are a direct result of the pressure put on them by their husbands to be the “Ideal Women”. Throughout the Ramayana, Sita is shown to consistently be the ideal woman and wife for Rama. “Sita is the noblest flower of Indian womanhood, devoted to her land in thought, word, and deed” (Hess 1999, 2).
Evidently Lady Bracknell values society and its values, saying, “Never speak disrespectfully of Society,” but she goes totally against these values by playing the role of her husband in her daughter’s life (hypocritical). In addition, the conversation between Lady Bracknell and Jack is controlled completely by Lady Bracknell. She is asking all the questions – in charge of the flow of the conversation – she is pushing/forcing everything she wants to know out of him. Evidence for this is ‘Mr Worthing! Rise, sir…’ this supports my statement above and conveys to the audience the power (authority) Lady Bracknell possesses over Jack.
Although some women were glad to ban the veil, others felt religiously disrespected since it was their own way to publically display their faith. To some, banning the veil felt like an abandonment of their culture. But in order to gain Western approval, the Middle East felt the need to In 1899 under Qasim Amin’s nationalist movement arose a similarity to Europe and America’s thoughts on women. It was recognized that mothers had great influence on their sons and therefore had the opportunity to mold them into good citizens. Because of this, there was a movement to increase women’s education and status.
The book is written for modern Americans, and modern Americans would find it in severe distaste to see a girl being blindly obedient to her father even when what he asks of her goes against her own wishes. Modern Americans want to see a strong female character that fights the norms to do what she wants. This is something that is highly valued in modern American culture. For instance, the suffragettes are highly respected historical figures because although it went against all cultural norms, they fought for what they believed in. Similarly, Birdy fights for what she believes in; the right to pick who she marries: I saw Shaggy Beard’s messengers in the yard, talking solemnly to each other.
“Let not us women glory in men’s fall/Who had power given to overrule us all” (15-16). Lanyer alerts the reader to the definitive, yet undesired subservience which Pilate’s wife (and thus all women) must observe. Pilate’s wife has just made a plea to her husband to refrain from condemning his Savior to death, and while it is clear to the reader that here she is the more sensible of the two, her position as a woman renders her powerless to save her husband (and unbeknownst to him, all mankind)
A woman’s self-worth, the value of a woman to her society, and a woman’s independence from the male population are three apparent dissimilarities of females in the United States and females in Pakistan. Women in the United States have much more freedom than women in Pakistan. From birth, Pakistani women are taught that they do not exist. They do not have the right to vote, make their own decisions, and they definitely cannot voice their individual opinions in society, nor their husbands. Even the father of a Pakistani girl believes that his daughter is nothing more than a future breeding tool.
The relations were not only found in the vast corpus of jurisprudential texts but also in the positive laws that are known to come out of the sacred texts. The sharia made women feel like the system was unfair and didn’t have any justice. For example one rule she spoke of from the Sharia was that a man could divorce his wife without her knowing if he wanted to. I believed the Muslim women felt as if they didn’t have any power or sense of control. Muslim women who had a feminist consciousness at the time and looked for equal rights for women conformed to anti-colonialist and nationalist priorities.