Women are the key to everyday life of men, children, and other women. Throughout this epic, most of the women fall under two categories: they are either faithful wives or cunning seductresses. One example of the role of women in The Odyssey is their roles as seductresses. When Odysseus and his crew land on the island of Circe, they are drawn to Circe’s house because of the charming voice of the beautiful, monstrous goddess. She is described as “singing with sweet voice, while tending her great imperishable loom and weaving webs, fine, beautiful, and lustrous as are the works of gods” (Homer.
It uses sex as a distraction to get the audience’s attention while it approaches matters that are important to a specific minority. Especially in a world where only one standard of women is praised and any others are degraded (in this case the black women). In any culture a woman’s sexuality is a big part of her reputation but if her sexuality is distorted or demoralized she must find another way to uplift it and make it her own.
Textual Analysis – Gender Roles & Polygamy in the Novel “Sister Wife” Over the course of history women have not always been depicted as strong and powerful figures in literary text. This unfortunately happens to be a reflection of history itself. Women have struggled for arguably all of humanity to be considered as equals to their male counterparts. Although polygamy is painted to be a degrading and offensive practice for women, it still holds the same aspects in a monogamous marriage such as love, respect and a good support structure that traditional monogamous families have. As some Mormon women feel indifferent to being in a plural marriage, most feel as if it is obligatory and a part of their duty to follow their religious and spiritual beliefs as a way to successfully reach salvation.
The Colony’s view on single women influenced greatly the way women were treated within the colony. The colonists saw them as a threat because they were vulnerable without a husband or father for protection and were seen as unproductive in their work compared to men (Grimshaw, p. 87, Rushen p. 52, 54). They were blamed for prostitution and sexual immorality within the colony. The colony rather than holding out a hand of care for these new immigrant women pointed
Soon after, word about Hildegard’s lifestyle spread and reached other noble families who applauded her and decided to send their young female daughters to live the same way. In this cell, a small convent between these women was created where eventually Hildegard became the leader (Flanagan 3). For Hildegard, becoming who she was and accomplishing all that she did was not so simple. According to Flanagan, Hildegard had two main issues, “...first, she was a woman, and second, she was unlearned,” (44). It was not common for a female during this time to be educated due to their gender roles and restrictions.
The first such way is to ignore any legitimate concerns women have; the second way is to classify any emotion as unnecessary and “irrational.” Women get taken advantage of solely because society has considered them emotional, which in today’s modern society is often mistaken for being unstable. This in turn affects a women’s status in life. With this in mind, it is the status that will ultimately define their social mobility, “the lower the status, the more manner of seeing and feeling is subjected to being discredited, and the less believable it becomes” (Hochschile 173). Society has usually seen the lower class as unintelligent and therefore have their opinions denigrated. Even if she has a legitimate case to voice an opinion, “a person of lower status has a weaker claim to the right to define what is going on; less
Is there a lesbian in this text?! Marylin Farwell has written that the lesbian narrative space confuses ‘the boundaries between subject/object and lover/beloved.’ She further states that the lesbian narrative space ‘happens most often when two women seek another kind of relationship than that which is prescribed in the patriarchal structures, and when it occurs in the narrative, it can cast a different light on the rest of the novel, even on those portions that seem to affirm heterosexual patterns.’ Discuss what you think Farwell means by a lesbian narrative space and examine it closely in relation to one or two of the primary texts for this module. “The lesbian subject, variously defined, appears in a number of coded, indirect, and subversive as well as literal ways. Instead of a recognizable genre, lesbian literary narrative, is in reality, a disputed form, dependent on various interpretive strategies”. Marylin Farwell offers a detailed response to the complicated genre of lesbian literature.
What does it mean to be a woman? Where does it all originate? Prior to the 18th century women had no equality they had to combat social and cultural inequalities .Soon after feminism started to take root and in today’s world women see themselves on par with men. However they still identify themselves by the role they fulfil. If you ask a woman the question “who are you?’ immediately the response would be mother, sister, wife, grandmother or they give their professional title.
When a man is referred to as a ‘slut” it doesn’t associate to the actual definition used by society. But when a woman is called a “slut” it automatically associates her with a prostitute and she is then frowned upon by society. (Evalee) There seems to be a double standard when it comes to these male to female connotations .One in six women and one in thirty three men have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. In our modern society women have been degraded to being pieces of meat or just a pair of sexy legs. (Evalee) Although women have come along way since their efforts in aiding the war, today women around the world still face prejudice, underestimation and gender discrimination only because they are women.
Before World War I, women had few rights. But their experience in the Great War changed that forever. Their views towards life changed or improved, and by the middle of the 19th century, women were demanding equality with men. They wanted the right to vote in elections and an equal chance to work and get educated. They also wanted the right to have their own possessions, to divorce their husbands, and to keep their children after divorce.