In Katherine Wilson’s “Dude Looks Like a Lady,” she begins with a powerful introduction saying “this is about hair, breasts, and identity” (Wilson 21), insinuating it is going to be a gender identity piece. Reading more of the first page, you assume the thesis is about the common misconceptions of how a woman is supposed to look and how not looking that way could take away from a woman being a woman. Wilson gives the example of her hair being buzzed and people looking at her differently. Although she tries to argue the hardships of not looking like the normal female, Wilson’s argument fails to meet the rest of her story. She claims her argument is about “hair, breasts, and identity,” she is really just ranting and raving her being disrespected and her own issues of being black.
The shattering of classifications and stereotypes, and the subversion of traditional gender roles, and the concept of sisterhood or unity among women are among the main tenets of feminist criticism. In the words of Catherine Besley, she mentioned that the cultural construction of subjectivity is one of the central issues for feminism (qtd. in Con Davis and Schleifer, 355). All women are feminists. However, it cannot be denied that women still experience the effects
This is where the author quickly gets to the problem in hand. Namely, that pop-culture cannot see a woman nothing more, than a victim. Femininity is seen as a condition of vulnerability. She relies her arguments on the television series Heroes, which follows a group of characters endowed with superpowers while they fight off evil. Seemingly is the show gender neutral and more, the cast is multicultural and - racial.
Margaret Atwood’s speech “Spotty Handed Villainesses” explores Patriarchy, feminism and “bad” women in literature. She uses wit and humour to disarm the audience and often uses anti-climatic statements to grab the audience’s attention. Margaret Atwood’s speech resonates through time with her critical study of feminism in a social context and the impact that feminism has had on literature. In the speech Atwood explores the moral dichotomy that exists in Women at the time. She shows how women can only be categorised as either an angel or a whore.
Within this frame, heterosexuality is viewed as the natural emotional and sexual inclination for women, and those who go against this are seen as deviant, pathological or as emotionally and sensually deprived (Lorde 1984; Pharr and Raymond 1997). This script is commonly associated with women who appear to be a self-determined with a strong locus of control. No matter what her true sexual orientation is, she confronts men when disrespected or threatened. Clearly, the tensions around this script are about the strength that these women are able project without incorporating the sexual desires of men. Gangster Bitches are associated with women who live in the same squalid, poverty-stricken, drug-infested, violent environments that have traditionally focused on the ‘‘endangered African American male’’ in popular imagination for the past decade (Hampton 2000).
These women I speak of above are great women in a good sort of way but there are also some very bad women that still have some amazing qualities. For instance Clytemnestra who has great vengeance and deceit. Another Homeric woman that breaks the mold is Helen. She is so independent and headstrong it’s almost scary. These qualities I’m applying to all these women are not their only but they are the most memorable.
The actors serve as the tool in which to depict the manifestation of the creators comment on society's need to obtain logic. A Freudian fuelled text; “Un Chien Andalou” is laden with powerful symbolism. Just like in dreams, each chaos riddled scene is a mesh of unrelated objects with organic qualities and symbols that are curiously unfurled in an unnatural relationship, even if there are none. The prime directive is to shock and provoke the viewers thoughts. Bunuel and Dali swarm us with disjointed images alluding to humanities ancestry with nature, the problematic relationship with culture and attitudes towards time and social growth.
In this paper, I will argue for Butler’s view on how certain gender performance is restricted in these numerous fields, and how Ms. Butler would object to these various situations. In the opening statement of Gender Trouble, Butler states, “feminist theory has assumed that there is some existing identity, understood through the category of women, who initiates feminist interests and goals.” (CITE GENDER TROUBLE PAGE 1 HERE) By this quote, she explains that feminist theory created the problem that it represents, while at the same time preventing its own progression. She supports this claim with her primary example of gender restriction in the field of representation in politics. Although this problem has no surefire resolution, it is suggested that in order for women to have true political visibility, the development of an identity that truly represents one as an individual is key. Butler suggests the following theory as a solution to these multifaceted complications.
Contrary to its putatively gender-normalizing conclusion, Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina generates a narrative of sexual subversion and female authority. The repetitive occurrence of female protagonists inverting gender hegemonies from the prostitute to Fantomina’s mother to the convent, produces a ‘gynocratic’, or woman-centered novel. When juxtaposed alongside the nameless, beguiled admirers and the named, yet four-flushed BeauPlaisir, the narrative constructs a hierarchy of female over male, contradicting the possibility of its reinstating archetypal gender roles through its questionable inclusion of assault. While acknowledging seemingly anti-feminist sections, this essay will articulate how Haywood’s text empowers its atypical heroine through Haywood’s syntax and plot, her covert theme of naming and the conclusion itself. Despite her antithetical ideologies, Haywood remains centuries ahead while incorporating the very themes of contemporary pop culture: Woman Power.
The Struggle Continues Many feminists addressed the plight of African American women during the New Negro movement in the US. They shared the same problems and visions but some differ in strategy. The African American educator Elise McDougald’s essay “The Struggle of Negro Women for Race and Sex Emancipation” employs an interesting strategy to gain individuality amongst African American women. While displaying the direct issues similar to those of her allies, McDougald approaches her antagonists with an unusual method. This was an extremely audacious essay and a great subject to debate for that reason.