The Second Sex: Mythologies and Contradictions, “What is a Woman”? Racel Robles Phiolosophy 327 Professor Conway Woman, Wife, Mother, Lover, Slut, Bitch…is this what a women is, what she is defined to? In andocentric society, women have been place in many lights, from the “good mother” to the “treacherous whore”. In The Second Sex, Beauvoir breaks down the construction of myths created by men in society to establish patriarchal “supremacy” over women. Such myths, Beauvoir explains, are derived trough literature and Social beliefs.
One must assume the feminine role deliberately. Which means already to convert a form of subordination into an affirmation, and thus to begin to thwart it. Whereas a direct feminine challenge to this condition means demanding to speak as a (masculine)”subject,” that is, it means to postulate a relation to the intelligible that would maintain sexual difference” (Rivken & Ryan p 795). So Irigaray warns women that directly, openly issuing verbal challenges to the system draws attention to the victimized feminine in a bold but ultimately ineffective attempt to overtake a masculine-oriented arena. Instead of moving toward the dissolution of gender boundaries, that type of move reinforces the perception of difference between the genders by drawing attention to “the plight of the woman”.
I argue that it can help us to understand why we regard some things as disgusting and repulsive. This analysis can be a useful tool for feminist theories of gender, sexuality, and embodiment. Representations of the monstrous-feminine, as conceptualized by Barbara Creed, illustrate the ways in which femininity is feared and abjected in contemporary society. As Jayne Ussher notes, this positioning of women’s bodies as abject has important implications for women’s lived experience (7). Thus, it is useful and necessary for feminists to understand the concepts of abjection and the monstrous-feminine, as well as how they intersect and relate to one another.
For example, cultural feminists look to the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason why men and women experience the social world differently. Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender difference, including the sexual division of labor in the household. Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as the “other” in patriarchal societies. Women are thus seen as objects and are denied the opportunity for self-realization. Gender Inequality: Gender-inequality theories recognize that women's location in, and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.
Female Objects of Semantic Dehumanization and Violence William Brennan, Ph.D. ABSTRACT Now and throughout history, pejorative language has played a major role in the longstanding victimization of women. This study employs a comprehensive classification of degrading categories -- deficient human, subhuman, animal, parasite, disease, inanimate object, and waste product -- as a framework for analyzing the demeaning words invoked to justify man's inhumanity to women. It concludes with observations about how this pernicious anti-female lexicon of derogation is part and parcel of a pervasive seamless shroud of anti-life rhetoric called upon to rationalize violence against other victims (born and unborn) in contemporary society and in times past. A Longstanding Tradition of Oppression Against Women Subjection to a countless assortment of atrocities has been the common plight of all too many women throughout much of history. The parade of horrors has been virtually endless: the killing of female infants, enforced prostitution, the burning of women accused of witchcraft, widow burning, the reduction of women to sex objects through genital mutilation, the sale of enslaved females, wife-battering, the exploitation of young women as pornographic models, rape, father-daughter incest, and other types of sexual abuse.
Armaan Mahmood 13T Discuss Atwood’s presentation of female characters in the Handmaid’s tale Atwood presents female characters as being oppressed slaves who are subject to sexual abuse and violation from the various male individuals. They are portrayed as characters who have an extremely scarce amount of freedom within a dystopian future. Due to this lack of freedom the novel consists of recurring themes such as an attempt to regain freedom and a constant power struggle. The idea of dehumanisation is another theme which is vividly portrayed by Atwood in terms of how her female characters are made to reproduce in order to stand a chance of surviving. Atwood presents the female characters as being both oppressed and dehumanised through how their freedom being stripped from them.
By utilizing the Handmaids as a representation of the females in the Gileadean society, the author exposes the flaws of an anti-feminist society through objectification and the absence of agency. The Handmaid’s Tale illustrates women who are strongly objectified by men. An example of how Handmaids are objectified is through their names. The women are named after their assigned Commander; their name which consists of two parts is constructed with the prefix, ‘Of’, followed by the suffix of their Commander’s name. The main character’s Handmaid name is Offred, meaning that she is property of Fred.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s literature is based on women’s issues. She wrote fiction mainly depicting her social ideas. In her works, she portrays women struggling to achieve personal autonomy, adapting to independence, and challenging accepted images of women. In her novel Women and Economics, Gilman argues that women need to change their identities in society in order to be equal to men and become part of the world’s evolution. In addition, her novel Herland depicts women at their true, full potential in roles equal to men.
Gender in Rabi’a Assignment: Provide an analysis of gender in Rabi’a. How does Rabi’a use gendered imagery and terminology in descriptions of her piety? Does Rabi’a simply restate cultural norms about the “weakness” of women, or does she challenge these norms? In what ways? (Gender can be defined as the culturally produced distinctions between masculinity and femininity, as well as the power relations or imbalances between masculinity and femininity in a particular cultural context).
How do they mentally prepare to depict such a manipulative tortured woman? And, of the many actresses that have played our main character, what were their personal feelings about Ibsen’s lady? Before an actress can begin the daunting process of exuding Hedda, they must first read and re-read the script - isolating each portion of the material to help them pick out the intricate characteristics and hidden meaning behind each one. What were her physical attributes? And, what can we gather from the reading about Hedda’s demeanor?