New forms of public life created by women - such as having an education, to fight for their equality of opportunity to get a career, fighting for their rights and changing their role from domesticity to public suffragists- reinforced their place in society. Women had many dramatic changes throughout the years dealing with their view as a woman, politics, labor force and popular culture. In the present, American women continued live in regard to work, family, sexuality, and political changes. A. Sara M. Evans is a distinguished scholar and Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Minnesota where she taught women's history since 1976. She studied women and gender studies as it can be seen by reading her book because of the knowledge she transmits about women’s history and all the stages women went through decades ago.
Famous Feminists Adams, Abigail (1744-1818). Adams was a prolific writer, patriot, abolitionist, and early feminist. In her famous correspondence to her husband, she spoke eloquently against slavery, many years before the abolitionist movement, and on behalf of women. Anthony, Susan B. 1820-1906.
Maya Angelou added to the Literary Canon Maya Angelou is an editor, performer, singer, filmmaker, dancer, educator, but one thing she does best is writing. Angelou, born April 4, 1928, has had many influences throughout her lifetime. She has been influenced by her hardships, writers, religion, and the African American community. Maya Angelou should be included in the literary canon because she is best known for her autobiographies, which involved her childhood and her early life experiences. Her autobiographies influenced many African Americans and specifically women.
As an example two influential short stories will be discussed in depth in order to shed light into the lives of the two authors and their stories. The short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935) and Angela Carter (1940–1992) both sideway the same idea; the confinement of women in particular roles and positions in both personal and professional lives, posed on them by patriarchal figures. Toril Moi quotes in her examination of feministic criticism, Sexual/Textual Politics (2002), Elaine Showalter’s idea that “women writers should not be studied as a distinct group on the assumption that they write alike, or even display stylistic resemblances distinctively feminine” (Moi, 2002: 49), which comes across when reading the two stories which are stylistically already very different. It might be so that a feminist reader of both times (there’s some 80 years difference between the two stories) did not only want to see her own experiences mirrored in fiction, but strived to identify with strong, impressive female characters (Moi, 2002: 46), and looked for role-models that would instil positive sense of feminine identity by portraying women as self-actualising strong identities who were not dependent on men (Moi, 2002, 46). The two stories bring out two female characters, very different by position and character; the other a new mother, scared and confused of her own role, and the other a young newly-wed girl, still a child, being fouled by a much older man, mainly as a mark of his authority over women in general.
The book had an immediate response from women and was extremely popular among American housewives. During her book, she conducted a survey regarding the graduating class of 1942 and Smith’s College. The survey revealed that that 89% of women regretted rushing into marriage and not putting their education to good use. By making these types of survey’s public for women across American to see, she made them think about the importance of being a woman and achieving their goals. It has been said that Friedan was the first person to allow women to talk about a problem that had been taking place for so many years.
For women, equality was not something easily achieved. Through long years, feminine activists have suffered devastating setbacks, and accomplished significant milestones as well. Monumental efforts to actualize such milestones were made by writer and activist Betty Friedan. Most prominent during the Second Wave of the feminist movement, during the 1960s and lasting through the 1980s, she is accredited with inspiring women across the country and writing one of the most powerful books of the twentieth century (“Betty”). Betty Friedan is the most influential female writer prior to 1980 due to the social changes brought about through her writing, most significantly The Feminine Mystique, and political activism for women’s fulfillment and civil rights.
A Slight Hysterical Tendency – An Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper Fiction by standard definition is a body of literary work that is not real, or is imagined. So what do you get when you have a story that is in fact fiction, but is so personal to the author that is could almost be considered autobiographical? You get the fictional story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper.” The story about a woman who is suffering from postpartum psychosis is parallel to the difficulties that Gilman faced in her own life. At a time in history when women were thought to be hysterical and not taken seriously especially in the area of mental health, Gilman bravely brought the topic to the surface in a dark, but truthful manner. Her use of imagery and personification throughout the writing draws the reader into the sick mind of a young mother struggling to find herself again and broaches the issue of feminism.
“The Awakening” Essay In “The Awakening,” a book with great literary merit, by Kate Chopin, a respectable woman named Edna breaks the societal barrier that was placed on most women back in the 1800s. She seeks a new identity, one that includes freedom from her family and the ability to act on impulse and not have to abide by the commands of many. By the end of the story Edna goes through many changes in her life and ultimately achieves her goal of independence. But this newfound freedom only leads to trouble and eventually death. The idea of solitude as the consequence of independence is shown many times throughout the story and sums up Edna’s life.
Steinbeck presents the character of Curley’s wife in a complex and complicated manner. Steinbeck uses her as a literary device to show what it was like for a woman in 1920s America during the depression through Curley’s wife. Steinbeck uses Curley’s wife as a vehicle to show the gender prejudice and discrimination a woman had to face. He wanted people to change the way society thought of people such as women by showing that they are actually lonely and vulnerable even if they don’t seem it at first with the use of Curley’s wife and subtle methods as a symbol for women in that era. Steinbeck makes the reader conflicted on how they feel about her throughout the novel until and after her death.
Emma Baird Dr. Meredith McCarroll English 232 25 September 2010 The Death of Edna Pontellier: A Rebellious Defeat Even from its first publication, Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening has caused controversy. While today The Awakening is praised for its feminist undertones, the piece was first criticized for its lack of representation of American values. Instead of depicting a main character that embodied the Victorian ideal of a woman fulfilling the role as an “Angel in the House” which was the norm for American women during this particular historical period, Edna was a rebellious wife and an adulteress, whose desires and yearning for independence lead her to make many radical decisions throughout the course of the novel¾ from inwardly