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.
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.
Effects of the Media on African American Women Being an African American woman I have had firsthand experience on how the media has portrayed both an unconstructive and encouraging image of us. African American Women casted, in too roles to play as characters in the movies as well as on television are more often than not portrayed in an unflattering roles. All women have been stereotyped in one way or another, but African American Women have been stereotyped by other races as well as our own. Now in these recent years we have been breaking down barriers showing everyone that African American Women are not what you think we are we are better. Unfortunately there are a great deal of troublesome images that are being shown about women in the African American community that has absorbed into their psychological mind.
This is evidence that the women in this part of the world are oppressed and abused. What kind of civil people would legalize rape and deny women basic rights that men have. Religion and culture is not excuse to treat people inhumanly. The women of this culture have suffered horribly because of this law. Source G talks about the daily struggle of a woman living under the Taliban regime.
The hyper-sexuality of Black women in slavery comes as no surprise. It was used as a tactic to justify the sexual practices between slave and master. To Whites, the Black woman had a sexual appetite that could not be fulfilled by Black men. Therefore, it was the White man’s job to satisfy her. They used this excuse to justify the rape and seduction of slave women.
For example, there are many cases in the first several stories of Arabian Nights when women are disloyal and evil, but there are also stories about the wrong of men. This is because Shahrazad wanted to balance human wrong and she attempts to expose the wrongs of both sexes equally. According to feminism, the women's and men's rights are equal. So, she tried to explain that women can also make mistakes as men and it is not right that they take into account only women's mistakes (Smith, 1).
Patriarchy also worked closely through intersecting oppressions of class and race with the advent of Spanish and Portuguese claiming the “New World” from these early indigenous societies[1]. Through the character of Angela Vicario, Marquez presents to us these various dynamics at work in assertion of patriarchy and exploitation of women; the complex links between gender, class and violence; and the trajectories of resistance that women adopt to build an independent space for themselves under such an oppressive system. Angela’s situation raises questions of class exploitation and the position of women under the Christian value system. For Bayado, it is merely a matter of ‘conquest’ of the woman he chooses. Angela Vicario becomes the passive object of her sexual desire.
Caged by the Patriarchal Society Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and “Fragment of an Analysis of a Case of Hysteria” by Sigmund Freud, both show women who exist (one in fiction and the other in reality) about a hundred years from one another. These women have learnt to survive in a world where rigid structure, manipulation, deceit, and loneliness are caused due to the tight control exerted by the patriarchal society. Dora and Jane struggled to escape this cage that was exerted due to male dominance. Dora and Jane Eyre are both objects of manipulation of the patriarchal society who resorted to forms of male dictated “female hysteria” in order to escape the rigid handcuffs placed upon them. Both Dora and Jane are quiet young when they first encounter some kind of hysteria, or symptoms of hysteria.
For over a century, women have been speaking about the double enslavement of black women and how not only are they handicapped on account of their sex, but they are mocked almost everywhere because of their race as well. In “Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology,” Deborah King illustrates how the dual discriminations of racism and sexism remain pervasive, and how class inequality compounds those oppressions. In the case of Pecola Breedlove, the protagonist of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, this triple jeopardy of race, gender, and class ultimately leave her feeling socially powerless in society. Pecola must suffer all the burdens of prejudice of having dark skin, as well as bear the additional burden of having to cope with white and black men because of her sex. The beauty standards of white Western culture, the sexual abuse of Pecola by her father, and Pecola’s low economic status have multiplicative effects on Pecola and all aid in her progressive alienation from society as well as her fall towards insanity.
Sexism in The Hunger Games Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm once said, “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, "It's a girl. "” Collins demands that we take notice of the fact that society has made it acceptable to degrade women. The Hunger Games urges society to recognize the way it diminishes women by sexual objectification. From a young age women are told they should act a certain way, usually to please others. In the article, “Controlling your reality” Paige Pfleger states “Reality television can also preserve old fashioned notions about sexual stereotyping.