There are many instruments used to perpetuate male power (particularly rich, white, male power). Among the instruments used to perpetuate male dominance is male violence against females or the “privilege” of men to oppress women (Hooks 50). Among the feminist interests of U.S. ideology is termination of this violence. Living within a male-dominated system that suppresses women; can one rationalize women using murder as a counter to assault? The story of Aileen Wuornos was of specific interest to the feminist movement.
A couple of examples are spousal murder and rape. (Gen 14 2012, p.24-26) Women who murder their husbands no matter what the circumstances find it hard to be treated sympathetically by the justice system. This is due to the historical cultural stereotypes of women and the Judicial Myopia of the judges and courts. (Gen 14 2012, p.23) Historically men are given greater latitude when it comes to spousal murder as women are seen as a man’s possession and any deviance from that is provocation. (Gen 14 2012, p.24) Women find it difficult to plead provocation as they are expected to be submissive whereas male stereotypes suggests it is acceptable to be aggressive and abusive to keep the women obedient and in her place.
It is a known cultural difference that men usually dominate the world. There are many times when women are abused that they do not file charges against their assailants. Some of the governing assumptions that strengthen the mainstream explanation of the intimate abuse that many women face are as follows: First, men batter women because they are privileged, physically, financially, and socially; it is under the assumption in this belief that we need not understand the violence behind men’s violence beyond that point of the patriarchal explanation. Second, women stay in abusive relationships because of patriarchy. Third, the criminal justice system is sexist.
Compare and contrast the ways in which Atwood in HT and Churchill in TG present the pressures on woman in male dominated societies in the light of the opinion that Atwood focuses on woman as victims whilst Churchill explores the price woman pay for success. The male dominated environment is a force that every woman has to find a way to deal with so it is common for female writers to use it as a key theme when exploring the forces that shape us. There are many similarities in the way Margaret Atwood and Caryl Churchill Portray Male dominance and the way it affects females. In spite of Atwood’s ‘The Handmaids Tale’ being set in a fictional future dystopia the hostile patriarchal environment she describes has many features in common with today’s society. Maya Angelou’s book ‘I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings’ also deals with the problems of being female.
There was one particular quote in the novel that seemed out of place in my opinion. The quote depicts women in a very negative way. The beginning of the quote is as followed: “Experience will teach you the real characters of the beings who chiefly compose your species” (86). The statement was made by a male character from the novel. Then the quote continues and states: “You will find them, [women] a set of harpies, absurd, treacherous, and deceitful—regardless of strong obligations, and mindful of slight injuries…” (86).
In Lepines’ letter, he sites how feminists had ruined his life and they were the reason he committed this crime. Feminist theory on crime explains this thought clearly. Lepines’ ideas about the roles of women were formed by a patriarchal society leading him to believe in some that women were not equal to men and should not be given all the opportunities of men (Knuttila, 305). These women wanted to be educated and become engineers; Lepine could not cope with this fact and blamed women, namely feminist for his short comings in life. Did Lepine come up with these ideas himself or was he a product of a society that dictated classical roles and oppression of women?
Re-Visioning Women in Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” serves to re-vision the age-old traditions of the fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood, by repurposing it into highly symbolic literary erotica. Newfound sexual suggestions made in this retelling highlight the new meaning of being a woman by means of man’s dual purpose as danger and desire, Little Red’s carnal empowerment, and her poor old Granny’s ultimate state of being. In the original tale, Little Red Riding Hood, Little Red encounters two males, one being her savior, the huntsman, and the other being a threat, the wolf. With no other position to be filled, Little Red furnishes the story as a void, as the domestic woman. Carter’s re-vision combines the man and the wolf literally into one character, the werewolf, and metaphorically by presenting “Little Red” in opposition to both ideas the two individually provided, danger and desire.
The simile represents the attack as a corruption of a mother child bond. Both writers’ use vampiric imagery to stress the bloodthirsty nature of the act; however Sethe’s attack can be viewed as more degenerate than the slave woman in Loveact. Sethe is physically oppressed by grown men, not children. The mental oppression that slavery inflicts upon Sethe is evidently seen throughout Beloved. “I’m still full of that”, “full” could be a metaphor for Sethe’s past, the iniquitous memories that slavery has
Modern context in where social movement and increasing gender and equality threaten the traditional male dominance may be directed on those woman who challenge the power of a man and the status (e.g. career women), as well as towards women who are alleged as using their sexual appeal to gain power over men. However, sexual reproduction and the dependency and intimacy that man have on women and the domestic fulfillment of women. These roles create a dependency and intimacy between the two counterbalances the sexist hostility with a subjectively benevolent view of women. As per the 22-item ambivalent sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) initiated and validated in six
Alternatively john responds by telling her it "was a draught, and shut the window" (Gilman 34). Perhaps this carelessness for women contributed to the mistreatment of the female illness by just giving them drugs to cope with sickness. The narrator continuously reminds us of the social expectations of themale in relation to females. The narrator uses phrases like "one expects that" and "John says..." to reinforce male's normal actions and treatment aimed at the female population. In the face of a stiff husband and the sticky wallpaper, the narrator progresses and moves forward through the diversity.