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.
This essay will argue that In both texts motherhood and marriage is shown to be a hindrance to both women’s careers and their female identity. The theme of marriage in The Bell Jar and Top Girls Is shown to demolish the female identity of the women. In The Bell Jar Plath uses Buddy as a symbolic figure to show how even the “clean” men of that time were only out for one
However, women aren’t innocent in this controversy either. They have some control over the attention they receive based on how they dress and present themselves socially. I know for a fact the reason my friend dresses up and stands out it for the attention. In conclusion I agree with Sheets-Johnstone’s thoughts about women only being seen as body parts and objects. Although some perspectives on the subject claim women live in bad faith and put themselves in situations to be defined as a body part, if there was no routine of male’s looking or the notion to dominate and females attention starvation or feelings to please, there would be no need for a dominant and submissive relationship.
In the essay “There Is No Unmarked Woman,” Deborah Tannen, a Georgetown University linguistics professor, argues that apparently women are base upon character on how they dress. Women are said to be “marked” because no matter how they style themselves, they will always be judged according by their appearance. In this academic conference Tannen said, “I found myself looking at the three other women at the table, thinking how each had a different style and how each style was coherent” (140). By stating this, Tannen explains that women express themselves through clothing, which means women choose the message they want others to take from their look, because their character will be determine based on their appearance. Men, on the other hand are “unmarked” because usually their style says nothing about themselves.
Another approach to her writings can be taken. Could Peggy McIntosh be elevating the “privileged ” even more by placing the focus on them? In Audre Lorde’s, the most powerful argument made, was differences can promote healthy debate and lead to a harmonious interdependency; the path to freedom. In Friedan’s piece she focuses solely on the plight of middle - class white women, and does not give enough attention to the differing situations encountered by women in less stable economic situations, women of other races or sexuality. Could Friedan’s studies be viewed as
These examples just shows how confusing it is in identifying sexual harassment today. How would you answer Limbaugh’s points if you were arguing for the opposition to each of the two points you have selected? For the first point, I would argue that women should not have so much power over men because men were created as the head and as such women should respect their authority. For the second point, I would say that sexual harassment should be limited to only sexual behaviors that are forced unto women and not be based on a man trying to win a woman over by his advances. Sexual harrassment refers to sexual actions.
He made her feel as if she was independent in her thinking, when he was merely giving her options that he approved of. The way Janie’s character in relation to Tea Cake was in my opinion weak. It puts women in a position that will allow women to be taken advantage off by sweet-talking us into thinking they are doing the perfect things because they are treating us they way we want to be treated. It gives of the notion that women will do whatever men want as long as we are treated like women. To answer the question, is this a feminist text, I would say that it is.
Clearly the way to get beautiful women is to ignore them, perhaps mistreat them" (272). The ad Kilbounre is describing is similar to the picture in the Bebe ad, and she is trying to make women see just how degrading these images are. The woman in the Bebe ad is very desperately attempting to get the man's attention by leaning on him and focusing her attention on him, but he doesn't seem interested. The image is posed like that to show superiority and power that men supposedly have over women. This teaches women that they need to constantly dote on the man, whether he pays attention or not.
Mason states that women are not just wife, mother, and a friend but they are someone who also wants an education to be attorneys and such and there are no laws that prohibit this. Molly Wallace's Valedictory Address. I thought it was interesting that given the opportunity to speak in public she uses it to explain how she thinks it is unfair the way men are expected to do certain things like public speaking while for a women it is unlikely. I particularly liked her comment on how it was alright women to know how to write yet speaking in public was not really permissible. I liked it because it gives a different view of women at this time.
As Estelle Freedman expresses in her introduction to De La Barre’s work, “Since the mind ‘has no sex,’ women as well as men have a right to knowledge and to pursue scientific and literary studies” (Freedman 10). If a desire to learn burns within a woman, denying her opportunity to quench that desire not only violates that woman’s rights, but human rights in general. In a society that fought for the independent rights of man, denying women any right that a man possesses puts to shame all efforts and values regarding the freedom of men. If physical traits must be taken into account when comparing men and women, compare their brains. As Francois De La Barre says, “A woman’s brain is exactly the same as ours.