At her New York apartment with Tom, Myrtle lavishes herself by buying luxury and unnecessary gifts- such as her dog, a common accessory to a wealthy woman’s outfit. This is another attempt to fit in with the wealthier society she so desperately wants to be part of. Jordan too cheats but rather in a golfing tournament than committing adultery, like Daisy and Myrtle, because she is not married. Nick describes Jordan as a ‘dishonest’ woman. She continuously lies (such as in the golfing tournament) in order to maintain her status (of an excellent gofer).
Accordingly, Helen in “Helen in Hollywood,” is used by the cosmetics advertisement. The cosmetics advertisement uses her as a tool to gain a lot of money. Since people want to see her as a beautiful superstar, cosmetic helps her to cover up her weak points and strengthen her beauty. In other words, cosmetic creates a beautiful woman: “…Max Factor didn’t help her though the make-up helps us see what we would like to take her for” Hence, it can be concluded that her image is perceived as the object just like cosmetics, and she is taken the advantages of by the
Literary Analysis: “Barbie Doll” Today’s women hold themselves to unreachable and unreasonable standards of beauty. With media and social networking on the rise, the standard of beauty is skewed to what others portray it to be. Girls and women of all ages and diversity have self-esteem issues due to the “beauty myth”. Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, defines it as an obsession with physical perfection that traps the modern woman in an endless spiral of hope, self-consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society’s impossible definition of ‘the flawless beauty’.” In Marge Piercy’s poem “Barbie Doll”, the deadly effects of the beauty myth are revealed. It all begins with a young girl being born into the world of judgment.
The mirror reflected the woman’s face as she applied her mask. Foundation, powder, eye shadow, liner, mascara, blush, and lipstick are all applied as she satisfies her need to appear beautiful. In Susan Sontag’s passage, Women’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?, she explains the definition of beauty and the plight of contemporary women with respect to beauty. Women are overly concerned with superficial appearances and they do not express who and what they really are. Although beauty was once considered a virtue and can be considered a form of power, it is really a form of oppression that leaves women objectified and constantly working to be attractive.
She is to turn her attention to lady-like hobbies. Women are merely objects of display and necessary utilization. Scout is treated as a “girl” not only by society but also by her brother because that is his opinion of females. “I was not so sure, but Jem told me I was being a girl, that girls always imagined things, that is. Why other people hated them so, and if I started behaving like one I could go off and find someone to play with” (Lee, 119).
She does this in order to show how the obsession that the girlchild has with her own body was one of the largest factors in the suicide. Another one of the stereotypes that Piercy draws upon is their behavior. Piercy describes how the girlchild was told to “play coy.” This describes the societal pressure of what is stereotypically “lady-like.” She was “advised” to act as other ladies would act, and she tried to the furthest extent she could manage. She attempted to act demure and sweet, which was the only thing society allowed for. The term
In both poems gender conflict is demonstrated between through the emotion of betrayal in a relationship. For example in Les Grands Seignurs she talks about “little woman” which could show the great depth of thought about how she feels towards men. The word “a toy, a plaything” suggests that’s once she got married she has became powerless and feels like she is a toy, this shows her betrayal as when you get married you expect the marriage to be fantastic and not to feel like a toy. In contrast, Medusa also demonstrates this when she says “wasn’t I beautiful?” this Is effective as I can infer that she feels insecure about her looks. It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her.
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. Wilson begins with her hair being the issue of her being identified with being a girl. In the introduction you feel as if she’s arguing that women are judged on how exactly woman enough they are by what others perceive them to be and look like. When she cut her hair she states that “people get so twisted over female presentation and what exactly is feminine that my bald head is cause for pause” (Wilson 22), that’s where a reader may assume her main
Lenahan 1 Crystal Lenahan Professor Kirkpatrick English 101 18 October 2012 Queen Bee and the Wannabes What makes a Queen Bee, the queen? Easy, without the wannabe the queen bee wouldn’t be royalty. The Queen Bee is a mixture of charisma, force, money, looks, strong will and manipulation. She can silence other girls and boys with a look, and her popularity is based on fear and control. Unfortunately, the wannabe aims to please the Queen Bee, doing anything to get in her good grace.
Donna Woolfolk Cross explains in her article, "Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled" that propaganda shapes our attitudes on thousands of subjects by tactics such as name-calling which "consists of labeling people or ideas with words of bad connotation" (Cross 210). Aunt Lydia uses name-calling by stating that these women were lazy sluts and explains how important and how much better childbirth is in Gilead in comparison to the old days. Her manipulative speech is what blocks the handmaids from thinking, only to react unquestioningly. Cross's article explains that glittering generalities "try to get us to accept and agree without examining the evidence" (Cross 211). Aunt Lydia's use of glittering generalities and convincing tone of voice makes these women accept whatever she defines them as, giving no reason to think otherwise.