Character: Rose Mary: It is hard to take pity on Rose Mary because at this point in the novel she becomes very self-centered. Determined to be an artist, she declines paying jobs even when her family needs the money for survival. Rose Mary’s character also introduces larger concerns about occupations. She does not want to be a teacher or have a “real” job because she delights so much in the creativity and spontaneity of being an artist. This trait is extremely alarming, and is embodied in her own quote when she expresses that she’d rather spend money on paints to create a beautiful painting that could last forever instead of buying food that will only last fifteen minutes.
Despite Beli’s past with an adoptive family, living with La Inca should have been great. Like the typical Dominican teenage girl, beli is boy crazy, but even more so than the others. She is defensive and overreacts, cause no one around school seems to like her. Even though she lives what one would call a fortunate life in an upper-class family, Beli does not want to live within these standards and yearns to escape from the Dominican Republic. Beli has taken her rebellion so far as to have sex with Jack Pujols, something everyone shunned her for especially La Inca.
NOW explains that their endorsements are intelligent, well-rounded authentic women, but Fazzone wants to know if they are really women who bask in the sex object role, and what are the shows NOW endorses are really about? Felicity was the third-most feminist show in NOW’s “Feminist Primetime Report,” yet the women would do anything for the crush she followed to college. For example, in the show, once a week, Felicity would revolve her life around the same guy. The other shows that were ranked high in NOW were heroines they stated as one’s who “broke out of the sex object role,” but Fazzone explains that instead these “heroines” are empowered only because they’ve decided that what really drives female power is sex. How authentic are these actresses that NOW endorses, Fazzone questions.
As a guy, myself, this could have been “heaven” but clearly as a young male with values and morals it was more sad than pleasing to see these girls, that could have possibly been my own classmates, crave such attention with these sexual moves. The families present at the river could not believe the event. Many were infuriated and left the river afraid there children would see these females “gone wild.” The problem that seems to be causing the issue amongst these girls and women is that they’re “mistaking sexual power for real power” according to the author of Female Chauvinist Pigs (Jesella). What is even worse is the fact that they believe “that mimicking the sexuality of strippers, Playmates, and porn stars -- women who are paid to simulate real women's sexuality -- is power in the first place” (Jesella). It is quite disturbing that we see lucid behavior as normal; however, that doesn’t mean every girl is participating.
Much of this post-war era literature does not present romanticized stories of true love, as many people avoid the allegiance and commitment of relationships by which true love is characterized. On the contrary, it is commonly seen that characters attempt to pursue happiness and eliminate void by fulfilling their needs through meaningless sexual relations due to a lack of meaning in life, just as Lady Brett Ashley did in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway. Lady Brett Ashley “must be the controlling individual in any relationship, the imperial force, and she can only be that while men are under the sway of her sexuality. When they seek equality in the relationship, or dominance, when they want to call the shots, she ends the relationship, giving up her conquered territory and moving on” (Hays 241). Despite the negative connotations often associated Brett, she is quite complex as this “bitch goddess,” as labeled by Mimi Gladstein, is an “intriguing mix of femininity and masculinity, strength and vulnerability, morality and dissolution.
A feminist point of view would find these women to be flawed, for they cannot survive without the assistance of a man. The book tells the story of a “manly life” in first person dialogue. Considering every female Odysseus encounters “falls in love” with, we can equate that he makes his own problems based off of his ego. In a way, the Odyssey is not just the tale of the wanderings of Odysseus. The poet has made it into a type of descriptive catalog of women, in which he examines women of all kinds and from all backgrounds through objectification.
Over this process, I have learned how professional an exotic dancer can be and that one can actually make a nice profit selling the fantasy of sex. There is a lot to consider when choosing your career path and some women find it easiest to give men just almost what they want while getting what they want: Money. Power rules this industry, in my opinion. The girls have equal power as the client. This is a win-win or lose-lose battle, neither can gain nor lose satisfaction separately.
Even though she thinks it’s unfair she hesitates and recognizes that men and women should have equal rights. Since most writers in the 18th century were men, society looked at women writers more on the negative side or didn’t take women serious. Between 1700s and 1800s, Anna wanted femininity. Considering women writers didn’t have much freedom with their own creativity. She says, “thou mayest command, but never canst be free”(20).
When comparing Julia Roberts' cover to Blake Shelton's it becomes apparent how there is a double-standard when it comes to how the media portrays men and women. Other ads and magazines, as well as other forms of media, have shown throughout the history to repeat the same unrealistic beauty standard, focusing on perfection rather than realistic women and their true selves. Further, it demonstrates how women are not allowed to be sexy once they reach a certain age, while men become sexier with age and often are praised for signs of aging, such as grey hair. Magazines such as these can lead to self-esteem issues in women, particularly young girls who look at forms of media to get a sense of societal expectations. In order to fix this issue, magazines need to be cognizant of how their images and portrayals of women and men can impact people's images of themselves and others.
It’s a place where women are allowed to go and learn about what is said by society as to be a ‘man’s thing’. This party provides women with tools that are ‘cute’ and with the information they need and want to know. Nelsen interviewed many women at these ‘Tomboy Tool Parties’ and most talked about the comfort they had that it was only women at this party. One commenter even said, “If it’s all women everyone feels more comfortable and can ask whatever they want without feeling like an idiot.” (Nelsen 39) We live in a world where women want to become somewhat independent from men. They want to know more about tools so that they are able to use them when needed.