In the beginning of the story, the narrator believes she is free to become who she wants. As the story advances, her female role models, quickly ignore what she wants –for example working with the foxes– and set expectations for her to ‘act like a lady’, thus forcing the narrator to become a new highly feminized version of herself. Since the story is written in the 1950s, the mistreatment of women is permitted. The narrator’s society is extremely sexist. When
Entry 9: Defiance According to the UN Secretary-General, “In 2012, almost half of all women who were victims of international homicide worldwide were killed by an intimate partner or family member,” (“Violence Against Women”) while men only accounted for six percent. November 25th marks the International Day Against Violence Towards Women as well as the deaths of the three Mirabal sisters. The novel In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez describes their journey to serve as “models for women fighting against injustice of all kinds” (Alvarez 324). In the Time of the Butterflies can be looked upon through a Feminist lens by analyzing how women defy and overcome their stereotypical gender roles.
In the story, “Names/Nombres,” by Julia Alverez, a young girl named Julia had strong Caribbean heritage, despite growing up in America . One problem she faces on a daily basis is the pronunciation of her own name. During school hours, she has noticed that many people manage to figure out ways to incorrectly pronounce her name, creating new and similar sounding names. Julia had a hard time getting used to her newfound titles and eventually got called far fetched names like Jules or Judy Alcatraz. Sometimes, Julia’s classmates would question her “exotic” heritage, curious to learn more about her, which only made her more embarrassed and singled out as different.
The work is not yet complete, and is evident by looking at the domination of women throughout the centuries, specifically the 19th and 20th century, which was the height of the women’s rights movement. By analyzing two literary works from two different eras, “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late 19th century and “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers” written by Adrienne Rich in the mid-20th century, one can conclude that while there have been improvements to women’s rights, there is still discrimination prevalent. Although set in two different time periods, the main
Chanel Miller and Matthew Shepard's stories reveal the ingrained impact of systemic oppression on individuals and society. In her memoir "Know My Name," Miller describes her experience in being a victim of rape, victim-blaming and institutional power imbalances on survivors of sexual assault. For instance, Miller outlines the challenges she faced in seeking justice after her assault, including the interrogation of every little aspect of her life such as: what she ate that day, what she was wearing, how much she had to drink, and other intrusive questions that didn’t even pertain to the assault. Similarly, the murder of Matthew Shepard, as depicted in "The Laramie Project," the attackers attempt to make it look like Matthew was the one to bring
In the short story “The Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck, the main character, Elisa faces many troubles. Elisa’s troubles and frustration arise from the 1930’s society’s discrimination of women during the time of the story. The struggle for equality for women leaves Elisa in conflict with herself. She falls victim to the belief that women should not stray from their role society has placed on them. Through Elisa’s interactions with the men in the story, we find many examples of how the repression of women is used as a barrier for Elisa to live her life how she wants.
In analyzing this children’s book through a feminist’s lens, it can be seen that this story supports equality between women and men. However, there is a common feminine role that is seen throughout the story, that could be seen
Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, is set in the 1960’s, a time when men and women had specific and restrictive roles in society. Men were the ones to work and earn money for their families and women were expected to a caring and obedient homemakers. In many ways, those gender stereotypes are still very present today. The contrasting opinions of Atticus Finch and Aunt Alexandra provide the reader with the different views on how men and women should be raised, which in turn, affects the readers thoughts and opinions on the gender expectations and roles that are present in today’s society.
“Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro is a story that is set in the period immediately following World War II. Every aspect of the story, from the plot and narration to the figurative language makes the story one of gender and gender roles in society. The protagonist in the story is a young girl who is growing up on a fox farm who tells the story of the sometimes exciting and sometimes tedious work of running a farm in which foxes are raised for their fur.
In “Trifles,” Gloria Glaspell brilliantly describes the setting in this story to mirror the life of Minnie Wright. An abandoned farmhouse on a cold winter day. The stove is the only heat source, and it fails to warm a home that has trapped Minnie in isolation and loneliness for years. Men in the early twentieth century viewed women as second class, women had no brain, no opinion, and no value outside the kitchen or bedroom. The men in “Triffles” see the kitchen as things, with no value to their murder investigation (1386).
I woke up one early morning and my family was still asleep. We had not eaten in a couple of days and the bones that we extract marrow from were running out. The only female in the group is taking care of the oldest member who now has lost most of his teeth. The last female in the group had died after getting a cut on her arm scavenging for fruit. It was time to get some wood to add to the fire that was burning bright.
Hence, in so far as they are food, the figurative use of the previous bird names may hide sexual appetite or desirability. Such are the cases of chuza (chicken), bater (quail), kabutri (pigeon), which denote women who are young and usually attractive. Yet, the opposite can be said of murghi(hen), which do not hold any hint of physical beauty, but, by contrast, suggest old and middle-aged women who are ugly, fussy or clumsy. This reversal might be explained in relation to edibility and age. Indeed, the youth of an animal is likely to prompt positive figurative usages of the animal name, presumably because of the connotations of helplessness and care attached to offspring (cf Hines, 1999; Halupka-Rešetar, 2003).
This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a
“Tis just like a summer bird-cage in a garden: the birds that are without despair to get in, and the birds within despair and are in a consumption for fear they shall never get out” (Webster, 6). These lines from John Webster’s play “The White Devil” – which inspired the title of Margaret Drabble’s debut novel, A Summer Bird-Cage (1963) – sum up the characters’ quandary and their search for a fulfilling role in life. This paper will examine Drabble’s depiction of the intersection of gender and identity through the perceptions of Sarah Bennett, the authoritative narrator. Through her female narrator’s voice, Drabble endeavors to validate women’s subject position and to counteract the patriarchal gender prejudice. Margaret Drabble enjoyed large female readership, which led Valerie Myer to remark that, “Drabble is the most contemporary of novelists: a whole generation of women readers identifies with her characters, who they feel represent their own problems” (13).
The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.
