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Women in traditional american society
Women in traditional american society
Women in American society
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Maggie Lena Walker (Draper) was born to Elizabeth Draper & Eccles Cuthbert on July 15, 1867 in Richmond, Virginia. Born a daughter of a former slave. When Maggie was younger she used to always help her mother run a laundry in Virginia. Maggie was put in a wheelchair soon after she died from complications of her diabetic condition .She died December 15, 1934 in Richmond, Virginia.
Madam C.J Walker (Sarah Breedlove) was a strong, hard working african-american woman. She once said “If I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.” She worked very, very hard. Madam C.J walker was born on December 23, 1867 near Delta, Louisiana. (Biography.com…).
More specifically, the protagonist recalls herself as a young girl being held “by the hand” by a “woman with Kool”, who purchases for her a “Mason Mint” subsequently takes her to a cabin but abandons her, being “nowhere to be seen” at the moment of the young girl’s experience with the harrowing symptoms of presumed oral sex, therefore allowing for the assumption of her mother (the “woman with Kool”) being the person prompting her to partake in unpleasant sexual encounters at a tender age. Furthermore, the metaphor that she feels devoid of “arms or legs” lying in the cabin, in concert with the reference mentioned previously of her feeling like a girl in a sideshow (essentially like a puppet), fortifies this idea of her having no agency over herself, of being controlled and exploited by her
Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning, African-American novelist and poet; she is also a known advocate for women’s rights. Walker gave a commencement speech on Founders’ Day at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. Her piece, titled “Oppressed Hair”, talks about growth and hitting a ceiling with every milestone that a person reaches. This piece appeals to college students or anyone that is fighting to accept or find their own identity. In her speech, Walker dismisses the value of her own work by claiming that it is “to entertain and amuse”, this dismissal allows the audience to interpret her words in a way that benefits them the most.
Madam C.J. Walker African American tennis player Serena Williams once stated, “Everyone's dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard.” In life, there are times where everyone struggles and fails, but the only thing to do is to stay on top and work through. Madam C.J. Walker was born on December 23, 1867, on a plantation in Delta, Louisiana. (Madame C. J. Walker. 2022) She was one of six children of Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, former slaves-turned sharecroppers after the Civil War.
Misogyny rears its ugly head. Alphonso is the greatest threat to Celie and the main source of her suffering. Through the character Alphonso, Walker shows the cruel behavior that women are subjected to. From the beginning of the novel, it is made evident the type of person Alphonso is. Walker revealed his personality traits and qualities through indirect characterization.
Maggie on the other hand, is characterized by her unattractiveness and timidity. Her skin is scarred from the fire that had happened ten or twelve years ago. Those scars she has on her body in the same way have scarred her soul leaving her ashamed. She “stumbles” in her reading, but Mrs. Johnson loves her saying she is sweet and is the daughter she can sing songs at church with, but more so that Maggie is like an image of her. She honors her family’s heritage and culture, by learning how to quilt and do things in the household, like her mother views their heritage.
In world where society tries to marginalize individuals and place them into nice and neat categories, it’s almost impossible to know and express who you really are. In Black, White and Jewish, Rebecca Walker struggles with her racial identity and the haunting stereotypes that are stigmatized in society. Rebecca is supposed to be a representation of strength, peace and unity, but soon realizes the differences between black and white America that cause her not to be accepted. Although Rebecca feels more experienced as a black woman she is constantly shifting her identity which creates this tragic mulata stereotype that prevents her from existing and being black happily. Stereotypes enable Rebecca from being able to co-exist within every race.
Judith Butler’s Gender Troubles emphasizes gender as the constant repetition of non-existent ideals to uphold a masculine-dominant culture. Likewise, “Body Politics” highlights this belief within the overtly feminine qualities of city women. As a whole, the poem contrasts idealized feminine “city women” with a “real woman” who possesses both feminine and masculine qualities. The mother figure challenges both the gender binary and the patriarchal order by rejecting the feminine gender norms of the society. This feminist reading of the poem makes many valuable and probable claims, however the feminist approach contains some weaknesses.
The main characters, Walker and Keira faced many difficult complications in the book. Keira’s life was always stressful and never . She threw herself into doing something she was passionate about, playing the piano. She dedicated herself into spending as much time as possible with the musical instrument which her ‘uncle’ left her after he supposedly passed away. Ever since then, playing the instrument became her escape and took the problems away for awhile.
The point of view in the story “Everyday Use,” by Alice Walker plays a big part. Throughout the story, one of Mama’s daughters came to visit. The way Mama and Maggie see her is not in a very pleasant way. In fact, they are scared to tell her no when it comes to anything. From Mama’s perspective Dee seems like this rude, stuck up, spoiled child because she had the opportunity to go out and expand her education, while Mama and Maggie continued to live their lives on the farm.
Furthermore, the quote also challenges readers to think metaphorically. Within the quote, Evelyn compares how men treat her to a “beautiful flower” that “they want to own”. Likewise with tactile imagery, this metaphor emphasizes the dehumanization that Evelyn faces as a result of her ‘vixen-like’ appearance, and is rather seen as a product to be owned—like the flower. This metaphor is important for students to interpret because of its relevance to 21st century issues of women being objectified. In fact, the combination of tactile imagery and the metaphor truly puts the reader into the perspective of how it feels to be an objectified woman.
2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Martin’s claim of being Feminist Feminism is the promotion of women's privileges on the ground of the evenness of the sexes. In this scenario, George RR Martin a contemporary writer also claims that he is a Feminist but critics object this claim as his writings have misogynic elements which challenge its credibility as a feminist. In an interview with the Telegraph (2013), Martin remarks:
“Everyday Use” is one of the most popular stories by Alice Walker. The issue that this story raises is very pertinent from ‘womanist’ perspective. The term, in its broader sense, designates a culture specific form of woman-referred policy and theory. ‘womanism’ may be defined as a strand within ‘black feminism’. As against womansim, feminist movement of the day was predominately white-centric.
Standing Female Nude, written by Carol Ann Duffy, is a poem which describes the condition of a prostitute who is struggling to make a living. Duffy, as with a majority of her other works, attempts to give a voice to voiceless women in the middle and lower economic classes in an effort to promote her feminist agenda. This poem is in fact very layered and explores multiple aspects which may not be spotted on a superficial level, and enables her to transmit her ideas to the readers. Duffy puts across her main ideas of society’s treatment of the prostitute versus the treatment of males, and the prostitutes introspective views. Duffy creates a society, not too distorted from our own in fact, which objectifies the woman and values her purely for her physical assets.