Patriarchy Essays (Examples)

Because he si a man, he thinks that he is entitled to decide upon which of the women ought to receive the award. This is a clear piece of evidence supporting androcentrism, but also patriarchy. Through his gesture the man does nothing but put himself at the centre of everyone's attention. Symbolically, his is a declaration that the male is the central value of society hence having the authority to declare and to impose what he considers to have most value.

It is true that the award remained in Taylor's possession, but Kanye's gesture was such a blow that her morals were completely down and she was not able to continue her speech, feeling humiliated. In fact afterwards, Beyonce who receives another award will call her out on the stage to have her moment. In the scene under discussion we are dealing with a behavior pattern in which a man…

Rise of Patriarchy

In Riane Eisler's classic, the Chalice and the Blade, she writes,

It would seem only logical that the visible dimorphism, or difference in form, between the two halves of humanity had a profound effect on Paleolithic systems of belief. And it would seem equally logical that the fact that both human and animal life is generated from the female body and that, like the seasons and the moon, woman's body also goes through cycles led our ancestors to see the life-giving and sustaining powers of the world in the female, rather than the male form.

Even after much of the overt worship of goddesses had been changed and surpressed, the forms remain in the Shekhina of Hebrew tradition and of course, the Catholic Virgin Mary. The Mother remains, in disguise. For about 5000 years, society has been run on increasingly male-dominated and patriarchal lines with, it seems…

omen and Patriarchy

Across the world, the secondary position of women in society remains a virtual constant. This preferential treatment for men is embedded in social and political structures in various countries and societies.

This paper examines how patriarchal structures remain in three important social structures - marriage, household and family life, and in the economy.

The first part of the paper compares the marriage practices among the Yanomamo Indians in northern Brazil, the Sherpa people of the Himalayas and the!Kung Sen people of the Kalahari desert. These ethnographic examples were selected because of their geographic and racial diversity.

The second part of the paper examines the gender relations and division of labor within the household, and how such traditional gender structures in the home are being affected by the growing number of women who work outside the home, both by choice and by economic need.

The last part of…

Growth of Patriarchy in Ancient Societies

Patriarchy is a term used to denote an ideological and social construct that deems the patriarchs (males) to be superior to females. In the patriarchal social system, men's role as principal authority figures forms a crucial element of social organization, with men holding authority over material assets, women, and children. This construct enforces femininity and masculinity trait stereotypes in communities, thus reinforcing unfair power relationships between males and females (Rawat 44). This essay will discuss the role of diverse ancient civilizations in developing correlation factors associated with patriarchy's growth.

In alby's opinion, patriarchy comprises of six interdependent components that constitute the basis for exploitation, namely, the household, the State, violence perpetrated by males against females, paid employment, cultural institutions and sexuality (alby 1-5). alby's definition of a patriarchal household is the domestic environment in which the homemaker and her efforts towards smooth management of…

There would be an overwhelming institutional force underlying policies of inequality and hatred that finds common ground with the same as expressed in Atwood's work.

The notion of the government as a 'bigger brother' in this story is produced in the ironic insidiousness of 'family' as it is formed in the handmaids' quarters in Gilead. Here, we are given the impression of a society that is rigidly imposed upon its inhabitants by force presenting itself as simultaneously benevolent and formidable in its authority. From the perspective of our protagonist, we learn both of the oppressive nature of this society and of brand of sardonic observation which Atwood will bring to the proceedings. Describing her surroundings, Offred observes that "Aunt Sara and Aunt Elizabeth patrolled; they had electric cattle prods slung on thongs from their leather belts." (Atwood, 4) the seamless convergence of the warm familial title 'aunt' with the twisted…

Cultural traits can refer to the familiar systems and institutions present throughout human societies including religion, family structures, gender roles and norms, methods and meanings of education, language, and politics or governmental systems. Anthropologists frequently engage in the act of comparing and contrasting cultural traits and practices to show how societies are either similar or different from one another. Although an objective analysis potentially provides an unbiased social scientific perspective, anthropologists also risk ethical relativism when drawing conclusions about the effectiveness or pervasiveness of various cultural traits and practices such as patriarchal institutions. Patriarchy is in fact one of the most pernicious and ubiquitous cultural traits. In fact, there are a host of sub-traits that are linked to patriarchal power and social norms including the division of labor and the social status stratification of labor in multiple societies. Differences between the gendered division of labor in traditional agrarian societies like…

built into the question, "hy are there no great women artists?" First, the question assumes that there have never been great women artists, which of course, is false. The second assumption is that "artists" are different from "women artists." Saying "women artists," in this sense, is like saying "lady doctor." Third, the question uses the term "great" vaguely. Does great mean famous? Or does great mean technically good? Or does great mean something else? Finally, the question itself is broad. Does it refer to women artists in Europe? North America? Asia? The question also neglects the deeper assumption: that the patriarchal society has defined the terms of greatness, and has defined the terms of art. Therefore, the question is fundamentally flawed.

As Nochlin puts it, simply presenting the question is a sign of gross misogyny, and responding to it defensively is exactly the wrong response. An appropriate response is not…

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ,” (Ephesians 5:21). This outstanding sentence clarifies one of Paul’s main objectives in outlining the household codes of Ephesians. Christ is the head of the Church, to which all Christians belong. However, Paul quickly shifts focus to the patriarchal marriage union to model Christian social norms: “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything,” (Ephesians 5:24). Paul therefore uses the household code partly as an opportunity to provide a “theological justification and motivation for the subordination of wives, children and slaves to the head of the household,” (MacDonald, n.d., p. 341). Yet somewhat mysteriously, Paul switches back again and states, “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church,” (5:32). Modern readers should not take Paul’s message about marriage customs and gender roles seriously, but should pay close attention to…

Sociology and Feminist Theories on Gender Studies

Postmodern Feminism in "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism"

In the article entitled, "Cherrie Moraga and Chicana Lesbianism," author Tomas Almaguer analyzes and studies the dynamics behind Moraga's feminist reading of the Chicano culture and society that she originated from. In the article, Almaguer focuses on three elements that influenced Moraga's social reality as she was growing up: the powerful effect of the Chicano culture, patriarchal orientation, and homosexuality that she experienced within the context of her nationality.

Chicano culture centers on race as an indicator of one's cultural orientation, while patriarchy serves as the ideology that is prevalent in Moraga's social reality. Homosexuality, particularly, lesbianism, is Moraga's release from the somewhat repressing role that she perceives women receive in her culture. Thus, lesbianism becomes Moraga's alternative sexual orientation to a heterosexually conservative Chicano culture. Using the following factors concerning the cultural, social, and…

Old Nurse's Story

Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Old Nurse's Story" uses gothic imagery and Victorian themes to elucidate the role and status of women. Online critics claim the story is filled with themes of "male domination, females' sense of powerlessness due to this dominance, and the ambiguous results of women's struggle against males in the Victorian era," ("The Damning Effects of a Patriarchal Society in "The Old Nurse's Story" and "The Yellow allpaper"). Indeed, these three core elements are absolutely evident in this haunting tale about rediscovering personal identity via encounters with the past. The motif of haunting allows the past to return to the present in eerie ways. Relying on ghosts allows the author to present the suggestion that the past haunts the lives of all individuals, and that women have trouble extricating themselves from negative situations because of the constraints of dead social institutions and norms.

However, Hughes and…

Anna Quindlen's "The Name is Mine," the author uses a personal anecdote to convey her experiences grappling with battling patriarchy. Marge Piercy presents a much more pessimistic view of female empowerment in "Barbie Doll," a poem in which the central subject is completely consumed by the catastrophic effects of a sexist society. Both these works of literature make powerful social commentary about the source and nature of sexism and patriarchy. However, Quindlen and Piercy use dramatically different literary strategies to achieve their respective, unitary goals. In "The Name is Mine," Quindlen uses the first person point-of-view and a straightforward narrative prose. In "Barbie Doll," Piercy uses a poem written in third person. In "The Name is Mine," Quindlen's tone is lively and upbeat, ultimately optimistic and encouraging. On the contrary, Piercy's tone in "Barbie Doll" is bitter, scathing, and righteously angry. Their tone and point-of-view might be different but both…

ed Tent

Anita Diamant's fiction, "The ed Tent (1997)," is her interpretation of the activities in the red tent, where the Canaanite wives of the first patriarchs dwelt and celebrated the facets of womanhood, such as menstruation and childbirth. There, they were shielded from their men's outside affairs and cares. These patriarchs were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the wives were Sara, ebecca, Leah, achel and their maids Zilphah and Bilhah. It assumes that these women were priestesses of goddess-worshipping tribes of the Canaan region who practiced and perpetuated rituals, traditions and habits until obliterated by their only daughter, Dinah, because of her violation by an Amorite and the murder of the Amorites by two of her 12 brothers (Diamant)

The novel is told from the first person viewpoint of Dinah, the only daughter and last child of Jacob and Leah and the last in the maternal line that should…

omen and Gender Studies

Of all the technologies and cultural phenomena human beings have created, language, and particularly writing, is arguably the most powerful, because it is the means by which all human experience is expressed and ordered. As such, controlling who is allowed to write, and in a modern context, be published, is one of the most effective means of controlling society. This fact was painfully clear to women writers throughout history because women were frequently prohibited from receiving the same education as men, and as the struggle for gender equality began to read a critical mass near the end of the nineteenth century, control over women's access to education and writing became a central theme in a number of authors' works, whether they considered themselves feminists or not. In particular, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 story The Yellow allpaper features this theme prominently, and Virginia oolf's extended essay A…

Virginia oolf

In "A Room of One's Own," Virginia oolf argues that writing is a means by which women can empower themselves, and in so doing, subvert patriarchy. oolf uses symbolism throughout the essay, namely in the central concept of a room. A room, or a physical space, provides the power of place from which to launch probing inquiry and social commentary. Rather than dwell inside the confines of a patriarchal, pre-defined social space, the woman creates a room of her own. This room is both a public and a private sphere; it is a room in the sense of having one's privacy. It is also a room to speak in a public forum, which oolf does when she delivers the essay. oolf speaks on behalf of all women, which is one of her rhetorical strategies. Specific literary techniques other than symbolism, such as irony, add depth to oolf's argument.…

Elisa Allen is the protagonist of John Steinbeck's short story “The Chrysanthemums,” and Louise Mallard is the protagonist of Kate Chopin's “The Story of An Hour.” Both Elisa and Louise are products of their social and historical contexts, particularly when it comes to gender norms. Elisa and Louise are passive protagonists, because patriarchy has stripped them of political agency. By creating passive protagonists in their respective short stories, Steinbeck and Chopin make powerful social commentary about the role of women in their private and public lives.

Both Elisa and Louise feel stuck in their marriage, but perceive liberation as impossible within the confines of their culture. In both short stories, nature symbolizes wasted potential. For example, Elisa is capable of so much more than gardening: "The chrysanthemum stems seemed too small and easy for her energy," (Steinbeck). Similarly, Louise realizes that she has wasted her life when she sees nature…

Free
trade also has contributed to the economic exploitation of women, as the
textile industry for example, which is predominantly women has seen jobs
lost and wages cut. Women are often forced to be teachers or work in day-
care centres, but not on equal footing with men. Women are victims as are
ethnic minorities, and they are forced into hourly jobs with low salaries,
high unemployment, and little unionization or official organization.
Furthermore, women are dependent on household duties, and through
mechanical technological improvements in household work, women have been
able to work more. This means that women are in fact tied to the family,
and that the family dictates that women's economic needs are of secondary
concern. As the household labourer, traditional duties are a priority, and
this notion of women contributing to the workforce as secondary to
household duties has contributed to women being treated as secondary…

271-272). This section claims that fathers tend to invest more in terms of time and money to their newborn baby boys than girls. When seen in the light of the patriarchal paradigm, I suppose it could be understood that more value is attached to baby boys than girls. Nonetheless, I find it surprising from my own point-of-view, since I would have thought that all children are equally important in their parents' eyes.

Another surprising thing is that women do not ascribe more importance to either baby boys or girls, but give either the same time and attention. Another surprising fact is however that an unmarried mother is more likely to marry the father of the unborn child when it is a boy. This could be connected to the fact that an older male figure in a child's life is seen as more important for boys than for girls. I suppose…

ithin these transactions, however, the relationship of women towards males in their lives is often reinforced in advertising, either by the woman's desire to buy products to beautify herself or her home, or to cook and clean the home.

In contemporary life, it seems more difficult to trace the architectural genealogy of suburban and urban malls and shopping locations in as clear and in as sexually defined a fashion as the Burlington Arcade. Like the arcade, however, malls and other stores are public places where everyone is free to come in, but must behave according to the rules of the store, or else the shoppers are forced to leave by security guards. The exchanges are impersonal, like in any store, or in prostitution, and are governed by financial transactions, even though the employee may be forced to tell the customer to have a nice day, or behave according to a…

Gender Politics and the Nation

The historical development of the nation has impacted the ability of women to participate in contemporary politics by reinforcing gender roles in the public sphere. Traditionally, the exclusion women from the international community was linked to ideas of gender roles and today, these ideas continue to exclude women from international politics.

Traditionally, colonialism was driven by the Enlightenment ideal of using reason to obtain goals, a view that also saw females as irrational and emotional. Enloe notes, "Perhaps international politics has been impervious to feminist ideas precisely because for so many centuries in so many cultures it has been thought of as a typically 'masculine' sphere of life" (4).

Enloe argues that the status of diplomatic wives is tied closely to ideas of women as loyal supporters of their men, who were busy at the business of international relations. This view clearly shows the pervasiveness…

The lack of a critical analysis of race created a divide between feminist and black activists, as chronicled in the words of feminist and scholar Beverley Guy-Sheftall: "Coming out of the Civil Rights era, black feminism was a contentious, debatable, demonized and divisive notion. It was perceived to be a pro-white, anti-male doctrine that would destroy black families and prohibit unity. I can remember going to all-black gatherings and people asking me whether or not I was a lesbian, because being pro-female translated into a hate for men" (Ofori-Atta 2010). In her book, Ain't I a oman? bell hooks noted that under slavery, abolitionists often said that black men were 'wronged' because slavery emasculated the men and denied them the right to defend their wives against the advances of slave-owners. But this did not recognize the impact that the threat of rape had upon black women. Simply the phrase "the…

The already shaky relationship between the Qatar state and Iranian society was further undermined by the Western exploitation of Iranian resources during the second half of the nineteenth century.

From 1918 until 1921 "British subsidies kept the government afloat, and British military and administrative advisers attempted to reorganize Iran's army and to manipulate the various political factions within the country to British advantage" (Cleveland, 185)*. When Britain added insult to injury by offering Iran a loan in exchange for exclusive advisory privileges, anti-imperial demonstrations broke out in several cities. Widespread discontent grew further. The Qatar government was regarded as ineffective and pro-British. A determined military commander finally took action and put a stop to the chaos.

Reza Khan used the political climate to advance from the position of commander and chief of the army in 1921 to that of the shah of Iran in 1925. His election overthrew the Qatar…

Sociology of Women

Family

Family, as sociology recognizes is one of the most important institutions that contribute to the process of primary socialization of an individual. However, like all other institutions, family is one of the crucial grounds where feminists have a lot to argue about and they fight for the rights of women and the need to be given an appropriate space and respect in the household.

As the distribution of work in the household goes, the traditional belief and concept is that the women are the ones who need to stay home and monitor all the necessary chores and the domestic work needed around the house. However, the feminists seem to be highly critical about this particular thought. They have begun to question why it is seen as the women's sole responsibility to look after the needs of the children and tend to every individual in the household.…

women and men differently. Men see men as different and often are afraid to be alone without discussion of "sex." The woman is marked differently than a man, but is she?

GENDER AND SEXUALITY

How are gender and sexuality socially constructed? Are men and women different in the workforce? Should men be able to be who they are without discussion of women? What are the masks that women wear? Why? Often men are afraid to be with a group of males without discussion about women. Women are considered marked. Why is this? How does this fit into life? Women are discriminated at home, at work, and in life by both males and females. Men are unmarked by women and men. However, no man or women should be considered "marked," but as the individual who they are.

When men and women think about women, they often have thoughts of the "sexy"…

structure and content of the outline met the objectives of the assignment. I narrowed down the topic further to differentiate between Angelou and Cisneros because I recognized that Angelou sends her readers an optimistic message of self-empowerment, while Cisneros opts to use the medium of traditional storytelling more as a warning to women about how patriarchy strangles their power and self-reliance. Essentially, both send the same message using different media and different tones.

ace and gender are features that often determine access to power in a society. Moreover, race and gender are critical to personal identity formation, just as they locate an individual in the stratifications of the society.

Sandra Cisneros's short story "Woman Hollering Creek," and "Still I ise," a poem by Maya Angelou both make statements about race, power, and gender in America.

Author Backgrounds: Cisneros is a Chicano author and Maya Angelou is an African-American author and…

omen ith Authority in a Patriarchal orld

In the contemporary world, the cultural and literary spheres acknowledge female interests and activities. Females have overtly exerted their rights by demanding their due status in society, thereby being accepted as important societal members. But the scenario was vastly different about a hundred years ago. Females belonged at home, with the general society believing that raising children and taking care of domestic affairs sufficed as their emotional fulfillment. Between 1850 and 1900, societies were chiefly patriarchal and dependent women had to fight to enjoy equal social status. They were governed completely by a male-fashioned society, and had to be the image of the era's feminine ideal.[footnoteRef:1] In this paper, female authority within patriarchal societies will be addressed, with particular emphasis on the many restrictions when it came to them exerting power and what effective strategies they applied. [1: Pamela, Balanza. "The Role of…

4). This idea has since been abandoned. The mythology of the Amazons, a matriarchy of warrior women, has been discounted as no more than a myth, one deriving from the deep-seated fear on the part of males that they might lose their power and authority. In matrilineal societies, men tend still to monopolize the rights of power. Some Chinese anthropologists believe the stories of true matriarchal societies in some regions of China in the past, but this is uncertain. A matriarchy would be presumed to be less warlike and more nurturing as a social order and would not subordinate men in the way men have done to women in the patriarchal society.

The formulation and operation of power in the largely patriarchal social order in the world today divides along other line than gender, with political action influenced most by ideology, religion, divisions of power, and other aspects of group…

Gender

Women occupy conflicted and ambiguous roles in Middle English and enaissance English literature. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night all show how male authors in particular grappled with the role of women in an increasingly patriarchal society. Women feature prominently in each of these stories, even if their status and perceived morality is questionable. Each of these stories features women who have a fair degree of power, albeit expressed within the confines of a patriarchal social and political construct. What's more, the women in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Canterbury Tales, and Twelfth Night create their own power; power is not "given" to them by self-serving benevolent men. In fact, women like Morgan Le Fay, Lady Bertilak, the Wife of Bath, and Viola all wield power effectively. Women and men occupy separate and distinct spheres, and each wields a different type…

Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway contains many of the hallmarks of the author’s style and thematic concerns, including a critique of gender roles and concepts of mental illness. Protagonist Clarissa, the eponymous Mrs. Dalloway, reflects on the trajectory of her life. Self-reflection is a lens through which she develops a cogent critique of the entire social system in which she lives. Clarissa’s reflections, catalyzed by her observations of men and women in her social circle, comprise a pessimistic point of view. Septimus’s suicide then highlights the fact that there is no way out of the patriarchal structure; there are only ways of coping with its immutable power. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf employs Clarissa as a vehicle for critiquing patriarchy and all it entails: including class-based social hierarchies, gender bias, and heteronormativity.

In Mrs. Dalloway, one of the themes is the way patriarchy constrains the organic evolution of relationships. Clarissa has…

Yet this same nation justified slavery for more than a century after the rest of the world denounced it as cruel and barbaric. Your description of the Suharto regime is rich enough to allow readers a glimpse into that which they need to know about how much farther we as human beings need to go until true equality and true peace are made manifest. Unfortunately our pace of progress is woefully slow, but you are part of the solution.

It is time to rid the world of the dual scourge that is patriarchy and the exploitation of the poor. Both patriarchy and the exploitation of the poor have the same root cause: abuse of power. In Saman, you show how abuse of power can itself be subverted.

One of the reasons you need to keep writing novels is that you are already making an impact. A good sign is the…

" Patriarchy perpetuates its crimes through "denial, tokenism, obfuscation and reversal" and traps its victims (particularly the women) in the semantic web of lies which, in the words of Daly, "constitutes the reality of the Foreground, and obscures ultimate reality, which is the Background." She advises women to take a leap of faith to break free from the necrophilic embrace of patriarchy to dis-cover their true human potential and "reclaim their primordial power, their gynergy, in order to spin new, gynocentric and biophilic realities."

Utopian Society of the Future:

Another controversial theory advanced by Daly in her book, Quintessence, describes a utopian society of the future, on a continent populated entirely by women, where procreation occurs through parthenogenesis, without the participation of men. She further asserts, "If life is to survive on this planet, there must be a decontamination of the Earth. I think this will be accompanied by an…

Representation of Women Through Media Has Changed From 1960s

How representation of women through media has changed from the 1960s

Susan Douglas suggests that fifty years ago, mass media existed in the form of music, television, and magazines. However, she suggest that the journey has been tough owing to the manner in, which the media represents women. The media used a sexist imagery to represent women, especially women who took part in music. Although researchers suggest that the media is a powerful tool, she suggests that the public had an option to resist the media by turning off their television, or ignoring advertisements in the magazines (Douglas 1995). Mass media had substantial influence on the social, cultural, economic, spiritual, political, and religious phases of the society as well as personal level thinking, feeling, and acting. Notably, mass media has both a good side and a bad side; it is insidious…

Octavia Butler's novel Parable of the Sower depicts an America that has crumbled into complete chaos and disarray. ithin the dystopia of 2024, Lauren Olamina reflects on her family background and her past in order to help create a more ideal future for humanity. The key to the future is liberation, both personal and political. Therefore, the message of Parable of the Sower is revolutionary. Lauren does not just need to be a true leader; she needs to change what it means to be human. Butler reportedly said about the potential for female heroines to create a utopian society out of the ashes of the patriarchal dystopia: "I don't believe that imperfect humans can form a perfect society," (Zaki 239). Butler does not expect Lauren and the Earthseed community to become a Utopia because no matter how revolutionary and idealistic she might be, Lauren remains constrained by her past and…

While he supported me in my endeavors, he raised many questions, >Why do you want to enter social work? How do you think you are going to provide for your family and the lifestyle you are accustomed to?" Deferring to socialization pressures that still impel them to fulfill the "breadwinner" role and avoid feminine characteristics, they may segregate themselves from women in the profession, selecting specialties or positions that society deems as more appropriate for men (Williams, 1995). They too may emphasize the masculine aspects of their jobs to "reduce the dissonance between their professional and gender identities" and to justify their career choices (Christie, 1998, p. 506). Thereby, male social workers adhere more closely to the social definition of masculinity" (ritton, J. & Stoller M., 1998).

The young people who are trying to enter into a social work profession "hope to advance research and social work services for men…

As Brivic points out, the labeling of females as hysterical is another means by which a patriarchal society genders certain behaviors. Behaviors related to emotionality are notably gendered, as males and females are socialized to react and communicate according to gender norms. Occasionally in Joycean narratives, discourse related to gender is overt, rather than covert. For instance, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Stephen does not take offense at his father's calling him a "bitch" and instead mocks him: "He has a curious idea of genders if he thinks a bitch is masculine," (Chapter 5). Awareness of the futility of gender norms and gendered identities fuel Stephen Dedalus's character in both Ulysses and in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

Feminist discourse is deliberately subversive in both James Joyce's Ulysses and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Male characters are central…

Feminism 19th and Early 20th Century America

riting and woman suffrage were inextricably intertwined in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Suffrage gave them a voice, and they used that voice to challenge the early American patriarchal status quo. By examining those works, new light can be brought to bear on suffrage activists, who at the time were thought to be an unimportant fringe group. Through a study of their work, we can learn more about their day-to-day lives.

According to Sandra Harding in McClish and Bacon (p. 28), one's own knowledge depends on one's position in society. hen one is a subordinate in the social hierarchy, one understands life differently than someone at the top of the social hierarchy. However, as the most powerful write history, it tends to be rather one-sided. Since that is the case, Harding argues that these different viewpoints are equally valid. By looking at…

As such, she fails to address the central problem of feminism in the Pontellier perspective, namely the impossibility of female individuality and independence in a patriarchal world. It is only in isolation that Edna can find any happiness, and she must make this isolation more and more complete in order to maintain her happiness, as the patriarchy has a means of encroaching on all populated areas, and Wollstonecraft's feminism does not offer an alternative to this need to escape humanity.

A final snort of disgust might be distinctly heard from Edna Pontellier upon her reading of this line of Wollstonecraft's, afterwards she might likely have flung the text aside (or into the fireplace, depending on the season): "Pleasure is the business of woman's life, according to the present modification of society" (ch. 4, par. 10). What Wollstonecraft means is that women are thought to be so fragile, so emotional, and…

Mermaid and the Minotaur: Sexual Arrangements and Human Malaise by Dorothy Dinnerstein. Specifically it will discuss a major women's issue brought forth by the book. Dorothy Dinnerstein's book, 'The Mermaid and the Minotaur" rocked the feminist world when it was first published in 1976. Not only was the book controversial, it espoused some values that did not seem entirely feminist at all. In fact, the central thesis of Dinnerstein's book is that many of the gender difficulties and differences between men and women arise from the fact that a majority of children spend their early childhood under the influence and domination of women, and so, this affects our relationships throughout our lives. Many people, of course, took offense to this theory, and so, re-released in 1999, the book remains controversial and thought-provoking at the same time.

Dorothy Dinnerstein was born in 1923, the daughter of Jewish Socialist pacifists. After graduating…

Gender

Female-fronted Irish pop band The Cranberries address issues related to gender and sexuality tacitly in the song "Animal Instinct." The song lyrics do not overtly discuss feminist discourse, although the music video for the song does. Issues related to compulsory heterosexuality, the dual character and double standard for women, and gender roles are all topics addressed in "Animal Instinct" and its music video. The content or theme of the song can be best understood by an analysis of its title. "Animal Instinct" refers to the most basic human impulses. Thus, The Cranberries draw from Freudian theory. The structure of a song conveys a poetic sensibility, which can be construed as a stereotypically or archetypically feminine given its non-linear format and use of unconventional grammar. In other words, a song as poetry can be purposefully subversive of patriarchal language, grammar, and mechanics. However, the video for "Animal Instinct" is ironic…

439).

However, Johnson (n.d.) offers an optimistic view showing how patriarchy may be dismantled even in systems in which it appears to be pervasive, such as the military. In "Unraveling the Gender Knot," Johnson (n.d.) points out that it is a myth that gender disparity is inevitable and immutable. In fact, social systems are malleable and changeable. Change begins with "awareness and training about issues of privilege," according to Johnson (n.d., p. 240). Awareness stems from the willingness of all members of the military to recognize their role in the perpetuation of hegemony. African-American males find themselves in a peculiar position knowing that hegemony is a destructive force for the subjugated, but unwilling to surrender the privileges and powers of being at the upper rungs of the social ladder. As Hinojosa (2010) notes, there are distinct and tangible benefits to men in the military.

Power and identity are both socially…

This reveals the more liberated ideals of the west and of the pioneer culture. First, Alexandra envisions herself "being lifted and carried lightly by some one very strong. He was with her a long while this time, and carried her very far, and in his arms she felt free from pain." The masculine figure takes the place of the gossamer female angel. She is about to be subsumed by the ethereal lover. "hen he laid her down on her bed again, she opened her eyes, and, for the first time in her life, she saw him, saw him clearly, though the room was dark, and his face was covered." Here, gender roles are again reversed as they are in the previous passage when the man is the angel. The man is now being veiled, his "face was covered." Veil is usually used to conceal the woman's but not the man's…

Daughters in literature requires a thorough analysis of gender roles and norms. The concept of daughter is directly linked to gender roles, as being a daughter entails specific social and familial responsibilities. Daughters' rights, roles, and responsibilities vis-a-vis their male siblings can therefore become a gendered lens, which is used to read literature. This is true even when the daughters in question are not protagonists. For example, Sonya in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment is not a protagonist but her supportive role has a tremendous impact on main character Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. Likewise, no one of King Lear's three daughters is the play's protagonist but they nevertheless propel the plot of the play and are central to its outcome. Virginia oolf's To the Lighthouse barely features any of the Ramsay daughters, and yet there are ample textual references to the role of daughters in families and correspondingly, the role of…

Compulsory Heterosexuality & Lesbian Existence; estricted Sexuality & Female esistance

Women's Issues -- Compulsory Heterosexuality

Compulsory Heterosexuality & Lesbian Existence; estricted Sexuality & Female esistance

Author's note with contact information and more details on collegiate affiliation, etc.

Adrienne ich is a feminist theorist with clearly defined ideas that are communicated with sharp, yet graceful articulation. Her essay, "Compulsory Heterosexuality" gave her well deserved and earned respect from the community of her peers. The essay additionally challenged women, theorists, philosophers, and producers of media and culture to a great task. Her perspective, one that exists outside and arguably, independent of Western patriarchal male ideology, is valuable. Perspectives outside of the mainstream are valuable. They exist. The declaration and acknowledgement of existence is a crucial theme of "Compulsory Heterosexuality." Her piece is about the lesbian experience, but really her piece is about the experience of women within a society where men have…

139). When she is "taken for a man," she is "not fat," because of the different gendered social norms related to body size (Bergman, 2009, p. 139). Thinness is also a type of privilege, as is external or socially acceptable beauty. Beauty ideals and norms are also tied in with race, culture, and class. Economic class and social class often determine access to healthy food, which is why low-income people are more likely to be obese and have related problems. Although generally, African-American women have healthier body images than white women, white cultural hegemony has started to infiltrate black culture, especially in what iley (n.d.) calls "bourgeois black families," (p. 358). iley's (n.d.) experiences reveal the interconnectedness, or intersectionality, between race, class, and gender. Just as it is important to recognize different gendered identities for women from different cultural backgrounds, it is also important to acknowledge that not all women…

When we look at Starkey's works we appear to be looking at moments captured from everyday life, in particular the everyday life of women. In fact Starkey's photographs are constructed, the people we are looking at are actors.

Her images of modern banality also suggest ennui, despair, depression and listlessness, which are conveyed as central facets of the reality of life for women in society. As one critic describes her images; "apathetic teenagers, usually girls, languish, slack-limbed and expressionless, in dimly lit cafes, nondescript interiors, and anonymous shopping malls."

Furthermore, the images also emphasize the sense of loneliness and isolation that she considers to be the existential situation of working women in the city.

In these images and others like them, individuals stand apart from the world, separated from it by a screen of indifference. It is not that they actively refuse to invest in their surroundings; they simply do…

omen were also a significant part of the civilian staff, committing their
abilities as typists, phone switchboard operators and facility
administrators.
Likewise, on the home front, women would commit their services in
place of their husbands, fighting abroad. In fact, the term home front
should be well understood as one coined with the psychological intention of
conveying that those who were enlisted in one manner or another for
civilian duty were themselves a crucial force in the war effort. The
terminology of 'home front' implies that such domestic locales as the
continental United States were to be seen as war theatre's demanding of
unified and concerted participation in shared goals of conservation, labor
and administrative support.
For women in all walks of American life, the end of the Depression
would coincide with the start of orld ar II, making the association
between job creation and the war effort fully inextricable.…

Mary Beth Norton, Founding Mothers and Fathers. New York: First Vintage, 1996. 512 pp., bibliography, index.

Mary Beth Norton is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor of American History at Cornell University. In addition to Founding Mothers and Fathers, Norton has also published In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. These two books are part of Norton's ongoing scholarly examination of the intersection between gender and politics in pre-Revolutionary America. In the 1996 publication Founding Mothers and Fathers, Norton argues that power manifested in gendered ways, in multiple spheres of colonial American life including the family, the community, and the government. The author's goal is to show how gendered power impacted the social, economic, and political development of the colonies and the early United States. With an in-depth examination of the private, public, and family spheres, Norton explains how founding females were as influential as males in shaping…

Rogoberta

Rigoberta Menchu addresses the role of women in Quiche society and devotes several chapters of her narrative to gender issues. I, Rigoberta Menchu is not about women in Guatemala society, but any discussion of race, class, and politics must naturally include gender as a matter of course. More important than gender to Rigoberta Menchu is the abuse of power. In her narrative, Rigoberta Menchu focuses on the ways wealthy business owners and ladinos in Guatemala abuse their power and privilege by exploiting and dehumanizing the indigenous population. Moreover, Rigoberta Menchu depicts the indigenous Mayan culture as being inherently gender egalitarian. For example, women drink at parties just like the men do. "That is something incredible in these towns," the author notes, "because it's not only the men who want to let themselves go and forget about their problems for a while…It's not unusual to see our women drinking," (206).…

Childhood

Poets of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century concerned themselves with childhood and its various experiences, but the particular historical and aesthetic contexts within which different poets wrote affected their perspective on the matter greatly. As literature moved from Romanticism to naturalism, the tone poets took when considering children and their place in society changed, because where children previously existed as a kind of emotional or romantic accessory, they soon became subjects in their own right, with their own experiences and perspectives. By examining illiam ordsworth's "Michael," illiam Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper," and .B. Yeats' "A Prayer for my Daughter," one is able to see how the gradual transition from Romanticism to naturalism brought with it a less exploitative consideration of children, one that better reflected their place in the rapidly changing world.

The first poem to examine is illiam ordsworth's "Michael," because it fall squarely in the…

Women

The subordination of women manifests in distinct patterns of physical, psychological, political, and economic oppression. Women's work is undervalued, whether that work is classified as domestic labor or as labor in the patriarchal universe. The readings from Chapter 8 reveal the ways domestic servitude continues to define women's work. Domestic servitude constrains women's participation in the patriarchal market economy, too, perpetuating cycles of subordination. Readings in Chapter 10 address another dimension of misogyny: physical abuse and violence. Sexual slavery and domestic abuse are manifestations of patriarchy with disturbing political and social dimensions.

In "Maid to Order," Barbara Ehrenreich (2000) uses the maid as the primary motif to discuss women's labor rights issues. Ehrenreich (2000) states that the "politics of housework" is rarely discussed in public arenas. Housework constitutes an "uncounted and invisible" aspect of the larger economy. Ehrenreich's (2000) astute analysis takes into account poor immigrant domestic laborers as…

Irish poetry is unavoidably shaped by its historical, social, and political context. The Troubles have infiltrated poets throughout several generations, permitting unique artistic insight into the conflict. Younger poets writing about The Troubles in Northern Ireland understandably have a different point-of-view than poets from a previous generation. Their personal experiences were different, and the historical events they witnessed or were surrounded by in the media likewise differed from their predecessors. Yet there are also shared themes that provide the inextricable cultural links between all poets of Northern Ireland. Some poets, like Seamus Heaney, rely heavily on literalism and a direct political commentary in addition to poetic tropes like symbols of colonization. Likewise, Derek Mahon does not hold back in terms of diction related to The Troubles. hen examining poets from an earlier generation, who wrote during some of the most violent occasions of The Troubles, allusions and metaphors seem to…

Ibsen's side note is a emakably astute and honest appaisal of the ealities of patiachy. The statement was cetainly tue of Noa and he society. Even as she ties to negotiate some semblance of powe in the domestic ealm, the baies to women achieving genuine political, financial and social equality ae too entenched in the society.

The cental theme of patiachy is played out though the motif of the doll house itself, which is a metapho fo the domestication and subjugation of women. A woman is pevented fom acting outside of he ole in the domestic sphee. She cannot "be heself" in the way a man can, which is to say, pemitted to pusue any level of education she pleases o acquie any type of pofessional cedentials she would like. Women ae beholden to men and become financially dependent on them, as they ae lauchned into caees of domestic sevitude.…

Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders was published in 1887, a few years after the death of Charles Darwin. However, the novel was set in the middle of the 19th century, in about the same year that Darwin published On the Origin of the Species. Hardy may not have selected his setting arbitrarily. The Woodlanders has often been read within the context of Darwinian influences in society and literature. However, literary critics tend to emphasize the fusion between Romantic and Darwinian depictions of nature in The Woodlanders to show how Hardy drew from Darwin to develop his characters and themes. Irvine, for example, claims Hardy was an "evolutionary pessimist," and this is certainly apparent in The Woodlanders, which provides an overtly pessimistic view of human nature but especially of patriarchy (625). In fact, Hardy's The Woodlanders shows that while Darwinian principles of evolution sometimes favor members of the species with no moral…

Human beings are manifest as male and female. The long absence of a female deity has resulted in the repression of the female energy as subordinate and less important than that of the male. However, Woodman's suggestion of the Goddess Kali and Shearer's suggestion of Themis could serve as bases for reconciliation within the self and between the genders on a collective level.

Ann Shearer (in Huskinson, 2008, p. 49) notes that Themis provides a point of reconciliation between the male and the female. Her name means "right order," and she represents the relationship of the human with the divine. As a Titan, she predates the split between the male and female and represents the healthy psychological being. Indeed, the author compares her with Jung's concept of the "Self," where an instinctual psychological being is present, where the male and female aspect are in harmony with each other. As archetype,…

"
Again, oolf's sarcasm rears its head here, as she unpacks the idea
that men should be so preoccupied in shaping an image of women that
conforms to the circumstances which a patriarchal society has manifested.
In this regard, there is a damning economic symbiosis between the real
subjugation of women and the images conjured of the fairer sex by their
alleged admirers. oolf demonstrates the woman of fiction and the woman of
this point in history as both being concocted of male desires, ambitions
and materialist conceits. Here, monetary wealth is tantamount to sexual,
marital and intellectual subjugation.
From the perspective of her time and place, oolf sees something
irreconcilable in the conditions facing women, especially in the quest to
express themselves with literary honesty and accuracy. Today, there is
continued relevance to this idea as women still grapple for equal pay in
various lines of profession, where they…

The 1964 film Dr. Strangelove uses the context of Cold ar brinksmanship in order to uncover a more fundamental problem with patriarchy and the maintenance of a destructive masculinity. This masculinity is under threat as a result of sexual frustration, and the characters of Ripper, Turgidson, and Kong embody three different kinds of this frustration. Ripper's sexual frustration is the most explicit, and leads to the most overtly violent reaction. Turgidson's sexual frustration is not the result of a physiological problem but rather due to pent-up energy, and thus his reaction is to cheer on the violence perpetrated by Ripper, even if he cannot engage in it himself. Finally, Kong, who is denied the kind of sexual immediacy granted Turgidson, nonetheless is able to overcome the frustration experienced by the other two men when he finally succeeds in dropping a nuclear bomb. Thus, the film suggests that the true threat…

Some feminists argue that all pornography is bad for women because it is degrading to women (Peterson, 1998). The "victims" need protection, they claim, which, ironically, they say comes in the form of laws restricting what women legally can and cannot do with their own bodies.

While it can be argued that pornography reinforces negative male attitudes towards women in society and it increases the incidence of sex crimes, these are unfair claims (Peterson, 1998). While men may bring deep-rooted attitdevelop negative attitudes towards women. Even if pornography were banned, negative attitudes towards women would not disappear. In addition, there is little evidence to suggest that widespread distribution and use of soft-core pornography increases numbers of sex crimes.

In addition, it is important to note that many men who support feminism and women's rights enjoy pornography (Peterson, 1998). In addition, many successful heterosexual couples in committed relationships use soft-core pornography…

oman Identified oman by Radicalesbians

In the essay entitled, "oman identified woman," the organization Radicalesbians discusses the crucial issue of identifying women as reinforces of the perpetuation of oppression in human society. This means that prejudice and oppression against women cannot be eliminated nor gradually lessened, primarily because women will always act against the interest of their own sector. However, it is important to bear in mind that what makes women reinforce this oppression upon themselves is the result of a long history of living under the social structure of patriarchy.

Addressing these important issues in the essay, the argument of the Radicalesbians involves a three-pronged analysis of the social condition of women's oppression in the contemporary society. First, they talk about the nature of lesbianism and its challenges in a male-dominated society; second, they go further in their critique of acceptance of lesbianism in the society to include on…

The lack of rights within marriage that makes women basically "property" to the man is obviously central to this story, as indicated by the way in which Maria is imprisoned. There are a variety of ways in which this most disturbing of issues is addressed in the book. Women who are married loose control over their own bodies, and are required to submit to caresses to which their soul does not consent. One woman in the madhouse is, in fact, there specifically because she could not tolerate her husband's caresses. "she had been married, against her inclination, to a rich old man,... In consequence of his treatment... she had... lost her senses." (1.39) Not only is a woman prone to institutionalized rape, but she also has no right to require the man to remain as he was before they wed. Maria declaims bitterly of how her husband deteriorates into a…

ape in Conflict

There are various situations in life that results in rape in conflict;

Patriarchy

The feminist perspective on the various forms of violence perpetrated against women does suggest strongly that such acts are a reinforcement of patriarchy. This is portrayed in the unequal bargaining power that exists in the various sexual encounters in the societies that are increasingly patriarchal. The fact that the traditional male privilege has continuously faded away through time has resulted in the increasing use of violence in order to ensure that women are put women "in their place" as indicated by Sheffield (1987).The resulting fear of violence has therefore made women to modify their way of living since they are depraved of certain fundamental freedoms.

acial oppression

Slavery has been note to be a key factor in the occurrence of rape cases. The African-American women were exposed to institutionalized rape while the African-American men…

Peace

As Masciulli (n.d.) points out, "few consistently peaceful societies and cultures exist or have existed historically, and clearly none that has been a macro culture or civilization," (332). Human nature also has a clear tendency toward patterns of behavior that can incite antagonism or violence. Defensiveness, protectionism, predation, and self-preservation are innate behaviors rooted in animal instincts. Peacemaking and peacekeeping efforts worldwide can alleviate suffering and ameliorate the effects of violence, but even these well-meaning efforts do not constitute an overall shift in global consciousness. Therefore, it is unrealistic to expect global peace in this lifetime but it is becoming increasingly possible to envision a world that becomes more peaceful one generation at a time. Peace, if it is possible in this lifetime, depends on radical paradigm shifts.

The first step toward achieving peace is realizing that violence is a state of mind, and that state of mind can…