In the essay “How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes” written by Alexis de Tocqueville and the personal narrative “The Story of My Body” written by Judith Ortiz Cofer, both authors compare some social values from their hometown to those of America. In his essay, the European author Alexis de Tocqueville goes to America to examine the social position of American women and compares the equality of sexes between the two countries. From his observation, he concludes that unlike the status of women in Europe, American women are morally and intellectually equal as men despite the difference of their gender roles. His target audience may probably be some elder people since young readers may find his assumptions antiquated as his essay has been written for nearly two centuries. Similarly, in “The Story of My Body,” Ortiz Cofer, who is born in Puerto Rico, describes how people see her differently when she moves from Puerto Rico to America. She subdivides her personal story into four sections: “Skin,” “Color,” “Size,” and “Looks” to clearly narrate her personal experiences. Ortiz Cofer’s story makes connection with a diversity of readers as many of the readers probably have some similar experiences like hers. Although both authors use comparison as strategy, Ortiz Cofer is more successful in drawing readers’ attention and convincing them of her point of views through her personal narrative, while Tocqueville’s use of his observation without legitimate evidence is less successful in persuading readers of his position.
Throughout his essay “How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes,” Tocqueville compares the women’s status of European to that of American. For example, to emphasize the roles of American women in ...
... middle of paper ...
...mparisons to effectively convey their messages to readers, Ortiz Cofer is more successful in persuading readers of her arguments and drawing readers’ attention by narrating her wide variety of experiences vividly. On the other hand, Tocqueville’s antiquated ideas and his use of observation to support his arguments fail to convince readers of his points and attract attention.
Works Cited
De Tocqueville, Alexis. “How the Americans Understand the Equality of the
Sexes.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and
Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. 8th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 520-523.
Ortiz Cofer, Judith. “Thy Story of My Body.” Rereading America: Cultural
Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert
Cullen, Bonnie Lisle. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010. 537-545.
Tocqueville was a Frenchman who was interested in America and its democratic design. He spoke of his observations about America in his book, Democracy in America. Tocqueville’s attitudes towards Americans seem to be very appreciative. He saw democracy as a perfect balance between freedom and equality. Yet, while he is appreciative, he is also quite critical of some of the effects of democracy in America. Tocqueville believed that there were some faults with democracy and states them in his book.
Tocqueville wrote that Americans are inherently more materialistic than European peoples for three reasons. First, Americans have freed themselves by rejecting “a territorial aristocracy” of hierarchical societal structures on the “soil of America.” By doing so, “the distinctions of ranks are obliterated and privileges are destroyed,” therefore causing “the desire of acquiring the comforts of the world” to haunt “the imagination of the poor, and the dread of losing them that of the rich.” Second, in an egalitarian society, where every citizen has an equal opportunity “the most marked inequalities do not strike the eye; when everything is nearly on the same level, the slightest are marked enough to hurt i...
American woman is, to speak plainly, too often physically unfit for her duties as woman, and is perhaps of all civilized females the least qualified to undertake those weightier tasks which tax so heavily the nervous system of man. She is not fairly up to what nature asks from her as wife and mother. How will she sustain herself under the pressure of those yet more exacting duties which nowadays she is eager to share with the man? (Mitchell 141)
For centuries women have been perceived as overshadowed figures who remain in a separate sphere from men. The term “separate spheres” refers to the distinct, conventional characteristics associated with gender differences. The public sphere of men is associated with commerce whereas the domestic sphere for women is linked with the household. However, there is more than just one perspective on feminism. The feminist view is influenced by three main voices: the French, American, and British. French feminists focus their attention on language; American feminists analyze the literary aspects; and British feminists examine the historical processes (Murfin 296-299). Using these perspectives, we can see the oppression of women conveyed in many different texts throughout literature and in history. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, for instance, exhibits not only a feminist view in the text, but also in society during Shelley’s time period as displayed by her negotiations with the separate spheres. Voltaire’s Candide also conveys powerful gender differences and reveals the oppression of women throughout the novel. Therefore, a correlation can be seen between the view of women in the two novels and how it reflects the culture and time period in which the novels were written.
According to Tocqueville, “ there are people in Europe who, confusing the diverse attributes of the sexes, intend to make man and woman into beings not only equal, but alike” (573). Equality amongst men and women from birth is significant in Europe, and prides themselves in contributing to equal functions amongst the two. He indicates through his research of his own country that, “ they give both the same functions, impose the same duties on them, and accord them the same rights; they mix them in all things - labors, pleasures, affairs” (574). However, Americans have always contrasted men and women because of their physical differences. Democrats find pleasure in the distinctions between men and women, and find that these differences have helped to create diverse employment and conclude that, “ progress did not consist in making two unlike beings do nearly the same things, but in getting each of them to acquit its task as well as possible” (574). Americans feel that with inequality amongst dissimilar sexes, it will aid in the contribution to efficient social
Turner, Jack. "American Individualism And Structural Injustice: Tocqueville, Gender, And Race." Polity 40.2 (2008): 197-215. Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 31 Oct. 2013.
Beginning in the early 1800’s men, their wives and children made the voyage across to America, yet women might as well have been viewed as not a wife but another piece of land, just in a new country considering women’s duties were the same in both the east and the west. In both locations men and women were believed to be apart of “different spheres.” Barbara Welter elaborates on these spheres through her essay “The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860” (1966). Welters describes the male sphere was focused around the world of the work force, ...
...only accepted stereotypes are not based in reality at all, and that these stereotypes are harmful to everyone, not just the victims of being typecast. This conclusion is correct in all senses. Judy Mann’s book shows that the only real difference between men and women are their reproductive organs (24). Many professionals support this fact, but not society. Bernard Lefkowitz’s retelling of what happened to the young girl in Glen Ridge, New Jersey shows that believing that women are inferior can have terrifying repercussions. Society’s perception of people and the practice of labeling based on gender must be eliminated in order for women and men to live equally. These books simply help to make more people aware of the problem, which is only part of the solution.
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Society continually places specific and often restrictive standards on the female gender. While modern women have overcome many unfair prejudices, late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century women were forced to deal with a less than understanding culture. Different people had various ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities, including expressing themselves through literature. By writing a fictional story, authors like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James were given the opportunity to let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic.
The early 20th Century was a time of dramatic change for women in society; pre-World War One most democratic countries still rejected women suffrage, this rejection just served to fuel the Women’s Movement. Furthermore, most women were omitted from the workplace. Instead, they were expected to spend their days as homemakers, raising children, cleaning, cooking, sewing and performing other household chores. The patriarchal domination of women is best illustrated through the American Catholic spokesman, Orestes Brownson before the Civil War. He stated, “We do not believe women . . . are fit to have their own head. Without masculine direction or control, she is out of her element and a social anomaly -- sometimes a hideous monster!” (Gurko, Pg. 9) This view by Brownson is representative of the patriarchal attitude at that time to the position of women during the Industrial Revolution era, and highlights the issues that women were facing. The agenda for the empowerment of women was laid in the 18th and 19th centuries. Frenchwoman, Olympe de Gouges, issued an ironic De...
How does one compare the life of women to men in late nineteenth century to mid-twentieth century America? In this time the rights of women were progressing in the United States and there were two important authors, Kate Chopin and John Steinbeck. These authors may have shown the readers a glimpse of the inner sentiments of women in that time. They both wrote a fictitious story about women’s restraints by a masculine driven society that may have some realism to what women’s inequities may have been. The trials of the protagonists in both narratives are distinctive in many ways, only similar when it totals the macho goaded culture of that time. Even so, In Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing we hold two unlike fictional characters in two very different short stories similar to Elisa Allen in the “Chrysanthemums” and Mrs. Louise Mallard in “The Story of an Hour”, that have unusual struggles that came from the same sort of antagonist.
Throughout history there has been gender roles that individuals belong to and follow. The use of literature lets a reader look back in time and see how gender divides and gender expectations affect different characters. Gender roles can be found in many stories and stories with the same subject can lead to separate deductions. Traditional gender roles can be found in the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. “Hills like White Elephants” is a short story of a young couple who is at a train station and anticipating going to get an abortion. An Initial look at the story does not reveal a considerable amount about the conversation and what is happening. An analysis of the work sheds light on the issue of abortion and woman’s
...e genders. Secondly, the authors reveal gender dominance to observe a reversal affect of gender roles. Next, characterization of women’s praises addresses many successes of men. In addition, the authors highlight women’s inabilities to accomplish their desires. In one novel, the characters present a woman using sexual desires to acquire physical and emotional needs. Although the audience observes the male figure depending on the female figure to survive in the novels, the same actions occur within today’s society. In most families, researchers contemplate female figures as “backbones” of their families. Female figures make critical decisions to assist their families with family conflicts.