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Representation Of Women In Literature
Representation Of Women In Literature
Gender stereotypes in literature a level essays
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Men were taught to be superior to women since the dawn of time, whereas females were looked down upon. Ruled by patriarchy, it was hard for most of these women to do more than just be a stay at home wife. In some of the stories we have read, the women were portrayed as submissive, obedient, with no voice. Women have struggled to break out of this mold and find a voice for themselves. However, some managed to break out of these expectations and standards. Women and men have had to fulfill different set standards before anyone had stepped foot outside the womb. For both genders those standards came with different expectations. In the poem “Old Maids” by Sandra Cisneros, she tells us how she and her female cousins have reached thirty years of …show more content…
For example, “…tell me I’m crazy. But don’t tell me that. Don’t tell me I can’t” (Viramontes96). Here Petra, the mother of the family, is arguing against Perfecto, her boyfriend’s orders of leaving Alejo, Estrella’s love interest. Alejo was working in the fields when the airplane passed overhead with the pesticides and sprayed him as well as the fields. Petra was helping to heal Alejo, but Perfecto reprimanded her for trying to heal him. Petra not only voiced her opinion, but went against Perfecto’s “orders” and kept helping Alejo heal from, as Perfecto put it, something incurable. In this time period, migrant women were still seen as having to obey the man they were with, but Petra did not follow this and went against Perfecto’s wishes. The repetition of “don’t” allows us to see the resistance Petra is enforcing against Perfecto. This was something that was not very common in females. Here we not only see Petra enacting a typical female role, we also see her as a central figure rather than just a …show more content…
One instance where this is evident is when Perfecto, Estrella 's step–father and Petra’s husband, is repairing the barn. Perfecto was reprimanding Estrella and telling her to stay away from the barn. Estrella tells him "You 're right. You 're not my papa" (Viramontes27). Instead of doing as she was told, she told Perfecto he is not her father. Estrella is breaking out of the submissive and obedient female mold she was expected to follow by speaking out against Perfecto. She does not address Perfecto on a formal level, such as sir or Perfecto. Instead she addresses him by "you 're" which is more casual and informal.
Furthermore, females were expected to follow and meet certain standards and expectations. One of which was obey a male’s commands and stay silent. This was not always the case with every woman. Women such as Vashti, who refused to give in to her husband’s whims, or Sandra Cisneros who chose not get married and escaping the life lessons she had seen. Women are assigned set expectations and standards, but not every woman will follow these
Women had no choice but to follow whatever society told them to because there was no other option for them. Change was very hard for these women due to unexpected demands required from them. They held back every time change came their way, they had to put up with their oppressors because they didn’t have a mind of their own. Both authors described how their society affected them during this historical period.
III. The Obedience of Women Introduction Not only are women expected to lead lives in which they depend on men to be happy and wealthy, but they are expected to do so with total obedience to the expectations of men. It is important to see how women react to the requests of men and how much freedom for thought and action they are allowed to have and what consequences occur when a woman disobeys what is asked of her. Cinderella In the Brothers Grimm, the first characterization of Cinderella is a description that “she was always good and said her prayers” (Grimm 122).
The author, Sandra Cisneros, grew up as a Mexican-American woman in Chicago, Illinois. Her mother was Mexican -American and her father was from Mexico; she makes a clear point the difference between the two cultures. She graduated from Loyola University in Chicago and from there enrolled in a Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. Bad Boys, a book of poetry, was published by a small press company that specialized in Latino literature in 1980. It received little notice. But her first fiction collection, House on Mango Street, was published in 1984 and gained the noticed of the New York publishing establishment. “The work is organized, like Mango Street, around the central female protagonist, whose views of her extended family help to clarify her own character” (Perkins, 390). The story “Woman Hollering Creek” came from her 1991 book of stories entitled Woman Hollering Creek and Othe...
Thesis Statement: Men and women were in different social classes, women were expected to be in charge of running the household, the hardships of motherhood. The roles that men and women were expected to live up to would be called oppressive and offensive by today’s standards, but it was a very different world than the one we have become accustomed to in our time. Men and women were seen to live in separate social class from the men where women were considered not only physically weaker, but morally superior to men. This meant that women were the best suited for the domestic role of keeping the house. Women were not allowed in the public circle and forbidden to be involved with politics and economic affairs as the men made all the
“The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” is a short story written by Katherine Anne Porter in 1930. This short piece of literature depicts a story of the life of an old woman, fraught by the untimeliness and inevitability of aging, and the destruction, as well as constant degradation, of her age. The diminution of quality of life for an elderly person is evident through the protagonist’s age and ability, as well as the actions of herself and her companions. There are social, historical, and cultural characteristics exemplified in “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall” such as the role women played in society, the life of an elderly woman, respect of the elderly, and jilting. All of these aspects are utilized throughout the short story to aid readers in understanding the importance of a “jilting” in a young woman’s life during this time period, and to demonstrate the effects it can continue to leave through the remainder of her days.
Women “were expected to bear children, stay home, cook and clean, and take care of the children” (Cobb 29). They were expected to be weak, timid, domestic, emotional, dependent, and pure. Women were taught to be physically and emotionally inferior in addition morally superior to men. During this time, women were ostracized for expressing characteristics and wants that contradicted those ideals. For women, the areas of influence are home and children, whereas men’s sphere includes work and the outside world” (Brannon 161).
Since the beginning of time there has been an ever present divide between the male and female genders in every way. From politics all the way down to expectations, the common denominator in categorizing who takes care of what has always been decided by gender. In earlier times this divide led to the strict and often harsh treatment of women, but as time continued and the emergence of equal rights and feminist movements arose, the divide between the two genders has since begun to close, and has led to better relations between men and women.
...emselves, they would not have to have orders given to him and be expected to follow them. Both quotes clarify that women succumb into what they are expected to be and thus not achieve what they could have.
What the Commander says here is almost the same as what he says in the book: some women could not fulfill their destinies because of how society had become corrupted.
Men have always seen themselves as being in a protective role towards women. That is apparent in the home as well as in the workplace. In today's society women hold top positions within large corporations. The boundaries between women and men are much less restricting than they were years ago. Women have had to work very hard to gain the respect of their male counterparts. It is an ongoing struggle in the corporate world, in academia, and in the professional world. The glass ceiling of the past has been raised, but it will still be some time before it is completely broken.
The man thinks that he has to have total authority of the marriage and the household. He decides what’s best for the family in every regard. On the other hand, the woman thinks that the only control she has are the household chores. She has to cook, clean, do laundry and look after the children. She’s expected to do these things exceptionally well. Society tells men that they are dominant over women and women are submissive to men so this thought can transfer over into the marital roles for husbands and
This novel, should have been a viewpoint for the future to show that there is more to life than just gender and race. Concluding this, the articles that help define this are “The Latino/a Canon and the Emergence of Post-Sixties Literature” and “What is called Heaven”. Women Hollering Creek was considered one of Sandra Cisnero's best works. With a Texan perspective, this 22 short story novel was set in the late 1960's to 1980's era. There are three distinct sections: “My Lucy Friend smells like Corn”, “One Holy Night” as well as “There was a Man, There was a Woman”.
In today’s society it appears to be that both genders have certain traditional roles. We see these things every day, everywhere one goes, and even on television. Women have always been known to be the weaker gender. They are the ones who shouldn’t hve a real paying job. According to men, the womens “job” is to sit at home all day doing chorse such as cooking, cleaning, washing, and taking care of everyone else. Men are known to be the strong gender, “The Boss.” Women and men have stereotype gender roles. Women are as strong, if not stronger than me. They are capable of doing the same things men do.
They were expected to do take on the accepted role of a woman. In most cases, a
Gender inequality all began because of the patriarchal society back in past centuries. Some people, mostly males, are still having issues and concerns that our society is not so much male dominated anymore. Today females have a lot more freedom and opportunities in the employment fields especially in occupations that people have always stereotyped men to have. Altman and Pannell (2012) state that, “Domestic work, weather paid or unpaid, has long been socially defined as women’s work.” (p. 293). Ever since the 19th and 20th century, women have been stereotyped as household employers and men have always been the financial providers in society. Men used to be viewed as physically and mentally stronger than women, and claim that th...