Before I go into this essay it is important to know several things about me as a person, and specifically a woman. I pride myself for being fair, strong, loyal, accepting, and generous. I avoid confrontation except when it comes to defend the people who I love the most. I have always had to be the strong one in my family. I was the calm one who always puts a positive spin on the gloomy moments. Most importantly I know that so many things are wrong with this world, and I see them every day, and I believe that it is my duty to help change the world. I know that I am meant to do something great. I am meant to do something that is going to change everything. That is what motivates me. The pieces of pop culture I have chosen have helped …show more content…
Half the Sky is about the oppression of women worldwide, and before reading the book and watching the documentary I had thought “women are treated that poorly anymore.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Sure, in America it isn’t as terrible as it has been in the past, but in other countries it couldn’t be worse. Women are treated like they are worth less than the dirt under a man’s’ boot. Watching the documentary ripped my heart out, and showed me the injustice and brutality that women in other countries face on a daily basis. The movie covered issues like sex trafficking, female genital mutilation, forced prostitution, and gender based violence. When you first learn and see a three year old girl that comes in after being raped and given aids I think – even though it is so early in the movie – this is when you sit back and say “Wow.” There are so many moments that just make your mouth drop. The things that women and children in other countries go through daily make you grateful to live where you live, and also – at least for me – make me think, “Why don’t more people know about this?” The hardest part for me to personally watch and grasp was female genital mutilation. It is so barbaric, and unnecessary, and the only excuse that people have to do it is that “it is tradition.” There are so many statistic and numbers thrown at the reader that make your heart break. Such as this one: “More girls were killed in the last 50 years, precisely because they were girls, than men killed in all the wars in the 20th century. More girls are killed in this routine gendercide in any one decade than people were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th
Women all around the world are given little to no freedom and equality This is something that has been happening for years, where women are made to submit complete and utter control of their lives to their peers especially men.Their eyes were watching God, showed how some women feel trapped and enslaved by those around them and this is true all over the world for women who face domestic violence and unjust everyday.
The oppression of woman is evident in the everyday life of a women living in the 19th century. This oppression was not only localized to their duties at home, but it made its way into women’s health issues as well. Women of the 19th century, and even still at the turn of the century, were suffering from postpartum depression, and they were misdiagnosed because postpartum, like almost any woman's illness, was treated as illness of the womb. “The Yellow Wallpaper,” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, affirms that the oppression of women resulted in their injurious medical treatment, which, in the end, was the equivalent to life in prison.
Women have had to fight for equal rights throughout history, but still endure many hardships due to sexism. Marilyn Frye made it a point of her career to highlight these struggles, and did so by identifying three main ways women are disadvantaged. Frye’s analysis begins by elaborating on oppression itself, then she uses this definition to detail the mechanisms in society that are oppressive, and ends with a closer look on women’s limited choices. Even though Frye first published her papers back in 1983 it is still worthwhile to explain and critique the ideas presented, and to analyze their accuracy in 2017.
Women were not seen in the past as they are seen now. They were seen as the weaker, less knowledgeable sex. They had to listen to their husbands and they had no say in anything. We are reminded of this when we read “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an activist for women’s rights. With this being said, I believe Gilman’s purpose for writing “The Yellow Wallpaper” was to show the readers women do have rights, this is a changing world, and women don’t have to listen to everything their husband or significant other tells them to do. She does this by the narrator symbolically seeing herself trapped inside the wallpaper and her eventually pulling the wallpaper off the wall and being able to feel free to do whatever she wants. In “Monumental feminism and literature’s ancestral house: Another look at ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’” Janice Haney-Peritz, Department of English (Beaver College), states, “As a memorial, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ is used to remind contemporary readers of the enduring import of the feminist struggle against patriarchical domination; while as a boundary marker, it is used to demarcate the territory appropriate to a feminist literary criticism” (114).
Women in history were subjected to an oppressed role, which men were in control. Many of these women created groups to talk about these problems such as the Seneca Falls. Women fought for equality, but some were happy with the status quo, and some simply became the change.
As a female, I wouldn’t say that I am oppressed, however, I have experienced some impartial treatment compared my male correspondent. Specifically, at work my workplace, men seem to be preferred for certain positions than me. For example, when applying for a manager position in the shoe department, preference was given to another male with fewer qualifications. I also grew up in a house with all boys, I had to take on the responsibilities that a female would around the house. I had to cook for my brothers, clean up after them and even wash their clothes at times. Other than those instances, being a female does not make me feel oppressive.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a fictionalized autobiographical account that illustrates the emotional and intellectual deterioration of the female narrator who is also a wife and mother. The woman, who seemingly is suffering from post-partum depression, searches for some sort of peace in her male dominated world. She is given a “rest cure” from her husband/neurologist doctor that requires strict bed rest and an imposed reprieve form any mental stimulation. As a result of her husband’s controlling edicts, the woman develops an obsessive attachment to the intricate details of the wallpaper on her bedroom wall. The woman’s increasingly intense obsession with the wallpaper ultimately leaves the reader with many questions about nineteenth-century male-female relationships, and perhaps even insanity.
Women, for decades, have strove for complete equality with men. This fight is not a new fight, it is a fight that started long ago and is still going today. Many times when we think of the life of women in the past we draw to the Victorian age, an age with great female writers, like the Bronte sisters. Charlotte Bronte, author of many great works, served as a critic and wrote many satire of society and the treatment of women in the Victorian era. The story of Jane Eyre is a bidungsroman, or a coming of age story. Jane strives to find her place in a society that is slowly changing its view of women. In Bronte’s work, Jane Eyre, Jane is a manifestation of the quintessential Victorian women; the ways she diverts forge a new path for women in their search for freedom.
The message of Half the Sky is clear; we need to invest more time, energy, and indeed, money, into empowering the world’s women instead of tearing them down. Although
Half the Sky helped contribute to my understanding of "First World privilege" a lot by not only hearing about these poverty stricken, man dominant developing nations, but also showing it. Seeing it brings a whole new view to sexism, racism, and discrimination, especially with being sold into sex slavery and woman not even being allowed to have a life saving treatment unless the men give their consent. In America, every person can at least go into a hospital and get treatment needed to save their lives, in other countries they can die just because a man doesn't give his consent to save her life. This documentary shows the little things we take for granted because truthfully we do not even realize how truly horrific it is out there in the
Frye opened the introduction with argument how the women that are oppressed as they are in the male-dominated society demands, which they cannot acquire. So many women are promoted that way that they did not realize in fact that they are oppressed, which she used the Birdcage metaphor as to show the bigger picture of the oppression. By picking only one wire, you merely see one wire in one setting, but when you move your eyes up or down, you start to see more wires, thus making the conclusion that the bird cannot fly away without being harmed. “No humans free of social structures, nor (perhaps) would happiness consist in such freedom.” [10]. The women are oppressed to their own roles that it hinders their realization that males are controlling
Marilyn Frye and Julie Scelfo stand near a coffee pot in a break room at Vermont University. Their lunches spin in the microwaves on the counter.
Feminist Theories: The Oppression of Women at Home and in the Workplace Due to Gender Stratification
In the past, many people believed that women’s exclusive responsibilities were to serve their husband, to be great mothers and to be the perfect wives. Those people considered women to be more appropriate for homemaking rather than to be involved in business or politics. This meant that women were not allowed to have a job, to own property or to enjoy the same major rights as men. The world is changing and so is the role of women in society. In today’s society, women have rights that they never had before and higher opportunities to succeed.
My strongest qualities, determination and independence, are deeply rooted in my family. Coming from an extremely tight-knit family all living within 30 minutes of each other, we bring new meaning to the cliché, “It takes a village.” My Aunt Betty is CEO of two corporations and taught me to sacrifice nothing for my dreams. My Grandmother, having borne seven children of her own and cared for twenty-one grandchildren while working with her husband in the family business, taught me that I do not have to sacrifice one for the other- prosperity comes in the balance. My strength comes from my mother. Having overcome obstacles and making immeasurable sacrifices, she lives her dreams through her three daughters. She never accepts anything from the best from me and I do my best not to disappoint her. She instilled in me the strength to have MY OWN dreams and to never be afraid of them. Individuality emanates from my Aunt Kathy, as she has always encouraged me to break the conventional molds of femininity and go after what I desire.