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The Transformation
Game of Thrones is a book series written by George R.R. Martin, HBO has turned the books into one of the most widely followed television series on cable today. The book is set in a fantasy world that somewhat resembles what we know as the medieval era. The story follows around a vast cast of characters as they all fight to gain the “Iron Throne” in order to rule over the land. This paper will follow Daenerys Targaryen’s story during season one as she tries to get back her family’s throne. A she goes on her journey we will analyze how her story conforms and later on resists common themes of gender.
Daenerys Stormborn of the house Targaryen takes on many roles in the show. She ranges from a sex object to later on a powerful, ruthless Iron Maiden. All the transformations take place very quickly as she changes before the audiences eyes. The first time Daenerys appears on the screen people see a 18-20 year old with bleach blonde hair, not more than a minute later her dress is dropped to floor revealing her breasts to the viewer as she is getting into a bath. She is getting ready to see her to be husband for the first time, she’s anxious to see if he will accept her. Daenerys is being given as a gift to Khal Drogo in order to help her brother Viserys move closer to the crown. Daenerys is treated like a piece of property, the same as a clay pot or gold piece, instead of being her brothers property she would become Drogo’s. Viserys makes sure to tell Daenerys she better please Drogo, sexually, otherwise the “gift” would have been a bad one.
This was very common in medieval times in England, once married to a man, a woman and a man became a single person. (Crawford and Mendelson) What this really meant was the one p...
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...he Middle Ages. History Today, 61(8), 36-41. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/ehost/detail?vid=9&sid=f5b8ec3a-4871-49df-8323-35729994b4c1%40sessionmgr114&hid=124&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=65064862
Ruby, J. (2005, November 1). Women in Combat Roles: Is That the Question?. Off Our Backs,35, 36.
Sara Mendelson and Patricia Crawford, Women in Early Modern England 1550-1720 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 37-9 Retrieved from http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.utah.edu/journals/parergon/v019/19.1.crawford.pdf
Wood, J. T. (2013). Gendered lives: communication, gender & and culture (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Zurbriggen, E. (). Rape, War, And The Socialization of Masculinity: Why Our Refusal To Give Up Was Ensures That Rape Cannot Be Eradicated. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34, 538-539
Within Megan H. Mackenzie’s essay, “Let Women Fight” she points out many facts about women serving in the U.S. military. She emphasizes the three central arguments that people have brought up about women fighting in the military. The arguments she states are that women cannot meet the physical requirements necessary to fight, they simply don’t belong in combat, and that their inclusion in fighting units would disrupt those units’ cohesion and battle readiness. The 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act built a permanent corps of women in all the military departments, which was a big step forward at that time. Although there were many restrictions that were put on women, an increase of women in the U.S. armed forces happened during
Women in the US Military - Civil War Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
Hunt, Margaret R. The Middling Sort: Commerce, Gender, and Family in England, 1680-1780. London: University of California Press, 1996
"From Home Front to Front Line." Women in War. Ed. Cecilia Lee and Paul Edward Strong. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag. The Churchill Centre. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
"Update: Women in the Military." Issues and Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 29 May 2007. Web.
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Woodbridge, Linda. Women and the English Renaissance: Literature and the Nature of Womankind, 1540-1620. Urbana and Chicago: U of Illinois, 1986.
Men are seen as superior, while women are the inferior sex. The two are sorted into their specific gender roles as they were many years ago, and still are today. Jobs and duties are especially gendered in the show. For example, men are seen as warriors and are very strong. Women, on the other hand, are only meant to cook the food and clean the house, or in the case of highborn women, provide heirs for their husband. Noble women’s opinions are not completely trusted the way the men’s’ opinions are: “My mother wishes me to let Lord Eddard join the Night 's Watch. Stripped of all titles and powers, he would serve the realm in permanent exile. And my Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father. But they have the soft hearts of women. So long as I am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Sir Ilyn, bring me his head” (“Game of Thrones”). In this particular scene, Lord Eddard is to be shown mercy so long as he swear featly to King Joffrey. His mother, Queen Regent Cersei had previously advised him to not execute the prisoner, as it would start a war that he would not be able to win. Nevertheless, the King believes that the opinions of the women are not valid and executes Eddard, starting a war. In this society, gender roles are very divided, but not as much as they used to be: “We typically accept ‘masculine men’ and ‘feminine women’ as normal. That is, we expect
Masculinities.” Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. Ed. Estelle Disch. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006. 120-137.
This research paper, is about a book called A Game of Thrones. Written by, George R.R. Martin, who started the series 18 years ago. There is also a TV show on HBO that is going into its 4th season this spring. This book has a medieval setting on continent called Westeros. Westeros is divided into seven kingdom’s, with their own lords, houses and words, or mottoes. There is one King , that rules over all the kingdoms. The book follows a few main characters that are, Lord Eddard Stark, lord or Warden of the North, Catelyn Stark, Ned’s wife originally from house Tully, Sansa Stark, the oldest daughter of Ned and Catelyn, Arya Stark, youngest daughter, Bran Stark second oldest son, Jon Snow, Ned’s bastard son, Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf from house Lannister who uses his words rather than a sword to win his battles and Daenerys Targaryen, who is sold to a leader of horse men (Dothraki) by her brother, so he can get an army to take back the seven kingdoms from Robert Baratheon, who led a rebellion against his Daenery’s father. through their journeys through Westeros, along with some of the events that happened in the years past to get them to the point of where the book started . All of the kingdoms lords want something , they might not come forward and say it straight up, but they still strive to achieve it. This “thing” is power. To rule a kingdom, you have to be a man while women are used as assets for other men and houses to gain power, which will be explained later. Women are classified under many different hierarchies and those decide where a woman stands in the society. But in A Game Of Thrones ruling a kingdom or a house is all dominated by men and women are assets for the men to gain power. Along with my thesis that is th...
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “women secretly enjoy rape,” from a historical perspective, can lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Much stems back to the idea that women are still seen as the property of men, and are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men a...
Kendal, Diana. "Sex and Gender." Sociology in Our Times 3.Ed. Joanna Cotton. Scarborough: Nelson Thomson, 2004. 339-367
Kessler, Suzanne J, and McKenna. Gender: An Ethnomethodological Approach. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Webster’s Dictionary describes rape as the crime of forcing another person to submit to sex acts, especially sexual intercourse. Rape is a crime in which most women cannot defend themselves. The fear of rape plagues every woman at some point or another in her life. The traumatic effects of rape vary from mild to severe, from psychological to physical. This paper will evaluate rape, as well as the effects it has on women, the theory behind male dominance and patriarchy, and differences in demographics.
The society we live in is rape-conducive, rape-friendly, if you will. Despite the anger I feel joining those two words together, I know the sad paradox holds within it a great deal of truth. We are a violent society that has shrouded rape in mystery and shame. To stop this nightmare’s venomous crusades, all people must wage a private war to eradicate their own acceptance of the savage crime. While it is only a minority of men that actually commit rape, it is everyone’s silence that tells them it’s ok.