Camille Paglia's Rape and the Modern Sex War
Camille Paglia writes the article, Rape and the Modern Sex War, which is about young women being vulnerable in today’s society against rape and how feminism has mistakenly led women to believe that they aren’t in any danger. Paglia states her opinion to women because she believes “that women are vulnerable and should be aware of the pervasiveness of rape” (83) all the time. Rape has been around for hundreds of years and the effects it has on women are life long terrifying memories. Paglia speaks to women saying that they should be ready for these situations and not be with a group of guys alone, always be with other girlfriends, and learn to take feminism out of the picture and realize that women will always be in danger.
In Paglia’s article, which I believe is a critical opinion informing women of her beliefs on sexuality, speaks mostly to college women and women in general because she believes that women should be prepared for sexual situations without consent in all circumstances no matter who they are. This is her first step in arguing her point of view on feminism, which I agree with. She wants her audience to see her point that a woman’s actions can also be held accountable in some rape situations. When a woman is by herself with a group of men getting drunk, she has put her own self in a very risky situation because she is drunk and has no control of herself and the likeliness of rape is very possible. Paglia believes that a woman should always have control of her actions all
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the time and not to blame men for it is biologically programmed in their heads that they hunt, pursue, and capture, and this is said throughout their sex history (83-84).
The second part of Paglia’s argument is how she thinks misinterpretations are the women’s fault and I disagree with this point because women can walk and talk just as men and are not always to blame for being the victim. Paglia believes that feminism doesn’t see that sexual desires can be seen in how we act which means that these desires throughout our body cannot always be verbally said and this is where the miscommunication between the two sexes causes a problem. She thinks that when a woman makes a mistake she should face t...
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... an attitude,
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which is firm and not a self - pitying one, which many feminist women possess, Paglia states.
Paglia didn’t use any key terms or metaphors in her article, but she uses the word feminism many times showing that men and women have equal rights, but in truth this is not correct. Men and women have some equal rights, but women are looked on as a lower standard when compared to men, and I believe this will never change.
Paglia uses different examples throughout the story and puts her thoughts into an informative essay that explains that women should be aware of what they do and learn from their mistakes regarding opposite sexual tensions and that actions aren’t always spoken but are acted sometimes because of her belief that there is that implanted part of a man which can be dangerous, which Paglia thinks is just part of a man’s identity. When a woman realizes the subject of rape and feminism is not thought of, two identities can be identified and with self control and awareness both a man and a woman can have a relationship in which each partner takes full responsibility of his or her actions.
B. The effect that the Nurse and the ward have on Bromden 1. could not smell 2. thinks of himself as little 3. hides in the fog 4. fears everything 5. sees himself as comic 6. hallucinates II. Bromden in progress A. Gives up deaf and dumb B. Great turn - around C. Begins to smell things D. Regains his laugh E. Loosens up III. Bromden at the end A. Bromden escapes B. Bromden is a hero C. McMurphy is death; Bromden strength D. Bromden becomes big IV. Conclusion A. Modern world; machines destroy B. Nurse Ratched the machine C. Modern world is the combine Bromden and his Changing Mind In One Flew Over the Cuckoo?s Nest by Ken Kesey, Chief Bromden is a character who has to work his way back to being and acting like a real human after so many years of being ?
Gautama Buddha once said, “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.” One’s self esteem is reflected by their actions throughout their lives. Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, depicts how a new patient, R.P. McMurphy, is trying to free himself and his fellow patients from the manipulation of Nurse Ratched. Alongside McMurphy is Chief Bromden, a massive Native American, checking into the ward for being “deaf and dumb.” Chief Bromden is well known for having a low self esteem. Because of observing McMurphy’s reckless actions and carefree personality, Bromden slowly releases himself from his negativity. Bromden’s growth is portrayed to some extent in Milos Forman’s movie adaptation of the movie; however, Forman’s presentation was lacking in detail as opposed to the novel. Because of Forman’s abridging of the film, the viewer’s knowledge of Bromden’s change is limited.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey begins with a short introduction by the narrator, Chief Bromden. Chief Bromden is a half Indian Chronic at the ward. Chronics are patients that have been in the ward for so long that people assume that they will never check out. During the time that Bromden was there, he acted as a dumb deaf mute without being caught by anyone. Though his condition does not seem as bad as some of the other Chronics—some were vegetables—it was evident that Bromden had problems with hallucinations and delusions from the final line of the first chapter, “But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.”
After he escapes the ward, Bromden returns back to his own home. With McMurphy’s help and friendship, Bromden is able to adapt McMurphy’s words and is able to start a new life as a real individual. Not only is he able to escape and return to home with his family, he also overcomes his own psychosis. Similar to Susanna Kaysen, Bromden becomes an individual who helps out other patients at the ward accomplishing their goal. Bromden surpasses the final stage of Maslow’s hierarchy needs, which is self-actualization. He realizes his personal potential, self-fulfillment, leading him to grow up as a responsible adult through his
He believed it was impossible to ever escape or defeat the Combine, until Mcmurphy came along. In Chapter 28 of One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, Chief Bromden has a vital realization, that “Maybe the Combine wasn’t all-powerful. What was to stop us from doing it again, now that we saw we could? Or keep us from doing other things we wanted?” (Kesey 305).This recognition that the Combine does not control him is extremely important to the story. Now that he knows this, there is nothing stopping him from escaping the ward. Kesey’s motif of Human vs Machine has finally come to a conclusion that man can in fact overcome machines and
Which is caused by the narrator having a male perspective. The narrator does not give the women and credit or redeeming qualities. All the women follow a general stereotype. If they tried to break away from the stereotype, they would me more important and influential characters. Paquette, a chambermaid in the Baron’s castle, is described as “a pretty and obedient brunette” (5). She is identified obedient not because of her job as a chambermaid, but because she is willing to exploit her soul and body to the men around the castle. In regards to the old woman, she doesn’t even have an actual name, which does not matter since is ugly and useless. The old woman has the mindset that she is; an object; a mistake; a disgrace. That her time has passed as a beautiful useful woman. All the rape and abuse has physically affected her and she is out of luck. In fact, she is lucky if men talk to her, or even look at her without
Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and although in the beginning he appears to readers as physically formidable, he is a docile and unusually subdued man. He is a staggeringly tall N...
Susan Griffin’s Rape: The All-American Crime touches on many issues within American society. She begins by recounting how she was taught to be afraid of strange men from such a young age that she had not yet learned what it was she was so afraid of, and then goes into her experience with harassment, an experience shared by every woman at some point in her life. Griffin recounts the belief that all rapists are insane and the proof that they are just normal men and dispels the myth that rape is normal activity that is prohibited by society. However, she goes on to clarify that our culture views rape: “as an illegal, but still understandable, form of behavior” (Griffin 514). It seems that the wrongness of rape is determined by the situation in
An exceptionally tall, Native American, Chief Bromden, trapped in the Oregon psychiatric ward, suffers from the psychological condition of paranoid schizophrenia. This fictional character in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest struggles with extreme mental illness, but he also falls victim to the choking grasp of society, which worsens Bromden’s condition. Paranoid schizophrenia is a rare mental illness that leads to heavy delusions and hallucinations among other, less serious, symptoms. Through the love and compassion that Bromden’s inmate, Randle Patrick McMurphy, gives Chief Bromden, he is able to briefly overcome paranoid schizophrenia and escape the dehumanizing psychiatric ward that he is held prisoner in.
On the article “On a Date Rape” by Camille Paglia, creates a controversy discussion about how women have reached freedom throughout the years and blames young feminist for being “over privileged”. Her belief is that women in general misuse the social freedom she so virtuously fought for. She also mentioned that her generation was aware of the risk that they were taking, while today’s generation does not. However, she blames any young lady who finds herself into a perilous situation for the tragedy that follows; moreover, Paglia’s article is unreliable due to the abuse of several fallacies such as hasty generalization, false analogy, false cause, poising well, false dilemma, slippery slope, as well as straw men.
Rape is a hidden epidemic that affects many lives world wide. It is a problem that is so terrifying and uncomfortable that people do not talk about it. John Krakauer, author of Missoula, focuses on this issue of rape in the college town of Missoula, Montana. His focus is specifically on the case of Allison Huguet and Beau Donaldson. As the progression of Allison 's case continues we learn of more and more rape cases that happened to women on this same campus. A majority of women do not report these cases, we later learn as Krakauer continues through Allison 's case, because reporting and pursuing the case would be giving their life away. [4] Of course Allison decides to go through the trails of Beau Donaldson, however it is obvious that it is extremely difficult to convict someone with little evidence. As hard of a read as Missoula
The novel that Kesey wrote is focused on how Bromden’s past memories should not let him down, but to gather his strength and let go of the past to start anew. Kesey builds up the encouragement through the help on McMurphy in order for Bromden to face reality with the hallucinations, to Nurse Ratched’s authorities, and the use of symbolism.
Chief Bromden, who is presumably deaf and dumb, narrates the story in third person. Mr. McMurphy enters the ward all smiles and hearty laughter as his own personal medicine. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a story about patients in a psychiatric hospital, who are under the power of Nurse Ratched. Mrs. Ratched has control over all the patients except for Mr. McMurphy, who uses laughter to fight her power. According to Chief Bromden, McMurphy "...knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy" (212). Laughter is McMurphy's medicine and tool to get him and the rest of the patients through their endless days at the hospital. The author's theme throughout the novel is that laughter is the best medicine, and he shows this through McMurphy's static character. The story is made up of series of conflicts between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. McMurphy becomes a hero, changing the lives of many of the inmates. In the end, though, he pays for his actions by suffering a lobotomy, which turned him into a vegetable. The story ends when Bromden smothers McMurphy with a pillow and escapes to freedom.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
Webster defines feminism as both "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes" and "organized activity on the behalf of women's rights and interests" (Webster 418). Equality of the sexes (in terms of rights) and the furthering of women's rights are seemingly positive aspirations; yet people tend to describe feminism using negative terms, and feminism today has acquired a bad reputation. "Radical" and "extremists" are adjectives commonly applied to feminism as a whole, when, in truth, feminists who adopt extreme positions constitute the minority. Moreover, these "gender feminists," or "militant feminists," as many call them, although they receive the most public attention because of their aggressive tactics and high visibility, alienate people in broadcasting their views. Their goal, to create a "sentimental priesthood" that will achieve collective power and retribution as oppressed "victims" of a white-male supremacy, seems unreasonable (Himmelfarb 20). In contrast, "equity feminists," or "academic feminists," embrace the basic principles of feminism. They celebrate women's achievements, work for the individual rights of all women, and, as Christina Hoff Sommers aptly says, "want for women what they want for everyone, equal protection under the law" (Himmelfarb 20). Though not all feminists agree on how to reach this goal, most argue for a reasonable, realistic, and positive method. By contrasting the differing feminist ideas of writers like Adrienne Rich, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and Camille Paglia, one defines a winning brand of feminism: a philosophy founded on equity feminist ideology and dedicated to the achievement of social, political, economic, and intellectual reform.