The phrase “sexual harassment” became highly publicized in 1975 as activists and writers began addressing the problem. Shortly after 1980, articles and publications in regards to sexual harassment spread rampantly as the result of congressional hearings, increased litigation, and the adoption of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines.
Harassment on the basis of sex is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Right Act 1964. Title VII states, “Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment; submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting the individual; or such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. Sexual harassment consists of verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, imposed on the basis of sex, by an employee or agent of a recipient that denies, limits, provides different, or conditions the provision of aid, benefits, services or treatment protected under Title VII.” [1]
Sexual harassment is categorized as a form of sexual discrimination, which constitutes this behavior as illegal under existing federal and state laws. To enforce these laws, Congress has mandated federal agencies accountable for ensuring the full compliance of workplaces and educational establishments. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was established to enforce Title VII and to investigate allegations of discrimination.
In November 1980 the EEOC published specific guidelines on sexual harassment, which lucidly states that sexual harassment is a form of sexual discrimination. The EEOC uses a very complex definition, but everything in regards to sexual harassment is covered within the confines of these guidelines. These guidelines cover many key points. These key points, plus court decisions provide the legal definition of sexual harassment and spell out the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees.
Section A of the guidelines states, that unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitutes sexual harassment.
Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” came to print in 1897, at the height of Nineteenth century Victorian life in Europe, a progressively modern era that saw much medical and technological advancement. This era brought with it the contentious idea of an empowered woman, the “New Woman,” a woman who aspires to be educated as well as sexually and economically independent. Stoker gives a contrasting view of this notion in “Dracula.” While the main characters, Lucy and Mina, are clearly opposite in personality, they are both portrayed as unequal, defenseless objects that are to be protected and desired. However, one woman’s fate is determined by her weakness, while the other is determined by her strength.
Ellen is also one of the main characters in this book , she’s also the same age as her best friend annemarie. Even though she is a very shy girl she wants to be an actress, in order to fufill this dream she first has to survive the horrible, disgusting holocaust. with the help of her best friend ann she may just be able to live her dream. “thats the worst thing in the world..to be dead so young.I wouldn’t want the germans to take my family away to makes us live some place else.but still,it wouldn’t be as bad as being dead”.
In his Literary Theory: The Basics, H. Bertens classifies stereotypes of women in literature into a number of categories; dangerous seductress, self-sacrificing angel, dissatisfied shrew, and defenseless lamb, completely incapable of self-sufficiency, or self-control, and dependent on male intervention. Bertens concludes that the primary objective of these women – or “constructions” – is to serve a “not-so-hidden purpose: the continued cultural and social domination of males”. One such novel that came under feminist scrutiny for these particular reasons was Bram Stoker’s Dracula, although this perlustration didn’t occur until 70 years after Stoker originally penned his masterpiece. However, during the mid-1960s, the rise of the feminist movement prompted many to re-analyze classic literature from new perspectives. Of course, some have disputed these claims, insisting that the women in Dracula, though few and far between, stray far from the stereotypes and purposes that Bertens so clearly outlines.
Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, is a highly controversial work of fiction that is still being read for the first time today. Dracula touches many different categories including; sci-fi horror to 1800’s English romance literature. This is the main reason why the novel Dracula can be analyzed in many different ways using many different literary theories. The theory which stuck out most to me while reading this novel was the Feminist Theory. The Feminist Theory cannot be used to analyze Dracula as a whole novel, but it can be used in order to analyze the different female characters throughout the book. Therefore, Bram Stoker’s Dracula can be analyzed through the feminist theory by focusing on the characters Mina Harker, Lucy Westenra, and the three brides of Dracula.
Stoker uses phenomenal imagery to produce a late nineteenth century setting, located somewhere within eastern Europe. Transylvania, the infamous home to Dracula himself, is described in great detail in Harker’s journal. There, Stoker purposely and meticulously outlines Dracula’s castle and the surrounding town. Stoker manages to do this with a very gothic tone, immediately lowering the societal status of women. In conjunction with Dracula’s gothic tone comes the understanding of male and female traditional roles of the era. The reader sees that there is no hesitation differentiating between the two, as Stoker “ cast[s] men as rational, strong, protective and decisive…[and] women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing and submissive.” (Tyson, 82).
There are a few characters in Dracula that embody society’s views of the time towards the uprising of women for better rights. On the other hand there are also characters that portray the Victorian ideals that men are stronger than women and how it should stay that way. As author Bram Dijkstra mentions in his response essay, “Stokers work demonstrates how thoroughly the war waged by the nineteenth century male culture against the dignity and self -respect of women had been fought”.(Dijkstra , p.460).
Spencer, Kathleen L. “Purity and Danger: Dracula, The Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis.” English Literary History 59.1 (1992): 197-226
Podonsky, Amanda M. "Bram Stoker's Dracula: A Reflection and Rebuke of Victorian Society." Student Pulse: The International Student Journal. N.p., 2010. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.
According to legal dictionary (2013), sexual harassment refers to any form of unwelcome sexual behavior or advances, appeals for sexual errands, and other form of physical or verbal conduct or behavior that portrays sex nature and tends to make the working environment offensive or hostile. Any behavior or remarks that take such forms constitute sexual harassment when: Compliance to such conduct happens either implicitly or explicitly based on employment of an individual, rejection or compliance to such conduct is used to make decisions during employment and when such conduct interferes or affects performance of a person at the workplace. Sexual harassment ta...
Despite popular culture today with shows like The Vampire Diaries where vampires are often continuing their daily lives as if they are human and being the heroes to their friends and/or family, Dracula is a depiction of how vampires have, for centuries, been exposed as bloodthirsty, supernatural beings with sexual appeal. The way women are portrayed in Bram Stoker’s, Dracula, is a result of the Victorian ideals. Once Dracula begins to feed on the women, they become bloodthirsty temptresses which are exactly what society fears and try to prevent. In Dracula, Stoker makes sexuality directly linked to the vampirism in the novel. This is seen through the change of Lucy’s somewhat modest behavior into a temptress, the blood-sharing between characters in the novel, and the description of the way Lucy was killed.
Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, published in 1897, explores various sexual erotic possibilities in the vampire's embrace, as discussed by Leonard Wolf. The novel confronts Victorian fears of homosexuality; that were current at the time due to the trial of playwright Oscar Wilde. The vampire's embrace could also be interpreted as an illustration of Victorian fears of the changing role of women. Therefore it is important to consider: the historical context of the novel; the Victorian notion of the `New Woman' specifically the character of Lucy Westenra; the inversion of gender roles; notions of sexuality; and the emasculation of men, by lessening their power over women; in the novel Dracula. In doing this I will be able to explore the effects of the vampire's embrace in depth, and achieve a wider understanding of the variety of erotic undercurrents Stoker incorporated into the novel.
Humphrey, Robert. "Ideals of the Victorian Woman as Depicted in ‘Dracula’." The Artifice. N.p., 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 6 May 2014. .
Spencer, Kathleen L. Purity and Danger: Dracula, the Urban Gothic, and the Late Victorian Degeneracy Crisis. 1st ed. Vol. 59. N.p.: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992. JSTOR. Web. 6 Jan. 2014. .
Dracula accentuates the lust for sexuality through the main characters by contrasting it with the fears of the feminine sexuality during the Victorian period. In Victorian society, according to Dr.William Acton, a doctor during the Victorian period argued that a woman was either labelled as innocent and pure, or a wife and mother. If a woman was unable to fit in these precincts, consequently as a result she would be disdained and unfit for society and be classified as a whore (Acton, 180). The categorizing of woman is projected through the “uses the characters of Lucy and Mina as examples of the Victorian ideal of a proper woman, and the “weird sisters” as an example of women who are as bold as to ignore cultural boundaries of sexuality and societal constraints” according to Andrew Crockett from the UC Santa Barbara department of English (Andrew Cro...
.What does sexual harassment really means? Many people cannot define the exactly sexual harassment means. According Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 it defined as, " (Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or