Joyce Carol Oates wrote Foxfire, a book taking place in 1953, in 1993 and its major themes are still relevant in 2015. In Foxfire, a girl gang (FOXFIRE) takes on social injustices they see in the world, namely fighting against Capitalism and for women’s rights. They get money through their jobs, “hooking” and by other indescribable ways and use this money to contribute not only to FOXFIRE FINANCES but also to other women who have helped them or are in need of help themselves, comparable to a 1950’s feminist Robin Hood. FOXFIRE’s main goal is to help women in need and to “fight the patriarchy”. They shelter women of sexual and physical abuse and get revenge on the men that performed these actions. While nowadays the fight for feminism is …show more content…
Their methods of gang violence and defacing property may seem wholly unconventional now, but in the 1950’s, gangs and their respective acts were common. Not only were these acts common, but they were arguably necessary to make a difference due to the social inequality women faced and the sexual rape culture women were (and to some extent still are) subjected to. When Rita O’Hagan, an original member of FOXFIRE, was raped by the Viscounts, a male gang, at only twelve years of age, instead of protecting and helping her, Rita’s “mother screamed at her and slapped her and did not then, or subsequently, inquire of her what had happened that afternoon- whether anything had happened at all” (25) because the family would be shamed because Rita put herself in that situation. This rape culture perpetuated by Rita’s family and society made it so that FOXFIRE could not be effective by making political statements and protesting as feminists do now; for FOXFIRE to genuinely make a difference, they needed to do something big. FOXFIRE fought against sexual crimes committed against women of their own group by figuratively killing the perpetrators. In the case of Rita’s teacher who would consistently call her out in front of the class, hold her after for discipline and touch her, FOXFIRE spray painted on his car “I AM N****R LIPS BUTTINGER I AM A DIRTY OLD MAN MMMMMM GIRLS!!! I TEACH MATH AND TICKLE TITS IM BUTTINGER I EAT P***Y” (48) which subsequently got him fired and driven out of town effectively ruining his life. If they had instead staged a protest, they would not have been listened to and would be castigated by their parents, the school and the community for talking about such shameful issues and not doing what they are told. As girls in the 1950’s there were severe limits to what they could do and do effectively. The more
“The Fire,” chapter two of the novel “Kindred” by Octavia E. Butler is about how Dana survives in the past after she is conscious of where and when she is. The story starts with Dana frightened of being transported again, which she did. After saving the boy, Rufus, from burning his house, she discovered that she has gone to the past, 1815, and that Rufus was her ancestor. Since it was the age where slavery was present, she escaped Rufus’ house in fear of being slaved to search for Alice, another one of her ancestor, hoping to get shelter. She found it at the time Alice’s family was raided by the whites, and Alice’s father was captured. She helped Alice’s family, but soon after she was discovered by a white man. Dana knocked him unconscious, then returned home. Afterwards, Kevin and her prepared Dana in an event where she get transported again.
Throughout the years, women have been mistreated brutally by gangs in their neighborhood. In a memoir by Luis Rodriguez, Always Running, the main character experiences many random acts such as shootings, rape, and many arrests. Even though, Luis may seem like a very tough young man, he gives the women the respect and love they wish to receive from a gang member. In today’s society, many young girls are attracted to what society calls a “bad boy” because their lifestyle seems exciting. When one decides to join a gang, one must prove their loyalty to their new family by getting “jumped” by the whole gang or committing a serious crime. When a young girl begins to date a gang member, she begins to see how quickly a situation can escalate to a violent scene and abuse. As soon as a young girl is expose to that lifestyle, they tend to get mistreated mentally and physically by other gang
The short stories, “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes” by Fritz Lieber, “Bits and Pieces,” by Lisa Tuttle, “While She Was Out” by Edward Bryant, “Cold Turkey” by Carole Nelson Douglas, and “Lightning Rod” by Melanie Tem Historically, in literature, women are stereotypically placed in one of two roles, the doting wife and beloved mother, or the more outwardly psychotic, witch-like, temptress. As the feminist approach to the criticism of literature has blossomed over time, the need for empowered female characters has surfaced. To rectify the absence of this character, “wild women literature” has made many advances in the defiance of gender role stereotypes and gender norms. The women in the collection of wild women short stories are difficult to define because of society’s pre-conceived notions of how women should and do behave. The term “wild women” conveys a slightly negative and sometimes misinterpreted connotation of a woman’s behavior; however, in this collection of stories, the female characters are generally vindicated because of the motivation behind their actions. The motivation can be linked to the popular cultural phenomenon of women taking charge of their lives, making decisions for themselves, being independent, rising above their oppressors (most commonly the close men in their lives), and becoming empowered. Vigilante actions by the wild women in these stories are not entirely representative of madness, but also re...
stuffed boots; these features led her to believe he was not a teenager, but in
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Print.
Moran, Mickey. “1930s, America- Feminist Void?” Loyno. Department of History, 1988. Web. 11 May. 2014.
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Mrs. Dove-Wilcox and Miss Hazel advocate for violence as one of the only tools left to them. The “strong militant” action that they call for is, according to Mrs. Dove-Wilcox’s speech, something that they will “have to adopt in the near future”; the language used leaves room for nothing but necessity. This necessity is echoed by historian June Purvis, who agrees that “militancy was a necessary step for winning the vote”, just as Mrs. Dove-Wilcox argues for the past failure of purely “constitutional”, peaceful methods. In a similar vein, Miss Hazel argues that women must be militant, because they cannot participate in any of the state forces levelled against the suffragettes, claiming that women are only “strong enough to attack public property…all we can do is talk and be
Janisse Ray was not your typical southern girl; “feminism came early and naturally to me” (Ray 203). In her book Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Ray takes us into her childhood and way of life. Ray talks about the land she grew up on, and shows us that through her childhood she became a “tomboy” as her mother stated (Ray 203). In the South in the 1960’s this was not smiled upon, women were supposed to fit a certain role. Janisse Ray’s book is influenced by her gender and she also looks not only at the stereotypes of men and women, but conflicts that arise from these stereotypes.
Gender Trouble published in 1990 by Judith Butler, argues that feminism was and still relaying on the presumption that ‘women’ a...
Crimes that have been classed as particularly “male” crimes are now being committed more and more by females. These crimes include drug abuse, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and murder. Girls also resort to punching, kicking, cutting off another girl’s hair, and burning with a cigarette as forms of assault (Carrigan 186-188). The 1990’s has also seen the rise of female gangs, especially in the Toronto area. Girls are seen as just as violent as boys and showing as little remorse. Membership attitude is less rigid since members can come and go as they please, and often include bored, wealt...
At first glance, the story “Barn burning” seems just to be about a tyrannical father and a son who is in the grips of that tyranny. I think Faulkner explores at least one important philosophical question in this story were he asks at what point should a person make a choice between what his parent(s) and / or family believes and his own values?
Using Haslanger’s (2012) example of ‘crop tops’, the real world is the 7th grade pre-teen girls, that have the belief or ‘facts’ that it is ‘cute’ and fashionable to wear crop tops and are therefore, influences the experiences of their world through the social interaction these girls encounter at school defining the extensions of ‘cute’. Furthermore, in relation to Lea and Young’s (1984) three causes of crime, this example of deviance/difference shows that the relative deprivation experienced in this example, is the ‘certain’ girls who wear crop tops and the ‘other’ girls who are deprived of doing so. The subculture is related to where these ‘other’ girls are unable to achieve the ‘goal’ of wearing a crop top instead wear tracksuits as a way of trying to achieve the same values in this social reality of ‘cute’. And finally, marginalisation of girls who don’t wear crop tops become ‘chubby’ girls and the girls that do wear crop tops are sexualised (Haslanger, 2012). Forms of protest here may be through the means of ‘body-shaming’ or ‘slut-shaming’ (Papadopoulos,
Nussbaum, Felicity. “Risky Business: Feminism Now and Then.” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.1 (Spring 2007): 81-86. JSTOR. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.