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Essay female freedom
Gender roles of women in literature
Gender roles of women in literature
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The two main aspects of this paper are – how the key female characters of A Golden Age re-define various social norms or tradition that are result of colonialism and/or female marginalization that has been established through generation of imperialism. The other element is to examine the issue of identity. There are several female characters in this novel, each with their own uniqueness but we will manly focus on the Rehana, the protagonist, her daughter – Maya and Sharmeen, Maya’s friend. Each of these characters tries to overcome their gender identities or roles and pursue something beyond the stereotypical roles women of the South-East Asia adhere to.
Rehana is the most dominant character of the novel. As the protagonist, she lives up
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Maya, a young girl of 17, demonstrates a strong unyielding devotion towards the liberation movement of 1971, which is the premise of this novel. She is however limited by her gender. When Sohail goes off to join the resistance, she and the reader are painfully reminded the social reality they live in. Although she is strong believer of Bangladesh’s independence she herself cannot join the war front. But this, however, does not keep her in the back seat, she joins the other girls in a mock march at the Dhaka University campus, determined to play her part in the war (Anam 87). She and her mother, Rehana, break many social taboos like joining the boys for the Morning Prayer, which Rehana leads (Anam 112). Maya redefines the traditional concept of women in the near end of the ‘Tikka Khan, the butcher of Bengal!’ chapter. Near the very end of the said chapter she joins the resistance in Calcutta as a typewriter. The job itself might seem quite mundane but it is nevertheless a great accomplishment for her. She was able to break the social norms and realize her dream of helping her country. This event carries further significance as her mother, Rehana, urges her on to go to Calcutta stating “Write some good stories” (Anam
Her realization that she is not alone in her oppression brings her a sense of freedom. It validates her emerging thoughts of wanting to rise up and shine a light on injustice. Her worries about not wanting to grow up because of the harsh life that awaits her is a common thought among others besides the people in her community. As she makes friends with other Indians in other communities she realizes the common bonds they share, even down to the most basic such as what they eat, which comforts her and allows her to empathize with them.
Sexism is very real, even in the least patriarchal societies of the world. From a western hemisphere point of view, the lives of women and young girls that are described in Nawal el Saadawi’s “In Camera” and Hanan al-Shaykh’s “The Women’s Swimming Pool” is almost unbelievable. Although these stories do not tell the whole story of women’s lives in these areas, it gives readers a general idea of how politics, social opportunities, and male privilege is overbearing in their way of life. While “In Camera” is has a more dark, and mature theme than “The Women’s Swimming Pool,” it is obvious that both relate in the way that their protagonists both suffer from the unnecessary and unexpected burden of being born a female.
Most of the chapters in the book are just her telling about her life. She was born a very poor and sickly child, growing up with her mother and grandmother, after her mother had left her abusive husband. This was only the beginning of a very rough and trying life that she would face. She went on to describe her childhood, how other Salvadorian women were treated and the Salvadorian way of viewing women. Raised as a strict Catholic, she was taught by her grandmother at a young age to “act like a proper young women.”
During the postclassical era, major societies and religions developed various perspectives about how women should be treated and how they should behave. One viewpoint on how women should be treated included the idea that they were a symbol of enticement and possessed liberal and unintelligent qualities; making them considered unequal to men. Dissimilar to this belief, another standpoint concluded that women had equivalent roles as men and should be treated with respect. Women played both a demeaning and dignifying role in the post classical era in multiple significant societies and beliefs, which decided how they should be regarded and viewed.
The Kaleidoscope of Gender: Prisms, Patterns, and Possibilities written by Joan Z. Spade and Catherine G. Valentine is a book about the sociology of gender and the construct thereof. The writers use a metaphor of a kaleidoscope to illustrate their interpretations of the topic. A kaleidoscope is a toy consisting of a tube containing mirrors and pieces of colored glass or paper, whose reflections produce changing patterns that are visible through an eyehole when the tube is rotated. Utilizing the similitude of the kaleidoscope, this collection presents gender as a result of always transforming patterns get under way by prisms that underlie change, both straightforward and complex, bringing about an extensive variety of possibilities. The book
Being a young black girl in the 1940’s was not the easiest thing to be. At that time, the two kinds of people who were believed to be of little or no importance were blacks and women. Throughout the book Maya never really accepted the fact that she was not going to get anywhere because of her status. She always tried to be the best in whatever she did, and always felt that she was just as good as or even better than many of the white people. It was not until she went to live with her mother that she really put action behind her feelings.
Khaled Hosseini’s novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, tells the stories of women in Afghanistan in the late twentieth century. Hosseini shows the women’s strengths, weaknesses, tribulations and accomplishments through their own actions, and how they are treated by other characters in the book, particularly the male characters. Hosseini portrays men in A Thousand Splendid Suns to create themes of justice and injustice within the novel. The justice, or lack thereof, served to the male characters is a result of their treatment and attitudes toward the female characters in the book and towards women in general.
In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.
This became one of the boldest acts of defiance during this time. Yet, she didn't stop there. There is much more to her journey. This book illustrates her life like none other from the beginning to the end.
Although “It’s a Night Job” by Joanita Male and “Mother’s Inheritance” by Fawziyya Abu-Khalid occur in different cultural contexts- Male’s writing in Africa and Abu-Khalid’s in the Middle East- both literary works regard the formative nature of mother-daughter relationships. In addition to this, they explore the dignity and attitudes of young women in societies where they are forced to relinquish personal autonomy in order to succeed or be safe from potential physical or mental harm.
In order to further discuss her main points and views, a summary of her story
Hussain, Rokeya Shakhawat. Sultana’s Dream and Selections from The Secluded Ones. New York: Feminist Press, 1998.
Maya goes through a rough patch in the hands of a man, even after being abandoned by her father at a tender age. This, however, does not completely set her against men but rather opens up her mind enabling her to view them objectively.
“The Harem Within” is a pioneering work that opens discussion of women’s rights in Islamic societies. With her humble life story Mernissi gives not only a voice to Moroccan women, but stands her advocacy for individual freedom and battle against the harem within. The narrative is a literature example that figures the women discrimination and appeal for
...es based on their desires instead of the desires of their male counterparts. As the women age, they take on new names to represent their physical and emotional changes. Naseem gains power as a married woman and becomes Reverend Mother while Mumtaz acquires power through the realization of her reproductive abilities. These women have varying degrees of power over their lives but it is limited to the value Indian society places on the domestic sphere and the importance of a woman’s place in this sphere. A married woman will garner more respect and have more of a voice than an unwed daughter living within her father’s household, while motherhood is regarded as one of the most important roles for a woman and given special considerations. Rushdie portrays ascension to power within the realm of the home and family by to show how power is passed between social boundaries.