The Uteral Vortex: Moon Wombs, Empty Space, and Feminism
Perhaps one of the most quintessential feminine experiences is the ability to bear children. Moreover, a mother’s death throughout media often signifies stolen femininity--an act often interpreted by critics as an obstruction to the pinnacle of feminine equality. In Sarah Boxer’s article, “Why Are All the Cartoon Mothers Dead?”, Boxer challenges the nature of various cartoons’ archetypal plot progression and their genesis: the dead mother. Boxer’s employment of conversational language embodies an argument that characteristically relies on questioning and analyzing gender vs. power dynamics, the feminine experience, and differences between men and women throughout the portrayal
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Boxer questions American media’s fixturized dependency on the dead mother and attributes it a sort of widespread “cute” hysteria--moreover, concerning femininity and the womb. One may theorize her stance is purely in favor of resolving the hegemonic vendetta of “the newest beneficiary of the dead mother: the good father” (Boxer 3). However, by analyzing the nature of many contemporary cartoons through the feminist lens, Boxer illustrates a developing society of varied tastes rather than one typically bashed under the premise of promoting an increase in female character prominence. Boxer’s article--while topically may appear to criticize the significance of “dead mothers” in cartoons--is really a consequence of radical change in societal gender roles. This consequence is illustrated subliminally through Boxer’s …show more content…
However, even given these tools, it is still characteristic of texts regarding principles of feminism to be written employing passionate diction. When Boxer ventures away from loaded words typically associated with feminism, she reflects an unintended consequence of radical change in sociocultural gender roles: maternal fathers. Although Boxer approaches the subject of “dead mothers” with the intention of criticizing the lack of important feminine roles, she truly illustrates a developing male character. Boxer asserts that by killing the mother, cartoon authors allow the story to progress with an andronistic agenda: patriarchal parental reflections are bellied only by minor plot conflicts (Boxer 4). However, her employment of conversational diction enables the reader to comfortably interpret the benefit of maternal fathers in feminism’s crusade. When Boxer writes that the majority of cartoon characters “live happily ever after in a world without mothers”, she illustrates not the disregard for need of maternal figures, but reaffirms their importance (Boxer 3). Regarding the maternal father as a fantastical or sensational concept only emphasizes the importance and power of women in contemporary society. Moreover, when Boxer invites her audience to take a “brief dip into reality” by mentioning the shockingly low percentage of single, American fathers, she reaffirms the jealousy
Grandmother, mother, daughter, sister, aunt: what does the future hold for the women of the world? In 1991 Katha Pollitt had that same question. In an article in The New York Times Pollitt expressed her concerns regarding female role models in the media for the younger generation. “Contemporary shows are either essentially all-male, like Garfield, or organized on what I call the Smurfette principle: a group of male buddies will be accented by a lone female, stereotypically defined” (as cited in Green & Lindsky, 2012, p. 546) Katha Pollitt argues that the television shows children are watching are predominantly male leads, thus leaving girls without suitable role models. But why does a role model for a girl have to be a woman? Over the 25
Moreover, the mother faces the turning point of the whole journey when she courageously confronts her husband and finally voices out her opinion against being treated as more of a thing rather than a person. She reminds him that “[her] name… is Elizabeth” and should not be referred to as a mere “woman”, but being outrageous as he was, he yells at her to “shut [her] mouth” as she was trying to explain, and “[get his] supper”. Through the mother’s confrontation with her husband, the readers learn the importance of having the courage of speaking out what we believe is right despite of the outcome, instead of merely submitting in silence. Ultimately, numerous positive changes occurred once resolution to both the mother's external and internal conflict are addressed. Not only does “[the husband] often speaks to [the] mother as though she were more of a person and less of a thing”, but the mother also decides to “[teach] her two grandsons how to wash dishes and make
Even though women such as Lucy demonstrate stereotypical female weakness, characters such as Mina defy the conventional submissive female, as an independent woman, a role uncommon of novels in this era. In addition, Mina, in comparison to men, possesses substantially stronger emotional fortitude and controls her emotions, while the men who are supposed to be strong expose emotional weakness and frailty. Ultimately, however, no matter Mina’s intelligence or strengths, the men continually suppress Mina’s vast amount of wisdom in order to maintain their perceived dominance. Nonetheless, Stoker’s messages throughout the novel regarding women silently protest the sexist expectations of the overly limiting Victorian era. Should today’s modern feminists take Stoker’s peaceful approach and protest subtly hoping for long-term change? Or should feminists act with violent protests in hope for prompt change? Gender equality will not happen overnight, however, instead of rushing minuscule modifications with violent protest, society must patiently wait for productive and peaceful change, in order to prevent an even larger
Teenage rebellion is typically portrayed in stories, films, and other genres as a testosterone-based phenomenon. There is an overplayed need for one to acknowledge a boy’s rebellion against his father, his life direction, the “system,” in an effort to become a man, or rather an adult. However, rarely is the female addressed in such a scenario. What happens when little girls grow up? Do they rebel? Do they, in a sudden overpowering rush of estrogen, deny what has been taught to them from birth and shed their former youthful façades? Do they turn on their mothers? In Sharon Olds’ poem, “The Possessive,” the reader is finally introduced to the female version of the popular coming-of-age theme as a simple haircut becomes a symbol for the growing breach between mother and daughter through the use of striking images and specific word choice.
American commercial cinema currently fuels many aspects of society. In the twenty-first century it has become available, active force in the perception of gender relations in the United States. In the earlier part of this century filmmakers, as well as the public, did not necessarily view the female“media image” as an infrastructure of sex inequality. Today, contemporary audiences and critics have become preoccupied with the role the cinema plays in shaping social values, institutions, and attitudes. American cinema has become narrowly focused on images of violent women, female sexuality, the portrayal of the “weaker sex” and subversively portraying women negatively in film. “Double Indemnity can be read in two ways. It is either a misogynist film about a terrifying, destroying woman, or it is a film that liberates the female character from the restrictive and oppressed melodramatic situation that render her helpless” (Kolker 124). There are arguably two extreme portrayals of the character of Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity; neither one is an accurate or fare portrayal.
Betty Boop’s name is notoriously synonymous with a phrase that pervades the mind of any cartoon fan, “Boop-Oop-a-Doop!” She is the creation of Max Fleisher and his associates, a dazzling, surreal image of their ideal woman: curvy, sexy, scantily clad, and, yet, childlike. Fleisher created Betty Boop as an image to be looked at, not so much to be watched, for her cartoons consist of shaky story lines, dehumanized women, and domineering men. Through an analysis of Betty’s physical appearance, her flaky story lines, and demoralizing image in her early years (1930-1932), Fleisher’s apparent distaste and disregard for women becomes all too clear.
For, in relinquishing, a mother feels strong and liberal; and in guild she finds the motivation to right wrong. Women throughout time have been compelled to cope with the remonstrances of motherhood along with society’s anticipations Morrison’s authorship elucidates the conditions of motherhood showing how black women’s existence is warped by severing conditions of slavery. In this novel, it becomes apparent how in a patriarchal society a woman can feel guilty when choosing interests, career and self-development before motherhood. The sacrifice that has to be made by a mother is evident and natural, but equality in a relationship means shared responsibility and with that, the sacrifices are less on both part. Although motherhood can be a wonderful experience many women fear it in view of the tamming of the other and the obligation that eventually lies on the mother.
What is Feminism? How does feminism affect the world we live in today? Was feminism always present in history, and if so why was it such a struggle for women to gain the respect they rightly deserve? Many authors are able to express their feelings and passions about this subject within their writing. When reading literary works, one can sense the different feminist stages depending on the timeframe that the writing takes place. Two such works are ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by, Charlotte Gilman and ‘Everyday Use’ by, Alice Walker; the feminist views within each story are very apparent by the era each author lives in. It is evident that a matter of fifty years can change the stance of an author’s writing; in one story the main character is a confident and strong willed young woman looking to voice her feminist views on the world, while the other story’s main character is a woman trying to hold on to her voice in a man’s world which is driving her insane.
Growing up in a Chicano family, the father holds the superior right to make decisions amongst all. The younger male siblings look up to this role and to ultimately follow in their father’s footsteps. Feminist criticism describes the want to change activities to be gender equal as well as the result of patriarchy oppressing women socially. In her personal experiences, Moraga describes, “When my mother had been our age, more than forty years earlier, she had waited on her brothers and their friends” (83). The characterization of her mother more than four decades ago, is depicted as submitting to men for their wants. She notes her mother being her age, when Moraga and her sister waited on their brother and friends as well, as if this was a common act in their culture. Moreover, Moraga gives insight to her stream of consciousness on how she felt about doing such a duty for her brother, “I wanted to machine-gun them all down, but swallowed that fantasy as I swallowed making the boys bed every day, cleaning his room each week, shining his shoes and ironing his shirt…” (84). Her tone of voice is strong with force of wanting to be free from the social oppression brought upon daily tasks that had been done for the male gender. Within the school of feminist criticism, First Wave Feminism is stated as highlighting the inequality of the sexes (Owl Purdue). Machismo is a form of sexism within a mixed Chicano-Anglo family
In the 1950s Disney character such as “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” depicted women as still innocent and meek, thereby alluding to the permanence of pre-feminist stereotyping of women in popular culture (Cheu 150). In the two fi...
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Barrie shows these throughout the book in differing situations as well as his emphasis on the importance of mothers. In today’s society, women have many more rights than ever before, therefore, we study literature to identify the changes we have reached
Throughout history there has been gender roles that individuals belong to and follow. The use of literature lets a reader look back in time and see how gender divides and gender expectations affect different characters. Gender roles can be found in many stories and stories with the same subject can lead to separate deductions. Traditional gender roles can be found in the short story “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway. “Hills like White Elephants” is a short story of a young couple who is at a train station and anticipating going to get an abortion. An Initial look at the story does not reveal a considerable amount about the conversation and what is happening. An analysis of the work sheds light on the issue of abortion and woman’s
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.
Stereotyping women is not only rampant in the adult world; it also flourishes in the kiddie universe as well. Here, there are depictions of women and girls as motherly or innocent, silly, and passive. This occurs not only in popular programming on Public Broadcasting, but also on television in other countries. Mothering images on Philippine TV has shown some of the same trends that is seen in the United States. Although “Teletubbies and Barney & Friends display an equal representation in number, each show displays gender stereotyped qualities,” it is obvious that these programs are sometimes reinforcing the wrong ideas about gender roles to children, roles that feminists have been battling for almost half a century. “Both programs demonstrated clear gendered roles with males being more active and females being more social and passive. This distinction appeared most obviously in the real-life segments of both programs with women as mother or passive viewer of action. Neither program shows women or men in non-stereotypical roles, indicating at an early age children are exposed to gender-specific occupational expectations.” Each show has children as additional characters, and each episode consists of a live action activity.