It's just to let the air in," he says. The man is not in love with her and only loves to please himself. Through this brief anecdote, Hemingway presents the readers the social dilemma of male domination over his counterpart. The women's fight for equality changed some "old traditions" but there are still many Jigs in our society that shouldn't be treated as inferiors. Women are the most beautiful beings in life, but they are not to be possessed ,but loved and admired.
Both Lucy and Pearl grow up not knowing their fathers. This demonstrates how one bad mistake can change the lives of many. What is unjust in both of these novels is the fact that the men, don't have to suffer as much as these destitute women do. Both women change by the end of the book, Hester, is only a mere outline of what she used to be, while Charlotte is not longer young and naive. The men, according to society, have done nothing wrong, and can continue to live their lives with only a guilty conscience.
Instead of taking actions and strive for happy life, women choose to stay silent. They have all the power to go against self-empowered men, but most of women renounce action. There are certain obstacle created by society and especially men that make it harder for women to stand up for themselves. Women stay in the abusive relationships because our society puts an enormous pressure on them. Fear, shame, oppression and radical change push women to choose life in misery and stay silent.
She was always speaking and acting on behalf of women’s rights, yet now she has not fulfilled these expectations. She has been subjugated and indifferent like the rest of the women, not at all optimistic and energetic like she was in her previous life. Her complicity shows the reader how oppressive the society is and how even the toughest characters become
The portrayal of women greatly influenced the way John Steinbeck wrote this story. In The Chrysanthemums, John Steinbeck intends to suggest that all women are not equal to men in society. Elisa understands this when she is not able to take part in the same male oriented activities that her husband takes part in. Elisa is seen as a lesser of a person just because of her gender. That demoralism of women leads me to believe that Steinbeck thought all women were insignificant.
Alma and Karen struggle to find their individuality and identities through much of the novel and both women have negative self-images of themselves because they believe all of the destructive things they hear directed towards them. Majority of the characters in From Here to Eternity feel trapped and are discontent with their current lives. These individuals feel like they all have something better to discover and amount to in life. I believe the two individuals who are the most trapped and unhappy are Alma Schmidt and Karen Holmes. Alma Schmidt is described as “nothing but a common whore” (Jones 235) by Prewitt and is later referred to as a “professional whore” (Jones 671) throughout much of the novel.
In the late 1800's, as well as the early 1900's, women felt discriminated against by men and by society in general. Men generally held discriminatory and stereotypical views of women. Women had no control over themselves and were perceived to be nothing more than property to men. They were expected to live up to a perfect image that society had created, while trying to comply with their husbands' desires. While many women felt dissatisfied with their lives, they would not come out and say it.
Her opinions and physical activity is constantly oppressed and dismissed by the husband. The story portrays John’s dominance over his wife. As well, her deteriorating sanity is evidence that the male discourse is not superior and, therefore, enforces feminist pedagogy. In addition, the environment in which the wife is oppressed represents the dominance forced upon her by her husband. The feminist literary lens addresses the imprisonment of women, and the imbalance of power between the two genders.
This who done it shows the way the women think and act; also you see the way the men treat the women in the 1900’s. There is an underlying tension between the men and women. Glaspell gives a small glimpse into the way women were treated as second-class citizens with nothing important to contribute to the world. The struggles for women’s rights were hard, but the women in the 1900’s took the challenge and accomplished a lot by doing small acts of defiance and solidarity; the voices of women would be heard. Like most women in this time period Mrs. Wright did not have control of her life, nor could she express herself without approval of a man.
But stereotyping doesn’t end there as sexism. Women are always stereotyped. People say such things as "girls are not boys" to "girls are inferior to boys" and thence to "girls should be discriminated against or confined". Women also encounter sexism in the workplace. It is certainly true that there are very few women managers, however this is just a symptom of the general situation of women as a whole, not a cause.