In our lifetime we will encounter several things in which we will have no control over… things such as natural disasters and the equally irrepressible: actions, thoughts, and feelings of others. In the same light, you, and only you, have complete and utter control of yourself. In the film “Holding Out,” four college-aged women demonstrate the ultimate self-control in a “man fast,” where they are to have no verbal communication or physical contact with men for 100 days. This film exemplifies the restraint the women have even with the most diligent suitors, similar to Maria’s defiant actions in John Fletcher’s comedy, “The Tamer Tamed.” Maria was adamant that she would not adhere to the demands of her newlywed husband until her needs had been met. These films create a strong message that women can carry on a normal life without the companionship of men but I found one overarching message to be excruciatingly important, especially for young women today. In their quest to ward off men, the women in the film are able to identify with other women and their values; thus the four women refuse male domination, comparable to Maria in Fletcher’s play, and find pride in their own identities as women.
After reviewing the film several times, it is apparent to me that the power between men and women in “Holding Out,” was distributed equally, if not slightly favoring women. The men, no matter how persistent, could not prevent the women from obtaining their goal of going a complete 100 days without male contact. On that same notion, the women found things that were desirable to them aside from male attention to prove that men were not a necessity to their well-being. There were multiple scenes in which the main female characters in the film dis...
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...ted ideas and begun to extract them from their patriarchal bias, in some cases bringing forth empowerment where once there was oppression.
In final analysis, the film “Holding Out,” based off of the play “The Tamer Tamed,” supports feminine equality in sexual politics. The women from the film and Maria from Fletcher’s play refuse to stop short of claiming power within their relationship and fall under male domination. All of the women are adamant are asserting and completing their goals and eventually they do so, in some cases in spite of the original intent of the source material.
Works Cited
Holding Out. Dir. Tara Judelle. Perf. Lala Sloatman, Jeremy Sisto, Bruce Davison, Ethan Embry, Erin Gray, Lin Shaye, and Eve Plumb. 2003.
Fletcher, John, Celia R. Daileader, and Gary Taylor. The Tamer Tamed: Or, The Woman's Prize. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. Print.
The exterior influences of society affect a woman’s autonomy, forcing her to conform to other’s expectations; however, once confident she creates her own
...stand what they mean as far as the social and cultural implications; but it not difficult to understand the strength of the two female protagonists and the double standards of men.
Despite the fact that the character of Phyllis as the “tough as nails” perpetual, intentional aggressor is a valid attempt to obliterate the image of women as the oppressed, one interpretation of this role is that she ultimately seems to misrepresent herself, and females in cinema, anyway. Janet Todd, author of Women and Film, states that, “Women do not exist in American film. Instead we find another creation, made by men, growing out of their ideological imperatives”(130). Though these “power girl”characters are strong examples of anything but submissive and sexual females,the...
Accordingly, I decided the purposes behind women 's resistance neither renamed sexual introduction parts nor overcame money related dependence. I recalled why their yearning for the trappings of progression could darken into a self-compelling consumerism. I evaluated how a conviction arrangement of feeling could end in sexual danger or a married woman 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, regardless, ought to cloud an era 's legacy. I comprehend prerequisites for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the area of women into open space and political fights previously cornered by men all these pushed against ordinary restrictions even as they made new susceptibilities.
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Worse, when women swallow the emptiness, loneliness, and naked violence that comes with their gender performance, their ability to develop self-awareness on matters such as academic, sexual, reproductive, safety, and health care rights no longer exists. When characters such as Ruth from Green Girls come to believe that womanhood means being on display and having to perform their roles as women in public spheres despite the feelings of wanting to shield oneself from strangers, they lose their freedom and become fettered to performative roles. Their performance of gender becomes, as Butler mentions, the result of both subtle and blatant coercions. These coercions offer a script of life that women must follow in order to remain the star of their
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...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).
...e, women are the weaker of the two sexes. Women are slaves and spoils of war, if they are valued for sex they are used for sex. The universal portrayal of women causes a reevaluation of modern day gender balances by the reader.
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Constitutional patriarchy instilled by the government in Central Europe greatly affected women during the time period following World War I. Communism attempted to give women more rights and promote their equality among men, but it failed to do so often. As a regime, patriarchy favored masculine gender roles throughout numerous aspects of society. Loves of a Blonde, Man is Not a Bird, Daisies, and A Woman Alone display the effect of patriarchy on women and how women could be successful or unsuccessful on attempting to go against it. The women in the films showed how women were pressured by society to accept relationships and a role in family, which were repressive. However, not all women conformed to the pressure and attempted to change their lives by taking different attitudes and actions toward the situation. By observing these films, a viewer can receive a viewpoint on how patriarchal society affected women and how women acted on their positions.
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
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