Assignment 2
Hanna Nguyen
Section 022
TA : Lucha
Mohanty critiques “women” and the portrayal of women in the modern world, in the Western’s views as being helpless and damsel in distress, victimized, homely and needing to be saved. Mohanty looks at the portrayal of “women” to be old fashioned and enhanced the stereotype based on media and societal view of women and how they should be. This view of women is carried out not only in society but also politics and the economic system. The feminist movement has been going on for a long time, to break the stereotype of women, and yet it is ingrained in society. A “third world women, is oppressed and living in the “old” days, stuck under the guise of being helpless and defenceless. Rather the woman
…show more content…
Women are the ones who will push for the change, as they are the mothers of the world. A mother can influence how the next generation grows up, what they believe in and how they will look at the world. Mohanty thinks that the Western women as glossing over the views of Southern Women. As their experiences are “first” world problems and deal with pay. Rather the Southern Women find more oppression that is due to historical culture. These are issue that are less advertised less heard of during the feminist movement. These issues included the role of a woman in society and in the household. Mohanty states the it redefined the relationship between women, of different classes. Based on Mohanty, Western feminism supports colonialism because feminism split woman into different classes, supporting the …show more content…
I believe that is naive. I think not only in show business, but in all forms sexual harassment can occur whether is be academia and getting the best opportunities or getting a promotion. Many times looks or favoritism towards a person can be also looked at as a quid pro co for sexual advances. It would be naive to believe that they do not happen in the workplace. The article summarizes that there is a need to keep speaking out about sexaul hassment, and not to let up, even though many are accusing women of exaggerating and that women should be more resilient. Yet consider the side where men could be falsely accused and their name dragged through a scandal and the loss of their life’s work and their job. There are times where people should be skeptical. Punishing predators looks at this movement on both sides and take into account that in history’s past those considered “predators” have been black and brown men. And these “predators” have been hunted in the name of “public safety”. This article is summing up the #MeToo as being a witch hunt and rather than empowering survivors, persecuting those bad people. Similar to the stereotypes that “thugs” are black people who do drugs and yet that turned into prosecutions of people of color. I believe that we should stand with the victims of sexaul harrasment and there should be punishment to rapists,
Women had no choice but to follow whatever society told them to because there was no other option for them. Change was very hard for these women due to unexpected demands required from them. They held back every time change came their way, they had to put up with their oppressors because they didn’t have a mind of their own. Both authors described how their society affected them during this historical period.
We cannot deny the imperfection of the world today; poverty, violence, lack of education, and the general overwhelming deficiency of basic daily necessities are among some of the most troubling issues on the agenda. By carefully selecting our critical lens, we can gather that there are many aspects of today’s issues where we can focus our attention and begin the quest for solutions to these pervasive problems. Authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (2009) utilize their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide to emphasize the particular struggle of women in the world today and how by addressing three particular abuses of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence (including honor killings and mass rape), and maternal mortality, we may begin “unlocking an incipient women’s movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty” (p. xxii). However, we must first understand the difficulty of addressing such complex issues by a proposing a “one-size fits all” solution and take into consideration the varying feminist perspectives that currently contemplate the oppression of women in societies around the world. To be able to critically digest Kristof and WuDunn’s book we must explore the types of stories and evidence included and how they’re presented, and the generalized theories behind the insight and solutions regarding the women in need around the world. The authors alienate their audience by ignoring the complexity of building a singular feminist movement. Kristof and WuDunn’s book Half the Sky further contributes to the oppression of women because they objectify Third World women by portraying them as victims in need of outside rescue and suggest that an overarching solution...
“Poverty and exploitation of women in Latin America can never be alleviated because they are rooted in machismo,” meaning that because of the way society was run in Latin American, women can’t advance from the ancient state of mind that they belong in the private sphere and should stay there, because only men are good enough to be out in the public sphere. The reason why society was run in this manner, was because of the machismo feeling engraved in the minds of men and, in some cases, women in society. Alicia, Carolina, and Nancy don’t really have any other choice, than try to survive on their own by doing acts that are not “approved” by the society they live in. Even now, because of their actions, we could even disagree with the way they decided to approach their situation, because even now a day, we could think that selling one’s body or being involved in “off the book”
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
The novel Gabi, a Girl in Pieces, written by Isabel Quintero, portrays the extreme pressure women from traditional/cultural households encounter in order to be seen as “picture perfect.” Women have to be and act accordingly to the expectations of their family and community in order to be respected and valued as a “lady.” One mistake is all it takes to become known as “a mala mujer” which is why women are anticipated to protect their body as they would their life.
Monique Wittig, a radical feminist, illuminates, “For what makes a woman is a specific social relation to a man, a relation that we call servitude”. The concept of justifying the female inferior image based on biology and the ‘w...
...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).
The discourse of feminism has arguably been contested and slandered in the past, and throughout history the feminine voice has had to take a backseat in terms of narration. This relates to the fact that history is usually written by those with privilege and power, and women, especially of African descent, were not endowed with these attributes. However, in Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi we discover a world wherein the feminine voice is shown centre stage, wherein the character of Mhudi breaks free from the stereotypical norms that define women and steps into the realm of men. Moreover, she becomes a model of self-fulfilment as well as independence, and by the end of the story, she is a woman that can stand as equal beside her husband. Sol Plaatje’s Mhudi
These novels, poems and short stories show how sexism is very much an issue in past decades but also in present and future decades. The America that we live in wants to believe in the fact that all men and women are created equal, it has yet to do anything. Women are still seen as objects to an extent. We are still seen as Daisy or as Charlotte Perkins main character, or the woman Carlos Gomez Andres writes about. The fact that we might die from the loss of freedom, because one cannot escape from an unhappy marriage, is considered ridiculous.
One of the largest movements coming from this new wave of feminism is the #MeToo Movement – a movement in which women of all ages are sadly being raped and molested by men for no apparent reason other than because they have the power and strength to do so. It is a movement that brings into light the violence being thrown upon women. Although it does not seem to affect the #MeToo Movement, intersectionality plays a vital role. Laverne Cox said “I notice when some trans women have come forward and say that they have been sexually assaulted there has been a different tenor in terms of the ways they’ve been believed as opposed to other women who are not trans” (qtd. in Perez, 2018).
Over time, a women’s identity has been seen as powerless and incompetent to achieve anything. This image of women is being created at a young age at young age. For instance, little
“The #MeToo movement is accomplishing what sexual harassment law to date has not”(Nytimes: #MeToo Has Done What The Law Could Not). Especial thus power related cases; in the near past, the idea of helding powerful men accountable for such shameful act was unthinkable. As victims were turned around due to unfulfilling evidence, and other accusation were thought to be linked to financial gain. The movement moved an agenda that all shall be held accountable regardless of their position in the power hierarchy: “Companies are also rethinking their approach. A zero-tolerance attitude towards perpetrators is apparent, with high-profile figures being fired or resigning following accusations of sexual misconduct”(The Guardian: How American women's growing power finally turned #metoo into a cultural moment ).
The plot moves because of their existence, simultaneously, damning the female characters as it progresses. Evidently, women’s oppression is a very predominant theme within each narrative. These women have been condemned in some aspect by men. They are subject to a world of draconian gender roles, separated by these roles, men and women are portrayed in a world, dominated by men, in which social expectations and restrictions serve to further perpetuate gender stratification. Essentially oppressed women are to beat the home, bound to their husbands, with little control or identity of their own.
In such a culture ladies are seen as less than completely human and as less than reliable, especially when "denouncing men of sexual misconduct.' Animosity against ladies is legitimized by women's choices and natures. A lady can be a trophy, symbolizing and signaling a man's victory against and to other men. Most men are distant from the best of the patriarchal chain of command of control and control; ladies are vital as reassurance prizes, giving men who have small somebody over whom they have rights of control and control. In patriarchy, ladies are anticipated to "take care of men who have been harmed by other men.
Feminism is a perspective that views gender as one of the most important bases of the structure and organization of the social world. Feminists argue that in most known societies this structure has granted women lower status and value, more limited access to valuable resources, and less autonomy and opportunity to make choices over their lives than it has granted men. (Sapiro 441)