Power and Privilege Displayed in A Woman on a Roof
In Doris Lessing’s "A Woman on a Roof," three workmen react differently towards a woman sunbathing on a roof. The men are Harry, who is in his mid-40s, Stanley, who is newly married, and Tom, who is 17. They are engaged in a jovial banter when they spot a woman about fifty yards from where they are standing. She’s on her back, face down on a brown blanket. Stanley is first to comment, "She’s stark naked." Harry agrees, "Looks like it," while Tom cranes his neck so he can see more and replies, "She thinks no one can see." Stanley whistles, but the woman does not look up. She sits, smoking a cigarette (856).
This seems to be one of Lessing’s most critically neglected stories. In fact, there are only a few written criticisms about it, and most of these focus on the different reactions of the three workmen. However, the woman, who is not named in the story, is also a very intriguing and interesting character. While many readers see her as an innocent – the sunbather who only wants to be left alone – there is evidence to show that she uses her sexuality through nonverbal communication to show power and privilege.
Sociological perspectives suggest that nonverbal communication is of particular importance to women because their socialization to docility and passivity makes them likely targets for social control. Sexuality (masculinity or femininity) is not biologically determined but is part of social learning. In "Womanspeak and Manspeak," Nancy Henley, Mykol Hamilton, and Barrie Thorne have argued that while women’s general bodily demeanor must be restrained and restricted, and that their femininity is gauged by how little (personal) space they take up. In contra...
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Henslin, James. " On Becoming Male." Down to Earth Sociology. Ed. James Henslin. New York: The Free Press, 1991. 126-148.
Lessing, Doris. "A Woman on a Roof." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Harper Collins, 1991. 856-862.
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Chesnutt’s short story features only two female characters who receive little focus or development. Despite this apparent lack of women in the text, the plot of both the main and framed narratives depend upon their
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The world’s oldest profession. Escort. Whore. Hooker. Wench. Streetwalker. Call girl. Courtesan. Hustler. Harlot. No matter what you call it, we all know it as prostitution, and it is typically accompanied by a negative attitude. Montgomery College professor Susan A. Milstein, however, argues that prostitution is merely another job, saying, “Imagine a woman who is engaging in a specific behavior for money. Is that prostitution, or is it a job?” If we take away our preconceived notion of prostitutes as streetwalkers or whores and look at them as employees attempting to make a living, they become normal people in our eyes. Prostitution is often looked down upon as disgraceful or “dehumanizing” because it pertains to sex, a topic that is quite touchy in modern day American culture (Milstein, 2009). Depending upon the media outlet, prostitution is often portrayed to be an either glamorous or a distasteful profession, but if we begin to look at prostitution as just that, a profession, we can also start to question the legality of it. The decriminalization and legalization of prostitution would bring financial stability, safety, and health benefits to the profession.
Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest profession. Often prostitutes are thought to be seductively dressed women standing on the street corner calling out offerings of a good time in exchange for payment. That is an accurate depiction however, it is just part of the massive sex industry’s variety of marketing tools used in prostitution. The women and young girls standing on the corner are but a small fraction of a much larger picture and harsher reality.
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Until the 1960’s, attitudes toward prostitution were based on the Judeo-Christian view of immortality. Researchers have recently attempted to separate moral issues from the reality of prostitution. The rationale for its continued illegal status in the U.S. rests on three assumptions: prostitution is responsible for much ancillary crime; and prostitution is the cause of an increase in sexually transmittted disease. These assumptions are now the question.
Opponents argue that, prostitution has health effects and that is the reason as to why it remains illegal in most parts of the United States. Prostitution has social economic, physical, and a number of mental implications. The prostitutes and their clients are subject to a nu...
Prostitution is an internationally known trade. Internationally this trade can be found anywhere from Bangladesh to China. It is known to go back as far as 2400 BC. Within this historically and largely practiced trade comes several types of prostitution; Child prostitution, street, brothels, private, door knock, Citizens Band (CB) radio, individual, survival, and sex for drugs. Child prostitution is...
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At the start of the novel, Eliza Haywood places her protagonist in a very interesting, unique position, with regards to society of the time. The nameless main character is first illustrated in a playhouse, observing the interactions of the strangers around her. She notices a prostitute, surrounded by a swarm of men. “She could not help testifying her contempt of men who...threw away their time in such a manner, to some Ladies...the greater was her wonder, that men, some of whom she knew were accounted to have wit, should have tastes for very depraved” (257-258.) “Fantomina”, as she later comes to be called, oversees all of this. Haywood seems to put her above this crowd of men and prostitutes, while she observes and makes judgments on the nature of their behaviors. She expresses that she is disgusted by the mindlessness of the men in this situation. One might argue that this depicts a reversal of gender roles. Typically, men would look at women in this way, and the male character wo...
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Belasco, Susan, and Linck Johnson, eds. The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 1, 2nd Ed., Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2014. 1190-1203. Print.
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