In the book Real Women Have Curves by Josefina López there are many ways to analyze and view the woman of the story. Along with being a brilliant story of hope, history, and life, the story offers another very harsh truth about woman in society. Being constantly surrounded by feminist in my life, I assumed the prospective of one. No one can deny that the woman in the book are extremely self-conscious of their superficial image. The women in the book seem to view themselves as simple woman that have no say and no power. They feel especially powerless because of their bodies and weight. However, eventually ever one of the female cast admits the urge to take complete control of their lives and bodies. The woman confronts many difficulties with …show more content…
In Real Women Have Curves the woman have different ways to view their own bodies. For example, Carmen gained wait to keep her husband from wanting to sleep with her. She did this because she didn’t want to become impregnated again by her husband showing just how powerless she let herself become. Carmen even stated that she, “was never taught how to say no” (López 57). She was left with one option and that was to become unwanted by her husband, Giving up her own body in the process. However, Estela and Ana clearly try and make a announcement with thier bodies that they do not need to be skinny to be beautiful, wanting to be desired for their wisdom and personality. On the other end, Rosalita holds to a strict dieting plan that ends up knocking her unconscious due to her loosing control by eating nothing but dieting pills. The women in López’s story have so many holds when controlling their bodies. But they also choose what they want to look like because in the end it is there ultimate decision. Becky Waangsgard Thompson says, women feel that a man’s sexual advancement upon them is due to their physicality and body size (424). She is adding to the argument and opens your eyes a little bit wider to the why it is that the woman in the story make these choices about their
The scene was acquired from the play Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez. The characters are five Latina, overweight women by the names of Ana, Estela, Carmen, Pancha, and Rosali. Carmen is the mother of Ana and Estela, so the sewing factory these women work could be a family business, since the owner of the factory is Estela. Therefore, being a factory on stage for this scene probably in the past because from the scene, you can tell there is no air conditioning and they are sewing the material themselves. They also mention “La Migra” and how most of them had papers and some didn’t. In addition, the scene begins with Ana, undressing herself due to the unbearable heat. The women start picking on her because of her fat however Ana doesn’t seem to care because she loves her body and doesn’t need to be treated as a sexual object. The other women join the conversation and conclude undressing themselves comparing body parts to examine who has the worst overweight condition (which seems to be the conflict yet sets the mood to a comedic one). They end feeling
While most movies of the 2000s somehow spoke about sex among young adults, for the first time the emphasis is on the virginity of a Mexican American female. In part this topic is not discussed openly, it is only discussed awkwardly in a mother to daughter conversation. This movie opens the eye to many families conservative other this matter, Ana’s mother openly shames her daughter to losing her virginity to a random person which was not the case. In this scene, rather than have a heartwarming conversation with her daughter she is angry possibly at her daughter but possibly at herself for not knowing what her daughter was doing. Ana is prepared to lose her virginity and is responsible to purchase contraceptives something also talked about but mostly whispered in the chicano community. Ana states that women get pregnant not because they are having sex but because they are having it unprotected or don’t know how to use different methods of contraceptive. The talk among Mexican American families is not how to use contraceptives rather it is do not get pregnant or “ELSE”. Real Women Have Curves shows that the real problem is not getting pregnant it is the lack of communication Mexican American women have with their
"Woman is not born," feminist Andrea Dworkin wrote. "She is made. In the making, her humanity is destroyed. She becomes symbol of this, symbol of that: mother of the earth, slut of the universe; but she never becomes herself because it is forbidden for her to do so." Dworkin’s quote relates to women throughout history who have been forced to conform. Although women can be regarded highly in society, representing images of fertility, security, and beauty, many people still view them in stereotypical ways; some people believe that all women should act a certain way, never letting their true selves shine through. Amy Lowell’s "Patterns" and Helen Sorrell’s "From a Correct Address in a Suburb of a Major City" accurately portray the struggles of women in relation to conformity. Through contrasting descriptive details, symbols, and language, the authors depict the plights of two remarkably similar women who wish they could break free of their social confinements as women.
Her body reflects strength and confidence something that other women in the novel were not seen to
Self assured confident women of today do not bode well with manipulative, superficial people. Modern women have evolved in to forward thinking strong independent people who will not stand to be taken advantage of. The evolution of the modern woman stems from the sensibilities of the characters portrayed in this film. While it would appear to some that being manipulative, superficial, and tenacious are all negative qualities; women through out the ages have relied on these qualities to get them where they want to be. In today’s world, ambitious, resourceful, independent and innocent seem to be far more acceptable adjectives to use when describing a woman climb to the top. Being able to balance these qualities is the key to becoming a successful woman.
Women and men are not equal. Never have been, and it is hard to believe that they ever will be. Sexism permeates the lives of women from the day they are born. Women are either trying to fit into the “Act Like a Lady” box, they are actively resisting the same box, or sometimes both. The experience of fitting in the box and resisting the box can be observed in two plays: Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” and Henrick Ibsen’s “A Doll House”. In Hansberry’s play, initially, Beneatha seems uncontrolled and independent, but by the end she is controlled and dependent; whereas, in Ibsen’s play Nora seems controlled and dependent at the beginning of the play, but by the end she is independent and free.
Knowing this you would think women would portray themselves more seriously, but the exact opposite is happening. These continuous loops of failure have severely weakened women’s physical presence, and because of this, are continuously singled out in world discussions on topics such as war or threats to national security, and are constantly burdened with tasks regarding health and family life. In my research I read many books from the nineteenth-century onwards, such as, Stuart Mill’s book ‘The Subjection of Women’ (1869) to Butler’s ‘Gender Troubles’ (1990), both of these and many more books has helped in my quest to conjure up a personal concept of women, but out of all of them I found Berger’s ‘Ways of seeing’ the most fruitful in terms of a literal explanation of women.
It seems that every sibling doesn’t always have a great relationship with their older or younger siblings. In the movie “Real Women Have Curves”, we have two sisters, Anna and Estella,who seem not to get along in the beginning because of their differences, but at the end they become the best of friends because they have similar dreams and learn to support each other. The advantage of Anna and Estella’s relationship is that they benefit from each other. The whole story is that you don’t always realize how much you have in common with your siblings until you realize that you have similar dreams and can be there for each other.
...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).
Real Women Have Curves is a 2002 movie adapted from a 1987 screenplay by George LaVoo and Josefina Lopez. The film was directed by Patricia Cardoso and produced by LaVoo. The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award. Real Women Have Curves stars America Ferrera as Ana, an intelligent and ambitious 18-year-old who has just graduated from Beverly Hills High School in Los Angeles. Ana’s wish is to attend Columbia University; however, Ana’s mother, Carmen, sees a different future for her. She’s determined that Ana will become a seamstress, at her oldest daughter’s dress store. Carmen even tells Ana’s father, “"I can educate her. I'll teach her how to sew. I'll teach her how to take care of her husband”.
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.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
...heir own sense of independence. But they also present the reality of it all, that in the end they are back to where they started, and that women will never be able to let their guard down, because of the constant struggle of becoming equally self-reliant as men are, which still remains today.
Why has this book become so popular in rapid time? Why are women flocking to buy the book and why are they talking about it with their friends? More importantly, why was I a part of the craze? These are all valid questions I would like to find answers to. In my opinion, the book negatively portrays women, and yet women, and some men, are still reading it. It is alarming that so many readers are blinded by the message of the book because they are so wrapped in the content. This is why I find the book worth studying. In order to find answers to my questions, I will look to feminist criticism to better understand my topic.
It is said that when we look in the mirror, we see our reflection; but what is it that we really see? Some people look through the glass and see a totally different person. All across the world identity is an issue that many women have. Woman today must be skinny, tall, thick, fair skinned and have long hair in order to be considered beautiful. Maya Angelou feels otherwise, as she gives women another way to look at themselves through her poem "Phenomenal Woman".