The dawn of the 20th century changed the perspective of the nation and introduced many different ideas and concepts. At the turn of the century, a new and influential ideal known as the “Gibson Girl” arose. The “Gibson Girl” image, created by the American illustrator Charles Gibson, represented the perfect female archetype of the era. In the first decade of the 1900s, the Gibson Girl, exuding confidence and poise, proved increasingly popular, and acted as an icon that women everywhere attempted to imitate. She eventually developed from an illustration into a reality as many girls applied the ideal to themselves. The Gibson Girl contrasted greatly with the common farm girl who, unlike the Gibson Girl, worked for a living. At first glance, one might perceive that the farm girl led a much more difficult life than the Gibson Girl. However, upon consideration, the Gibson Girl’s life proved just as demanding, if not more, than that of the farm girl, and illustrated upper-class society’s unrelenting superficiality and focus on perfection. The Gibson Girl presented herself as the ideal upper-class woman of the early 1900s. As Charles Gibson’s icon elucidates, the Gibson Girl upheld a seemingly impossible quintessence of perfection according to Victorian society. However, in spite of the exacting strain for perfection, many viewed the Gibson Girl as joyous and carefree as this acted as part of her idealistic image. The demands of a Gibson Girl contrasted greatly with the routine demands of a farm girl, however, proved no less strenuous. Society required that the Gibson Girl maintain humility as well as self-confidence, and “remain aloof of her surroundings but not to the extent of haughtiness” (Freemen 118). Charles Gibson’s illustrat... ... middle of paper ... ...devoted herself to the practical and compensating notion of supporting a household during the early 1900s. The farm girl’s exclusion from society allowed her to possess freedom, unattainable to the Gibson Girl. Victorian society bound the Gibson Girl to unrealistic expectations and oppressive restrictions. Society possessed no dominance over the ideals and appearances of a farm girl thus demonstrating that the Gibson Girl’s life held just as many, if not more, difficulties. Works Cited Freeman, Karen J. Ed. “Day in the Life of a Farm Wife” farmwife/1900www.eyewitnesstohistory.com. Journey through Time; The Modern and Post Modern Times. Houston: HEP Publishing Company, 2013. Print. Freeman, Karen J. Ed. “The Gibson Girl.” Journey through Time; The Modern and Post Modern Times. Ed. Karen J Freeman. Houston: HEP Publishing Company, 2013. Print.
Our first introduction to these competing sets of values begins when we meet Sylvia. She is a young girl from a crowded manufacturing town who has recently come to stay with her grandmother on a farm. We see Sylvia's move from the industrial world to a rural one as a beneficial change for the girl, especially from the passage, "Everybody said that it was a good change for a little maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded manufacturing town, but, as for Sylvia herself, it seemed as if she never had been alive at the all before she came to live at the farm"(133). The new values that are central to Sylvia's feelings of life are her opportunities to plays games with the cow. Most visibly, Sylvia becomes so alive in the rural world that she begins to think compassionately about her neighbor's geraniums (133). We begin to see that Sylvia values are strikingly different from the industrial and materialistic notions of controlling nature. Additionally, Sylvia is alive in nature because she learns to respect the natural forces of this l...
People in these Montana prairies had an isolated life where “Every generation relearns the rules its fathers have forgotten”, cursed nature when it threatens their livelihood, yet realized that “This land owes you nothing” [p. 60]. This was a time and region where the difference between what was expected of men and women was paramount. Children grew up working hard, knowing their place in their society and grew up quickly as a result. Being somewhat of a tomboy, Blunt could handle farm equipment and chores as well as her brother, yet was still expected to learn how to cook, clean and care for the men. As with previous generations, it was expected that she follow a planned path to becoming a rancher’s wife. But Judy Blunt always felt there was something more to this hard, bleak life and began a long journey towards breaking clean from the constraints of her upbringing.
This ESSAY discusses the female Lowell factory worker as portrayed in the Offering. Although the magazine never expressed an overtly feminist view of the factory girls' condition, nor invoked a working-class consciousness similar to later labor expressions in Lowell, there is evidence of a narrative strategy and ideology speaking both to the factory women and the middle-class readership outside of the mill town. The paper's short stories, epistolary narratives and commentaries seek to legitimize an operatives' role within the feminine ideal of domesticity. In conforming to the norms of feminine literature, the Offering reconstructs the operatives' character. It subordinates the evidence for independence or autonomy to relate stories of familial or sentimental ties binding the factory girl to the world outside of factory life. The magazine sought to provide an answer to this question: given her new liberties, what kept the "factory girl" from losing contact with her moral sentiments?
The 1920’s, or the beginning of feminist expression, was a period that embodied a carefree and relaxed attitude, however, this period of relative prosperity changed after the stock market collapsed in the 1920’s. This horrid event initiated “The Great Depression” where millions became homeless and millions more lived without knowing where their next meal would be. The life of Curley’s wife contrasts this period of sorrow by offering some kind of vision back into the past. Curley’s wife is more than a victim of circumstance; she embodies pettiness, cruelty, and self-obsession. These apparent factors make Curley’s wife the sharpest contrast to norms at the time of typical female behavior.
In society females are subjected to stereotypes about what they are expected to be if they want to be considered a lady and/or a mother. Gwedolyn Brooks’s Maud Martha takes the reader throughout the life of an African American woman, named Maud Martha, who defies stereotypes and witnesses women around her doing the same thing. In Gwendolyn Brooks’s chapter, kitchenette folk, Maud Martha talks about people in her building, specifically focusing her attention on women who are not considered normal in society. She describes the unconventional and typical housewives in households that were dominated by men. Each of the women Brooks wrote about all had a specific problem that they were judged for by outsiders, and Brook’s sought out to counter that
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." Images of Woman in American Popular Culture. Ed. Angela G. Dorenkamp, et al. Port Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1995. 78-89.
Images of women throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have both shaped women’s outlook on their lives in the workplace, at home, and in politics, and have also encouraged change for them as individuals. While often times women are seen as weak individuals that have minor influence on society, artistic evaluations and various writings throughout history have successfully proved otherwise.
The image has a huge effect in society. A celebrity’s image can characterize, shape and circulate societal myths in Hollywood. When people see the significant images, they will connect the specific celebrities in their time period. A blonde, beautiful, and sexy girl whose white dress was flying is one of the most famous images that the American actress, singer, and model Marilyn Monroe made in the 20th century. People think her figure and beauty made her a popular icon and sex symbol in the 1950s. Monroe's status as a sex symbol has influenced many artists since her time, even though the beauty standard has been different since then. Many celebrities imitate Monroe not only because of marketing and media needs, but also because people today still “worship” the image of Monroe. However, to only examine this sexualized image, people would seldom find out that Monroe was a feminist in the mid 20th century. On the other hand, how does a woman who passed away at thirty-six years old, after starring in only a handful of movies, have such an impact on society, especially young women, in the 21st century? The reason why Monroe is still relevant and even famous today shows the power of female charisma. Monroe had many feminist characteristics, such as being an independent professional woman, she was courageous to express herself, and she was always self-actualized. Independence, self-expression, and self-actualizion are all the ideas that feminists encouraged in the 21st century. The media created Monroe’s sexy image at first, but she used it to become famous. Later on she tried to use her action to get rid her sexy image. Even though many feminists think Monroe is a victim through Monroe’s sexualized image, Monroe’s image has influenced f...
In the early 1900’s the ideal woman would be dressed with long dresses and would normally have long hair. Several events such as World War I, in July of 1914, changed women’s role in society. They were not only taking care of the children and the household but they were also taking the role of a man. As men went to war, women replaced them in factories. This caused woman to be more independent. Women realized that having a job was something that could be done; their sex didn’t restrict them from taking this action. This was extremely important as it lead to women being more confident and capable. In the 1920s young women began to change. They went from having long dresses and long hair, to a short haircut and wearing dresses that were above the knee. Women developed a greater interest in looking attractive. According to Russell L. Johnson, the beauty industry grew rapidly as cosmetic expenses sky rocketed from 750 million to 2 billion dollars (Johnson 3). This was one of the causes of the sexual revolution. Women became “ less formal but more expressive (Mag...
According to Faulkner, dominance was prevailing from the older generation that treated males in the society with superiority and then comes the younger generation that follows rules and regulations for order. The author of this story shows a power struggle between these two generations because Emily refuses to pay taxes because as she thinks she belongs to a noble family which was not the case in reality. As reviewed by Binder (2012) that reader finds descriptions of decay in the slow degrading of the town, Emily’s inherited home, and even in the aging Emily herself. Similarly, according to Munro, a power struggle also goes on in her story where a young girl fights for her rights to be gained in a farmer’s family in the time when rights for women did not exist. Accordingly, Goldman (1990) explains that while the separation between inside and outside may be arbitrary, these divisions are upheld by the virtually intractable force of opinion and tradition. In terms of gaining an identity, the author of the story shows a young girl’s resistance to womanhood in a society infested with gender roles and stereotypes as the story takes place in a time when women were viewed as second class citizens, but the narrator was not going to accept this position without a
Women in the nineteenth century, for the most part, had to follow the common role presented to them by society. This role can be summed up by what historians call the “cult of domesticity”. The McGuffey Readers does a successful job at illustrating the women’s role in society. Women that took part in the overland trail as described in “Women’s Diaries of the Westward Journey” had to try to follow these roles while facing many challenges that made it very difficult to do so.
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
Peterson, M. Jeanne. "The Victorian Governess: Status Incongruence in Family and Society." Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age. Ed. Martha Vicinus. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1973.
Although, (subordinating) there were other iconic people during the Twentieth century Marilyn Monroe is arguably one of the most famous women of that time because she changed many people’s lives. While doing some research on (subordinating) her I’ve come to realize that she did change many people’s lives. Marilyn wasn’t afraid to be herself and (coordinating) be who she really was. She showed women that they didn’t have to be afraid to be who they were and taught them that they were beautiful no matter what. In this paper, I will explain how (subordinating) Marilyn Monroe changed people’s lives and became one of the most recognized faces in the world.
In conclusion, David Lodge managed to embody the concrete term of feminism. Through the character of Robyn Penrose, he creates the breakup of the traditional Victorian image of woman.“ `There are lots of things I wouldn 't do. I wouldn 't work in a factory. I wouldn 't work in a bank. I wouldn 't be a housewife. When I think of most people 's lives, especially women 's lives, I don 't know how they bear it. ' `Someone has to do those jobs, ' said Vic. `That 's what 's so depressing. ' ”(Lodge