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The features of marriage in different cultures
Feminist movement in Indian literature
The features of marriage in different cultures
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Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel, Water, realistically presents the circumstances of women and, in particular, widows in 1938 Colonial India. It exposes the gender inequality and double standards that govern that society for no other reason than that is what tradition dictates. Sidhwa presents complexities in her characters, which make them very human and very real, and the widows’ reactions to each other and to the world outside of the ashram create a feminist message. Water poses the problem of gender inequality in India by presenting a realistic and typical situation, and it allows the readers to draw their own conclusions while experiencing the intricacies of the Indian culture.
The most obvious example of inequality or mistreatment of women is Chuyia’s situation of becoming a bride and soon after a widow at age eight. By becoming a widow she is forced into the ashram and into isolation from the rest of society. This is a situation that is common in India due to the fact that tradition dictates “a woman is recognized as a person only when she is one with her husband” (Sidhwa 14). It shows that society views women as worthless unless they are under the control and service of a man. Furthermore, this tradition means that women are married off as soon as possible as to secure their future and purpose in life, while men are able to wait longer to marry. In Indian culture, men are worth more than women, and the novel shows this fact by contrasting Chuyia’s marriage situation with Narayan’s situation. Chuyia has no say in who she must marry because she is female, and her marriage is entirely dependent on her father, who marries off six-year-old Chuyia to a forty year old man. Even though Chuyia’s mother tries to stop the marriage a...
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...t “By drifting almost unnoticeably from the commonplace to the horrific, Water implicates the reader” (Jaiarjun). It does more than rant about a feminist agenda; it calls the readers to action by deeply involving them first-hand in the atrocities that are taking place against women.
Works Cited
Arora, Kamal, Saydia Kamal, and Usamah Ahmad. "Water: Drenched in colonial benevolence." Seven Oaks. 05 Oct 2005. Web. 13 Apr 2010. .
Seton, Nora. "Honoring the abandoned." Houston Chronicle (2006). Web. 5 Apr 2010. .
Sidhwa, Bapsi. Water. Toronto, Canada: Key Porter Books Limited, 2006. Print.
Singh, Jaiarjun. "Whirlpools on the Ghats." Indian Express (2006). Web. 5 Apr 2010. .
The Scarlet Letter can easily be seen as an early feminist piece of work. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices, whether they were good or bad, and also as the protagonist. He also presents the daughter of Hester, Pearl, as an intelligent female, especially for her age. He goes on to prove man as imperfect through both the characters of Dimmesdale and of Chillingworth. With the situation that all the characters face, Hawthorne establishes the female as the triumphant one, accomplishing something that, during Nathaniel Hawthorne’s time, authors did not attempt.
Gowda came face to face with this problem during her time in India, volunteering in the orphanage. In Secret Daughter, one of many moments of gender prejudice occurred when Jasu killed off his two children because they were girls. “We can’t do this…She will become a burden to us, a drain on our family. Is that what you want?” (Gowda 16). Jasu believed that a daughter was a burden. He had hoped for a son to carry on the family name as well as work in the fields with him. His closemindedness to the value of females was the cause of two children that were let down by their dad. When Asha was in the slum parts of Bombay, interviewing mothers, she found that their sons went to school while their daughters stayed at home with them. “Why aren’t you at school? [laughs] girls don’t go to school, only boys do.” (Gowda 109). Not only is gender inequality present throughout India, it is also being taught to little girls that it is normal. Allowing them to think that it is normal to be worth less than their male counterpart and that’s how it will always be. Another occurrence of gender inequality in the novel was when Saria told Somer that she should not go out alone without a male with her. “It is not appropriate for women like you to walk on the streets alone. You should not have gone without one of is for your own safety.” (Gowda 72). The treatment of women in India is so terrible that a woman is unable to
As depicted through countless novels, there were two main female roles in society and neither created much opportunity for females. Whether a woman was a humble housewife or a mysterious mistress, there was controversy in every aspect of both roles. These roles also placed females in oppressive relationships that almost always decreased the qualities of honesty and loyalty that are necessary in relationships. From the beginning of the twentieth century all the way up until now, the treatment of females thrust into these roles has caused controversy and problems in countless marriages and throughout our society.
The growth of one woman interferes with one man’s idea of being able to conquer Woman. The two main characters of the book Ladies’ Paradise named Denise and Mouret have a unique sense of love, if it really even is “love.” She is very shy and unattainable while he is charismatic and lives a greatly successful life. Her unordinary attitude creeps into Mouret’s mind, causing him to desire her at an extreme amount. Mouret is not able to conquer Denise in the same way that he does women in his department store which defeats his conquest of Woman. The idea of feminism is prominent throughout the novel since Denise is such an independent character and does not give into Mouret’s power immediately. She briefly gives Mouret a new set of eyes, allowing
“There are two kinds of spiritual law, two kinds of conscience, one in man and another, altogether different, in women. They do not understand each other; but in practical life the women is judged by man’s law, as though she were not a woman but a man.” Those words were said by the great Henrik Ibsen himself. Henrik Ibsen was born on March twentieth eighteen twenty eight in Skien, Norway. He grew up in poverty following the demise of his father’s business. He was exiled to Italy, and then moved on to Germany. Ibsen wrote A Doll’s House in 1879, while in Germany. He sought to question social practices in the real world, and women’s position in society. He was commonly known as “The Father of Modern Drama”. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House was published in 1879 and first performed shortly after in the same year and month. The play turned out to be very controversial, which lead Ibsen to write an alternate ending. The play was later turned into a television show and multiple movie adaptations. (Galens 106,107 ) Ibsen creates many static and strong characters that help convey his message. Nora Helmer is the play’s protagonist and wife of Torvald Helmer. Torvald, Nora’s husband, is shown to be extremely controlling and dominating. He often treats Nora like a doll or child. There are many relevant themes in the play such as: appearance and reality, pride, honor, sexism, and the search for self-identity. Nora’s life as a married woman is overall symbolized by a doll. Henrik Ibsen’s characters Nora, Christine, and Torvald perfectly depict the marital and societal trends of the 19th century; while further explaining the choices some made leading to a more feminist and gender equal nation.
Clenora Hudson-Weems, founder of Africana womanist theory, defines Africana womanism as “an ideology created and designed for all women of African descent. It is grounded in African culture, and therefore, it necessarily focuses on the unique experiences, struggles, needs and desires of Africana women” (Hudson-Weems, 2007). Finding the existing philosophies dealing with women’s issues lacking, Hudson-Weems sought out a new perspective that would reflect the unique experience of Africana women. This paper explores the formation of Africana womanism and how it departs from traditional feminist theory. While Africana womanism claims to better meet the needs of Africana women than traditional feminism, there are a number of fundamental deficiencies in that theory as well. This paper will focus specifically on Black feminism in examining this failings.
A traditional extended family living in Northern India can become acquainted through the viewing of Dadi’s family. Dadi, meaning grandmother in Hindu, lets us explore her family up close and personal as we follow the trials and tribulations the family encounters through a daily basis. The family deals with the span of three generations and their conflicting interpretations of the ideal family life. Dadi lets us look at the family as a whole, but the film opens our eyes particularly on the women and the problems they face. The film inspects the women’s battle to secure their status in their family through dealing with a patriarchal mentality. The women also are seen attempting to exert their power, and through it all we are familiarized to
Throughout the waves of liberal feminism, there is a new characteristic to be associated with the feminist group. In the first waves, it’s white, married, wealthy women who fit the criteria to be a feminist. The first wave begins in 1900 and ends around 1920, during the times of the Suffragettes. This wave began to introduce the inequalities between men and women, especially relating to voting and education. The second wave began to rise in 1950 which introduced reproductive rights, entitlement to sex, marriage, jobs, social lives, and politics. This wave continued to the 1970’s. It’s not until the third wave, which hits in the 1990’s, when inequalities among women are introduced to the feminist movement (FYS Class Notes).
There is really not much to think about the contemporary feminist movement of today, which has seems to be quiet and focused on too many issues, when reading more about it. There is and was more awareness of the past movements that involved Gloria Steinem, Billie Jean King, Jane Fonda, Crystal Lee Sutton ( the real Norma Rae), Susan B. Anthony and Eleanor Roosevelt, to me they had much more of an imprint on women’s issues than those of today. ( 1970) the feminist movement is one of the most powerful social and political forces of recent times. It resulted in increased anthropological interest in the role of gender in human relationships and in society generally. (Peoples p243) They had more to prove back then, than the feminist movements of today, of which should have developed or continued where the other movements left off. Eleanor
For decades now, women have been fighting to earn rights for political, social and economic equality to men. What made the diversity change many of the rights against women after decades of being treated unequally? The second wave of feminism started to evolve near the end of the second World War. More women were starting to achieve degrees to pursue a career which will provide them wealth and joy. The second movement mainly focused on gender equality such as voting rights, reproductive rights and political rights. Due to the feminism wave, women earned respect world wide by standing up to achieve legal rights and equality to men. Therefore, the second wave of feminism that took place in the United States during the 1960s helped bring equality for women in the areas of education, work and pay, reduced violence against women, and helped gain rights in their reproductive and political lives.
Gender roles have been a predominant factor in our world since the early emergence of human societies whether they are positive or negative. They are based on expectations that societies have over the people in them. The Epic of Sunjata, shows us how men and women are treated almost equally in different forms. Women are praised for their ability to birth leaders, which is similar to the early Greek Society. In most societies, women are treated less equal than men. This was prevalent in the early Indian society. No matter the gender role, it has been shown that any society cannot survive without both men and women.
The origin of the word feminism has redundantly changed from each generation of feminist because of “gene-rationalism.” Gene-rationalism is when a whole generation is blamed for believing in alternative values or no values at all and a variety of young individuals who seek out different beliefs or values that are not norms contribute to this category. (Stevenson, Everingham and Robinson 130). Martha Rampton claims that there are three generational stages of feminism, which are the first, second and third wave. The first wave of feminism was to reach out and give women opportunities in industry life and Elizabeth Stanton held the Seneca Falls Declaration, which would state how women can become a part of the work force. The second wave was different
Green Lantern is a science Fiction movie directed by Martin Campbell. This movie is about a police force called Green Lantern Intergalactic Corps that uses green rings which feeds on their willpower and has a mission to protect the universe from evil. The main Character, Hal Jordan played by Ryan Reynolds is chosen by the ring and protects his planet from Parallax. His childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris played by Blake Lively supports him throughout the movie. Dr. Amanda Waller played by Angela Bassett appears a few times and brings Hector Hammond played by Peter Sarsgaard to perform an autopsy on Abin Sur’s body played by Temuera Morrison.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian author who has received numerous awards and distinctions. Her main argument is that everyone should be a feminist not because of our gender, but because it is what is right. Adichie has been featured in Beyonce’s song, “Flawless”, spreading awareness to the idea of feminism. “We Should All Be Feminists” is a book about her experiences in Nigeria, where men are more powerful than women. The intended audience of the passage is each and every person residing in heavily patriarchal societies. Hesr thesis is “we should all be feminists”.
Kathleen Hanna stated: “There are just as many different kinds of feminism as there are women in the world.” This could not be truer. With different types of women, you have different types of feminism, all differing in levels of activism however enveloping around the same purpose. The most popular definition of the term feminism is “the doctrine for advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men” (Dictionary). These would include perception of appearance and attitude, equal pay for equal work – constitutional equality, reproductive rights, ending violence against women, and more. Early thinkers, including Sappho, Hildegard of Bingen, Christine de Pisan, and more are considered the “foremothers of the modern women’s movement” (Rampton). There are three waves of feminism spanning from the late nineteenth century to present day. They encompass the first through the current attempts and successes of what women have fought for in their role in modern society. Roles of women have changed over the past 150 years in the home, the workforce and workplace, the church, and in the educational system. Despite great improvements in equality