Gender, race, and class are apparent in every movie, work of art, and book, even if the piece is not directly about those subjects. “Norma Rae” depicts the journey of a young woman from textile worker to union leader. Her gender, class, and wounds she had experienced affected her entire life. Norma successfully overcame issues in her society and became a liberated woman, something most women in her position were not able to do. Norma encountered many obstacles and still managed to triumph and change her place in the world.
The film “Norma Rae” follows Norma Rae, a young woman, who works at the local cotton mill in the southern United States. Norma has two young children from different fathers, but lives with her parents, who also work at the
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The four common belief of class in America were disproven. It was obvious there was a class distinction, even between Norma and Reuben. They were not all affluent, no one was getting richer over time or getting raises, and not everyone had a chance to succeed. A huge reason the owners and managers of the textile mill did not want workers to unionize was because they would obviously fight for fair wages. Having well paid workers closes some of the income gap that they had and would take more money away from the owners. Class was apparent and there really were only the rich and the poor. Norma Rae’s mother went deaf and her father had a heart attack and died at work. These people had no access to healthcare and died from things that someone with money would have. Just like gender, class was another obstacle for Norma. Norma never received a raise, and the only way to get a raise at this point was to unionize. As a workingwoman, Norma was constantly busy. In “A World Full of Women”, the authors state, “The work that human beings do falls into four categories: production, reproduction, status enhancement, and morale building: (World Full of Women, Page 19). Lower class women in this society had to work in all four categories. Her husband reminded her that even though she worked in the status enhancement and production jobs, she still had to do the morale building and reproduction aspects as well. …show more content…
It was clear her family did not have much money. Norma’s older mother worked along side her, as well as her father and they lived in a small house. It was clear by the end of the film that by unionization, most of her economic issues were resolved by the union as well as marriage. Another big lesion throughout her life was her lack of a husband. After the death of her husband she lived with her parents. The only possible way to overcome and heal this wound was to get married. By marrying Sonny in essence, this wound was healed, though I think at first it was just made worse. Her lesion of being unwed turned into a lesion of being wed. Sonny was angry with Norma due to her choices of the union over family time. This wound was not fully healed until she realized her marriage with Sonny was healthy and that Sonny truly did love her and would never leave or cheat on her. Finally, a lesion that affected Norma throughout her life was her sexuality. She had sex with multiple men, had children from two different men, and was even accused of making a sex tape. Though it did not seem like Norma was directly affected by her sexual past, others made her feel like she was immoral or lower than those who did not have a history. The union mentioned a sex tape was floating around and Norma was forced to tell her children about her past due to the gossip in town. This lesion is something
Family is a story about slaves, masters of the land, and the interconnectedness of what it means to be “family”. Loretta is the daughter of the Master of the Land and as a child spends time with Sun even teaching him to read. She was going against the law in doing this and she helped him to escape. Loretta was not a mean person; she risked a lot for Sun and truly cared about him. She knew he was her half-brother and treated him with respect. When Sun left he promised he would send for her, but he never did. He sent letters asking how his sisters were and she became jealous. Loretta had power over the slaves because she was the white daughter of the master and as she grew more jealous and learned the ranks in society she changed. She took out her anger and jealousy out on Peach, Plum, and Always. She became evil and all the goodness in her heart was gone. Due to the experiences in her life, she adapted to accommodate for her jealousy and to take on the role of Mistress of the Land. Under different circumstances in a different time period this might not have been the outcome. As a chil...
Even though racial discrimination may not be as prevalent in the present day society, many African American men and women believe that they do not experience the same opportunities as the white race. Media in general plays such an active role in bringing more information about racial discrimination and how it is still occurring today. But media can also bring negative effects to the struggle in living up to social standards to today’s society “norms”. Anna Mae was very brave in lying about her identity to become someone she really wanted to be. But, I feel she should have never had to have done that. He story just goes to show how the power of society can change you as a human being. It can make you believe that you must change your identity in order to “fit in” which I find to be very sad. I think that more people in this world need to stand up to theses stereotypes of being the “perfect American” and say that no one is perfect in this world and everyone is created by the most perfect human God. Overall, racial discrimination is a part of our everyday lives and "By the Way, Meet Vera Stark" can still speak to us today, even with the play set in a time 80 years
Nella Larsen’s novel presents us with a good view of women’s issues of the early 20th century. We see in the two characters seemingly different interpretations of what race, sexuality, and class can and should be used for. For Clare, passing takes her into a whole new world of advantages that she would not have had if she had remained a part of the African-American community. She gains social status and can be seen as an object of sexual desire for many people, not only the black community. Irene leads herself to think that passing is unnecessary, and that she can live a totally happy life remaining who she is. What she fails to realize is that she is jealous of Clare’s status and sometimes passes herself subconsciously. Larsen presents to us the main point of the book – that the root of the love, hate, desire, and rejection that Irene holds for Clare is a result of social standing, not only passing and sexuality.
Women, Race and Class is the prolific analysis of the women 's rights movement in the
On June 1, 1926, a baby girl was born to Gladys Mortensen in Los Angeles, California. Her biological father is unknown because her mother was having sexual relations with multiple men at the time of conception. The newborn baby girl was named Norma Jeane Baker. Norma’s mother placed her into an orphanage shortly after her birth. Norma remained in the orphanage until the age of nine.
Despite the fact that the character of Phyllis as the “tough as nails” perpetual, intentional aggressor is a valid attempt to obliterate the image of women as the oppressed, one interpretation of this role is that she ultimately seems to misrepresent herself, and females in cinema, anyway. Janet Todd, author of Women and Film, states that, “Women do not exist in American film. Instead we find another creation, made by men, growing out of their ideological imperatives”(130). Though these “power girl”characters are strong examples of anything but submissive and sexual females,the...
The movie Norma Rae is a 1979 drama film about a textile worker from Alabama that becomes involved in labor union activities in the factory where she works. Though it is a film, it is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton, a textile worker from North Carolina, who worked for J.P. Stevens textile plant, and was fired from her job for trying to organize a union (southerstudies.org, 2009)…………… The analysis and information provided will provide a summary of the movie, detail the motives of the workers to join a union, show managements reaction to the organizing, and discuss what the workers were hoping to achieve by gaining union representation, describe the union representation process,…………….
Norma Rae is a film that was produced in 1979, that was based on the real life story of Crystal Lee Sutton and her efforts to start a union for the textile workers at the J.P. Stevens Company located in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina. Sally Field plays the role of Norma Rae (Sutton) who works with union organizer Ruben Warshovsky, played by Ron Leibman, to help fight the poor working conditions at the O.P. Henley Company in 1978 (Norma Rae, n.d.). Norma Rae works at the factory along with her mother and father, and is employed as a loom operator in the weaving room. She becomes worried about the poor working conditions within the factory after seeing her mother suffer from temporary hearing loss. Working conditions within
Also gender is an important factor in America social class. Men will be affected differently and women will be affected differently by the class system. In the class system there is inequality between genders and that greatly affects the social mobility of the genders. Men usually hold more important jobs in businesses while women will work under them. For instance in a article by Richard Hogan, it conveys, “How gender relations within the family are reproduced (emulated), at work, in class relations between secretaries and their bosses.” (Hogan 2001: 68). In families the female is usually taking care of the house, children, etc., while the male has a job and earning money. In this example it explains that the boss has a job and is earning money, while the secretary is taking care of the bosses work. This limits the social mobility of females since they always have to work under someone in most cases and they will earn less money than males. Women also take their husband’s social class position when they are married to them. Hogan explains, “Firstly women have been subsumed into class analysis through being identified with the household unit defined by the male partner 's social class position.” (Hogan 2001: 147). This displays that a female has no identity of her own since they take their husband’s social class position it is linked to them. Yet, females still have some kind social class and some social mobility in the class
Many middle class and elite women followed the same thinking pattern of most men in the nineteenth century that women should focus on preserving their morality, improving society, and being domestic subservient wives (lecture). This ideal of true womanhood directly conflicted with working class women’s definition of womanhood and the changing work patterns in the United States. Because middle class and elite woman did not view working women as “true women,” these women often ostracized working class women, which caused tension and increased class divisions (lecture). Additionally, this class rift between women most likely contributed to the slow progress of the women’s rights movement that began in the later half of the nineteenth century. As men were reluctant to accept the shifting definitions of womanhood, many middle class and elite women were also hesitant to accept these changes and began to relate to lower class women in a more hostile
The oppression and discrimination the women felt in this era launched the women into create the women’s right movement. The economic growth in the market economy women opportunity to work was very low Lucy Stone explained that the same society that pushes men forward keeps woman at home (Doc. H). Only low paying jobs were available such as factories, seamstress, or a teacher and in most states women had no control over their wages. Charlotte Woodward explained how she would sew gloves for a terrible wage but it was under rebellion she wished to choose her own job and the pay (Doc.E). The chart on Doc F explained how women between 1837-1844 dominated men as teachers in the Massachusetts Public School. The idea of the “cult of true womanhood” was that most respectable middle class women should stay at home and take care of the family and be the moral of the home. The advancement in the market economy gave women a chance to make their own money to be able to support themselves and work outside of the home. The nineteenth century was a ferment of reform such as the Second...
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
The films message to viewers about gender and power is that women are meant to take care of the home and play the supportive role, while men go out to their jobs and provide. Men are strong and burly and women are naïve and domesticated. Women need men and men always come to the rescue to save women and give them a happy ending. Power is portrayed in the film both visually and through the film’s script and dialogue. The common idea that women are inferior to men is placed subtly in this movie throughout the plot and how these charac...
Women's roles in society greatly changed after the growth of industry. Women who once were mere housewives and caring mothers now became an active part of the working class. They no longer stayed at home during the day taking care of their husband and children seeing to it that they acted properly and had high moral values instead. Wealthy women were privileged few who were able to stay at home and devote themselves totally to their families.
This film is based on the real life story of Crystal Lee Sutton and her involvement with Ruben Warshovsky and the organization of the textile workers at the J.P. Stevens Company in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina (Labor Films). Sally Field plays the lead role of Norma Rae (Crystal Lee Sutton) fighting poor working conditions at O. P. Henley Company in 1978. This company is a southern textile mill, working with a union organizer to overcome pressure from management, implied dangers, and the struggle to organize her fellow employees. Although, the film is very entertaining, there are many examples of labor and management interactions including unfair labor practices by management, unfair labor practices by the union, and the procedural process of unionization process.