Homo Inferior 2081 I tried to be human, but no dice. I was just a kid when the first Purity Laws were passed. It was a country over to the west, one whose name I had heard, but which meant nothing to me. I was a boy beginning to feel the first, confusing stirrings of interest in girls. To be truthful, it was not just “girls”: it was “THE GIRL”. Suzi. She was called Suzi. And she was beautiful: her eyes the deepest, thoughtful brown; her skin like chocolate silk; her smile like the sun breaking through storm-clouds, its glow spreading bright promise. Best of all, she liked me, too. We had known each other since forever. We had played together in the African sunshine from before we could walk properly, just neighbors' kids. My Dad was an industrialist, hers a government minister and all of us color-blind in the important sense. I didn't know I was carrying corrupted genes. She had always smiled at the way my paler skin burned so easily. She called me her vanilla ice cream, except when I'd burned and then she called me her strawberry ice cream. And she was so caring when she rubbed sunburn cream into my face and arms, muttering, “There, there.” We grew older; the loving care became something deeper and, at times, I burned in a new way, a different way, a way I did not understand. Suzi seemed different, too. It was exciting, it was new, it was delicious and it was scary. Things were happening to our bodies and we ignored the things that were happening to our country, our continent, our world. Things called economic collapse and global warming were happening around us, but that was for our parents to worry about and to fix. They were rich and powerful and we were safe from the drought-driven famines and the riots other countries w... ... middle of paper ... ...ing-gnome things were found only in the non-Africans!” Her voice carried a rising note of triumph at the end. In my heart, I knew it was to celebrate her recall of all the details, but in my ears, it sounded like a different sort of triumph. I was getting paranoid. It was a good thing. I would need to develop over-caution as a survival skill. Something else occurred to me. “What about ex-Africans? Caribbeans, African-Americans...” “There's lots of HSI's there. Anyone with non-African ancestors has corrupted DNA, so they are Inferiors, like you-” She froze at my stare. “I didn't mean... I meant... Oh, I am so sorry. Let me hug...” I put up my hands in front of my chest, as if defending myself, pushing her back without touching. It was too late. The word was out. She was beginning to use their vocabulary. Somehow, I knew it was just the first step to a deeper change.
Each chapter contains numerous sources which complement the aforementioned themes, to create a new study on cultural history in general but women specifically. Her approach is reminiscent of Foucault, with a poststructural outlook on social definitions and similar ideas on sexuality and agency. Power cannot be absolute and is difficult to control, however Victorian men and women were able to grasp command of the sexual narrative. She includes the inequalities of class and gender, incorporating socioeconomic rhetic into the
It examines questions about cultural practices and why some/all people accept them and whom that might be benefitting or harming (ibid). In other words, it examines the behaviors, consequences, social factors, and above all the power structures in play. In Althaus’ article, she postulates that one reason that female circumcision is used is to increase the sexual pleasure of men (Althaus, 131). Here we can see the strong presence of a patriarchal society. Recall the purpose here is not to actually criticize this practice but rather seek the underlying interests or motivations of implementing it. The strong presence of a patriarchy indicates that women in a way are indeed used as means to serve the interests of men both sexually and also by providing a child. This brings about the winners (men) and the oppressed
...ession. According to Van Amber, "We have learned that their personal experiences in striving to make the best of it taught us dependability , self-reliance, awareness of the needs of others and money management. Although we lost a part of our childhood by having to help out, the deprivation of enjoyment matured us as children beyond our age(Amber 3)." Good things did come out of the bad circumstances, while some people thought it was the end of the world because they had lost their money on the stock market, many people cherish their memories of the hard times and look back on them as being an event that shaped who they are today.
Accordingly, I decided the purposes behind women 's resistance neither renamed sexual introduction parts nor overcame money related dependence. I recalled why their yearning for the trappings of progression could darken into a self-compelling consumerism. I evaluated how a conviction arrangement of feeling could end in sexual danger or a married woman 's troublesome twofold day. None of that, regardless, ought to cloud an era 's legacy. I comprehend prerequisites for a standard of female open work, another style of sexual expressiveness, the area of women into open space and political fights previously cornered by men all these pushed against ordinary restrictions even as they made new susceptibilities.
A single moment, a single movement, a single protest against the system is the first step to finding change. For every parent that says “leave my child intact”, it would be one day closer to a time when it will be socially appalling to cosmetically alter an infant child who is incapable of consent or comprehension. The fluidity, complexity, and ambiguity of human sexuality extends far beyond sexual preference and onward into gender and sex. Accepting that some things will never fit within a textbook definition, and celebrating difference rather than condemning it, would fulfil the dream of many minds such as Fausto-Sterling and Butler as well as the author. Only time and individuals that dare to reject the flawed system can ease the binds of ignorance that tie society so tightly to an outdated Victorian mindset of sex and gender.
Children’s literature of the Nineteenth Century is notoriously known for its projection of expected Victorian gender roles upon its young readers. Male and female characters were often given specific duties, reactions, and characteristics that reflected society’s particular attitudes and moral beliefs onto the upcoming citizens of the empire. These embedded concepts helped to encourage nationality and guide children towards their specific gender roles which would ensure the kingdom’s future success. Even in class situations where the demanding gender roles were unreasonable to fulfill, the pressure to conform to the Victorian beliefs was still prevalent.
The female body is the site of extensive theoretical discourse and intense political struggle; it has become the expressions of culture but also has become a site for social and political control. Through history the female body has been the site of discrimination, exploitation, abuse and oppression. She has also occupied a dominant position in the discourse of beauty; its imagery being pervasive and manipulated throughout literature, visual arts and religions and also the site of scientific and psychological investigation. Through historically male dominated fields of expertise and political power, the female body has become the subject to conscious and unconscious patriarchal influences.
What started these tragic ten years were really the events categorized under ‘economic factors’. The economy went into a downward spiral, first, with the Stock Market Crash of October 29, 1929, nicknamed “Black Tuesday” (PowerPoint). The cause of this was actually many factors all happening within a few months. Many companies went bankrupt from overproduction of goods and started stockpiling them. They assumed the economy will keep rising like it did during the “Roaring Twenties”; but when Europe started to mend from the destruction of the war, the demand for products went down. In addition, on October 29th, the value of the stocks became overpriced, and everyone wanted to sell while they were ahead. The sheer number of stocks on the market lowered their value so much, that the price afterwards was only a fraction of what it was before. However, it was not just the Stock Market Crash that overturned the economy, but the farmers also had trouble coping. In the early 1930’s, a massive drought swept through the prairies and the central US, killing off anything that...
Mary Pipher goes on to say that the problem faced by girls is a ‘problem without a name’ and that the girls of today deserve a different kind of society in which all their gifts can be developed and appreciated. (Pipher,M). It’s clear that cultures and individual personalities intersect through the period of adolescence. Adolescence is a time in a young girl’s life that shapes them into the woman they become. I think it begins earlier than teen years because even the clothing that is being sold for younger girls says sexuality. Bras for girls just beginning in every store are now padded with matching bikini underwear, Barbie dolls are glamour up in such away that these girls believ...
Apparently, these male-defined concepts and stringent regulations imposed heavier penalties for women than men because women were mandated with the heaviest burden of keeping their honor. Central to the concept of honor was a woman’s need to keep their virginity intact otherwise she would be ostracized by the society. A woman who preserved her virginity was held with honor and esteem because she proved superior to her peers (Lavrin 11). Virginity in itself was a highly esteem social quality worth keeping (Lavrin 11).
I slowly opened the front door -- the same old creak echoed its way throughout the old house, announcing my arrival just seconds before I called out, "Grandma!" She appeared around the corner with the normal spring in her steps. Her small but round 5'1" frame scurried up to greet me with a big hug and an exclamation of, "Oh, how good to see you." It was her eighty-fifth birthday today, an amazing feat to me, just part of everyday life to her. The familiar mix of Estee Lauder and old lotion wafted in my direction as she pulled away to "admire how much I've grown." I stopped growing eight years ago, but really, it wasn't worth pointing this fact out. The house, too, smelled the same as it's ever smelled, I imagine, even when my father and his brothers grew up here more than forty years ago -- musty smoke and apple pie blended with the aroma of chocolate chip cookies. The former was my grandfather's contribution, whose habit took him away from us nearly five years ago; the latter, of course, comes from the delectable delights from my grandmother's kitchen. Everything was just as it should be.
10.) Archaeology - is the study of the remains of human behaviour in the past. It usually involves excavating sites where such remains including artifacts and ecofacts, can be found.
There has been a long and on going discourse on the battle of the sexes, and Simone De Beauvoir’s The Second Sex reconfigures the social relation that defines man and women, and how far women has evolved from the second position given to them. In order for us to define what a woman is, we first need to clarify what a man is, for this is said to be the point of derivation (De Beauvoir). And this notion presents to us the concept of duality, which states that women will always be treated as the second sex, the dominated and lacking one. Woman as the sexed being that differs from men, in which they are simply placed in the others category. As men treat their bodies as a concrete connection to the world that they inhabit; women are simply treated as bodies to be objectified and used for pleasure, pleasure that arise from the beauty that the bodies behold. This draws us to form the statement that beauty is a powerful means of objectification that every woman aims to attain in order to consequently attain acceptance and approval from the patriarchal society. The society that set up the vague standard of beauty based on satisfaction of sexual drives. Here, women constantly seek to be the center of attention and inevitably the medium of erection.
A topic that has been widely debated about and heavily studied throughout history is that of what makes up an individual’s gender identity and how does it develop. Gender identity can be described as a person's private sense of their own gender, which refers to whether or not an individual has a sense of acceptance of the male or female gender, or in some cases a third non-sexual gender, in which an individual is not comfortable with being defined as a particular sex. In most societies, there exists a gender norm in which the ideals of masculinity and femininity in all aspects of gender and sex (gender identity, gender expression and biological sex) and taught and learned. When looking at the history of gender development, one must understand the idea of gender, learn gender role standards and stereotypes, identify with the individual's parents, and learn how one forms a gender preference.
Valenti, Jessica. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, CA: Seal, 2009. Print.