“I cannot imagine physically stepping out of Florida.” The words of my fellow classmate rang in my head. I could not fathom the thought of staying in one place; this seemed too foreign and strange to comprehend, as though it was against my nature, my identity. My mind and body have been in motion throughout my life; flowing, and changing as I grew up in India, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE and America. Each holds a foothold in my identity, without complete immersion in any. The motions in my life-helped shape my perspective, behavior, and beliefs but most importantly, it made me realize my identity is an ever-shifting stream of energy. It is built upon a process of imitation, innovation and challenges from a multicultural compilation of observations and reflections. Consequently, remaining in one place is against my nature. My foundation and roots spread across the world, all of which I have an endeavor to someday call home.
I often like to say I was born on the Silk Road. Similar to this ancient phenomenon, my identity grew upon the cultural transmission routes across the world by accepting the gifts of its trade. My journey upon the road sources itself on the coast of the Yamuna Rivers, in a town named Aligarh. My passport undeniably marks me as Indian, and I am named as such wherever I go, yet India isn’t the first picture in my mind when I think of the comforts of home, yet it is still a part of me. It’s a gateway to my ancestors, religious customs, celebrations, social practices and beliefs. In essence, when I want to look closer within myself I often reflect off the fruits of trade upon which my Indian background has blessed me. Noteworthy are the folk tales of my esteemed Rajput ancestors that my grandmother whispered in m...
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...e few to even fathom the thought of a life of passion. I understood why everyone felt as though she had other choices, they imagined her to have the same options as the women today in their society have. They looked at her life in the perspective of the third generation of feminism. But that generation hasn’t arrived in this novel, or in many places of the developing world I’ve lived in. I couldn’t have come to the same conclusion if I had been immersed completely in the societies of both the modern and developing societies. My insight into patriarchy was molded through my experiences and similarly most of the comprehensions of the cultural barriers I face are molded when the different ideologies of my roots come together only to clash. The adversity of it all however is only the initiation of an explosion of epiphanies that build upon my soul to make me who I am.
She has us see someone with the same mindset as us, in regards to gender, enter an androgynous world and interact with the inhabitants to establish relationships. We share his reactions and can realize how much gender dictates within our society and restricts our views to understand other’s interpretations. Social norms have been shaped by the way we perceive gender in a way we’ve become blind to the issues it creates. We’ve become desensitized to the serious issues that gender has affected like gender roles, job inequality, politics, and much
The lives of men and women are portrayed definitively in this novel. The setting of the story is in southern Georgia in the 1960’s, a time when women were expected to fit a certain role in society. When she was younger she would rather be playing ...
...s often a perfect mirror of the feminine persona’s place within society, an image of the enclosure and of its victims, and thus the transformed hero who has survived this layer of her unconscious is unlikely to be able to reintegrate herself fully into “normal” society. (142)
Stepping out of my first plane ride, I experience an epiphany of new culture, which seems to me as a whole new world. Buzzing around my ears are conversations in an unfamiliar language that intrigues me. It then struck me that after twenty hours of a seemingly perpetual plane ride that I finally arrived in The United States of America, a country full of new opportunities. It was this moment that I realized how diverse and big this world is. This is the story of my new life in America.
This novel shows the struggle of two women suffering against the Taliban society. Their similar suffering leads to the mother-daughter bond they created later in the book. The quote, "Women like us. We endure. It's all we have", can be used to exemplify the importance of hope, strength, and courage. Everyday, Mariam and Laila faced oppression and injustice, yet the book ended with a sense of pleasure. Mariam's mother believes that women have no choice but to be tough and survive.
...sacred and they would not consider it expendable, even for equality. To put it another way, many feminist do not think it is necessary to sacrifice it. Piercy also frees women of the burdens of children and family, yet many feminists would hardly consider these things to be burdens. Although Piercy definitely gives us a utopia, it is only one version. Connie herself questions whether or not some aspects, e.g. birthing machines, of Luciente's world are actually better. As we question the future world, we must also consider our world. How true or representative is Connie's situation. Certainly these things happen, but is this world the distopia for every modern women? This work bleeds idealism and ideology. This marks Woman on the Edge of Time as a feminist novel – fasure!
Adrienne Rich once wrote an open letter titled “Politics of Location” that profoundly opened my eyes to a relevantly obvious concept of self-identity. More often than not, one fails to see the truth that sits right before his or her own eyes. However, it is still the responsibility of the individual to be accountable for that truth. The concept of politics of location is simply that one’s life experiences affects one’s perspective. Unintentionally, individuals make themselves the center of reality. When, in actuality, one is only the center of his or her own reality. Rich also goes on to explain that people are different; yet, individuals have an uncanny since of imagined community. That being, the feeling that
...literature I couldn’t help but compare my lifestyle to the woman in the stories. Women today are no longer looked upon only to supervise over their home and family, they are not forced into marriages, and they are not blamed for all the world’s problems. Today’s society is not a patriarchal one; in fact today men and woman appear to be equal to one another.
A woman's world may be disconnected from the realities of the actual world, but it acts as a safety blanket to secure sanity for not only herself, but also for a man to avoid losing hope. When Marlow, a sailor who sets off to the Congo for exploration, speaks to his aunt before his departure, he sees how women's worlds are “too beautiful altogether, and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset” (77). The world of a woman is set up so that she can bloc...
The 19th and 20th centuries were a time period of change. The world saw many changes from gender roles to racial treatment. Many books written during these time periods reflect these changes. Some caused mass outrage while others helped to bring about change. In the book The Awakening by Kate Chopin, gender roles can be seen throughout the novel. Some of the characters follow society’s “rules” on what a gender is suppose to do while others challenge it. Feminist Lens can be used to help infer and interpret the gender roles that the characters follow or rebel against. Madame Ratignolle and Leonce Pontellier follow eaches respective gender, while Alcee Arobin follows and rebels the male gender expectations during the time period.
In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient woman, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty, emotionless shell. In men’s eyes, this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
...autiful creatures and deserve everything life has to offer. When gathered together, nothing can destroy the strength of a woman. Guidance from parents, at a very young age, can help mold the minds of the young children in today’s society. This world has become overpopulated with greed and hate. The only way to get past the hatred and violence is to love thy neighbor, and protect our young from the unnecessary violence that can be eliminated with love for one another.
Is it our experiences that shape us, or is it us who shape our experiences? This question is posed, and answered, within Mercè Rodoreda’s novel, The Time of the Doves, as presented by her protagonist, Natalia, as she struggles to discover herself throughout the work. Natalia, as a mother, continues her duties to her children regardless of her current state, willing to kill them as a means of escape from a slow death. As a wife, similarly to her situation as a mother, Natalia is within the strong grasp of society; she remains tortured by the thought of her husband, Quimet, even after he has died, and it is only through re-marrying that she finds salvation. Additionally, as a woman Natalia views little within herself pre-epiphany, as she is too focused on her busy life to discover and realize who she is as a person. Mercé Rodoreda presents the struggle for self identity within her novel, The Time of the Doves, making use of her protagonist’s roles as a mother, wife, and a woman to emphasize the situation.
This article is an attempt to re-examine folk material related to the Khasis (A tribe from Meghalaya, India), and discussing them in a manner that will throw light on the larger question of identity. The important connection between identity and folklore can never be denied .Folklore is the most important source for the construction, articulation and perpetuation of identities in oral and semi-oral communities. The Khasi society is one such tribal community, that is gradually making a transition from folk society to a modernized one. Societal transition across cultures in every part of the globe has never been an easy one. Very often folklore of a people is used as an instrument in identity politics, as has happened with the Khasi society and
...is the binding thread of these feminist narratives. The core of the novel’s feminist argument lies in Vasu’s awakening to the fact that the concerted efforts of both men and women can lead to the creation of a world where both men and women can empower themselves and be their true selves.