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ESSAY ON gender role in literature
Gender role in literature
Influence of African American literature and importance
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The roles that men and women play tend to differ in different works of literature. The roles depend on the culture and the context of a particular work of literature, and even the time the work of literature was written. For instance the roles of gender will differ from African culture to American culture, as well as from ancient America and Modern America. Old stories such as the Book of Genesis and Theogony portray different roles men and men play. Most of these roles are similar in both books, and a few are different.
From the Book of Genesis we can observe the male role of domination. In this book a man was created before a woman and was given domination over all creations upon the earth. God said, “Let us make a man in our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepth upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:26). The book of Genesis explains that those who are born firs have important rights. For instance Jacob asks his elder brother Esau to sell his (Esau’s) birthright to him (Jacob) (Gen. 25: 33-34). Therefore, Adam (male) being created first, gives him more rights than Eve (female).
The male role of domination is also shown in Theogony where Zeus is the highest and greatest of all the goddesses and gods in power (Heseiod, pg 4). And throughout the text male gods were portrayed as more important than the goddesses (Hesiod, pg 7). The goddesses would even sing to praise male gods. The text explains the Muses (Goddesses) sang of the august family of gods, of Zeus, and of family of men and giants (Hesiod, pg 4).
The Book of Genesis also shows that males have more authority than females. As God had author...
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...shment to men (pg 21), which still portrays a female as an inferior being. This is also a sign of female submissive nature and male powerful nature.
Female is portrayed as being easily deceived. This can be observed from the Book of Genesis. Eve tend to believe in lies without knowing that they are being deceived even though she was warned before. She falls for the serpent’s lie although God had warned them (Adam and Eve) before. However, Eve convinces Adam to also eat from the forbidden tree (Gen. 3:1-4). On the other hand Hesiod shows how males are not easily deceived when Zeus recognizes the lie that was set to him (Hesiod, pg 19)
The roles shown in the Book of Genesis and Theogony portray a female as an inferior being, while a male represents a superior being. This can be mostly observed in the cultures of developing countries and some religious societies.
In The Iliad, the gods and goddesses have completely different roles. The females are usually the ones in the battle fighting, while the male gods are putting courage into hearts, but that isn’t to say that is all that they do. This is a completely different role than the mortals have. While the men are out in battle, the women are knitting and cooking. The women are also described so that it seems like they are property and not humans, and that they don’t have any feeling. Where the female gods act and are treated as if they are equal, if not ranked higher.
In considering the relationship between the meanings of myths and their representation of women, we learned that the major role in shaping the narratives was played by men.
Women and men shared similar roles; however, men had more rights while women had limitations. For instance, male slaves were freed after six years of service while female slaves (Ex. 21:7) were freed only if their master failed to provide clothes, food, and marital rights. Furthermore, the book of Judges (19:24) portrays how a concubine and virgin daughter were offered to satisfy a group of men who wanted to sexually assault another man. As a result, the group of men rape and abuse the concubine leading to her subsequent death. This story illustrates how women’s lives were regarded less valuable than men’s.
...girls to behave in certain ways and boys in another way. So where really is equality in the Bible? If we are all born the same, why do we each have different roles? The Bible seems to be written with the point of view of a man rather than of a God. Which is partly true, the Bible is written by a man, Moses, this probably explains why men have more rights and liberty than women. In my opinion the Bible makes people, especially women, be treated as inferior and be looked as “dirty” and “impure”. Past generations, those who are more devoted to the Bible have deeply internalized all these gender roles and passed them down to the next generations. Although now-a-days teens and young adults are not really religious, they still have the mentality that their parents and grandparents had. Yes, things are changing, but it hard when girls too think of themselves as inferior.
mythology and artwork is in direct contrast to the more subservient role of women during
The role of women in Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days is outstandingly subordinate. There are a number of times in Hesiod's text that despises women, being mortal, immortal, or flesh-eating monsters. The overall impression of women from Theogony and Works and Days, leads one to believe that Hesiod is a misogynist.
To explain, through the Gospel of Jesus, Jesus is depicted as the Holy Son, incarnation of God -His Father, and the one who served as the salvation for humanity. The vocabulary and metaphors that is used to describe Jesus sets a patriarchy as is bears "unique characteristics" to males, hence "casting women and men as polar opposite." In addition, the the Gospel of Jesus sets gender binaries. The vocabulary used to describe Jesus, insinuate men hold a closer identity with Christ. As a result, the gendered vocabulary and metaphors used to describe Jesus, and the speech used to describe God exclusively male has without a doubt marginalized women granting men the role that carries greater dominance, power and
Women in The Epic of Gilgamesh plays a very significant role. Women were not considered as the most powerful gods nor the strongest or wisest of all humans but they still had great influence over others around them, at that time of Mesopotamia. Though the main characters of the story, Gilgamesh and Enkidu were men, women did not necessarily play a minor role. The roles of women in The Epic of Gilgamesh were mixed. Women are represented as harlots (Shamhat), wise (Ninsun) and as gods (Ishtar. In the epic of Gilgamesh, it can be seen that while men were considered to be the most powerful and wisest humans and gods, women had the power to significantly influence these men. Several women mentioned and described in the Epic of Gilgamesh carried roles that had important effects on the men they encountered. One woman I found very interesting is Ishtar, the goddess of love and fertility. I will discuss how women were being portrayed in the story using her character to support my analysis and how the creators of this epic portrayed women in Mesopotamia through this character.
Elizabeth A. Johnson draws attention to how, despite being considered equal in Genesis, women had their worth ignored “Consistently subordinated and demeaned in the theories, symbols, rituals,
Throughout history, men have been given superiority and dominance over women in the majority of religious settings. There have been few religions and cultures that do the opposite and see their women as having superiority and dominance over men. On one hand, the cultures and religions that see men as being dominant are patriarch. On the other hand, the cultures and religions that see women as being dominant are matriarch. Every religion and culture has an impact on whether societies tend to follow a matriarch, or a patriarch lifestyle. Hindu and Islam religions and cultures are two religions that tend to follow a patriarch lifestyle, but with few exceptions.
Greek and Roman women lived in a world where strict gender roles were given; where each person was judged in terms of compliance with gender-specific standards of conduct. Generally, men were placed above women in terms of independence, control and overall freedom. Whereas men lived in the world at large, active in public life and free to come and go as they willed, women's lives were sheltered. Most women were assigned the role of a homemaker, where they were anticipated to be good wives and mothers, but not much of anything else. The roles of women are thoroughly discussed in readings such as The Aeneid, Iliad, Sappho poetry, and Semonides' essay.
Interpretations of the Bible are influential to our society because in the United States, approximately eighty-three percent of the population is Christian, according to a poll performed by ABC News. Perhaps the Bible is written with women subservient to men because the very story of creation is written as such. Genesis serves as the foundation of not only our universe, but also the religious text. In the biblical story of creation, Adam came first, then came the animals, and then last of all came Eve, putting the origin of women last. Then, it is Eve who is vulnerable enough for evil to deceive her into taking the apple and she who persuades Adam to follow her example. This sets up a basis that women are inherently weak and sinful for the rest of the faith to be built upon. (Stanton)
Ancient literature often is used as a lesson for future behaviors as it is filled with moral lessons. The Bible has been a source for definitions of gender and morality for centuries. In the Holy Bible: New International Version, the book of Genesis does a good job of showing how history told by men writing history ca...
Throughout all Greek myths, the gods were always created in the image of man. This shows how Greeks viewed men in a positive way and thought that they were more powerful and superior to women. In addition, they thought men and women are unequal and that men were given jobs that required more physical strength. Although women played a role in Greek myths, they were not as important as men. Women had a more easier and feminine jobs than men. In the Greek creation myth, we see Hades as the god of underworld and Aphrodite as the goddess of love. The difference between th...
Judith lorber describes how the roles of male and female differ and how societies hold each