For centuries, women have been fighting to be held to the same level of respect as men in positions of power. Although gender has become a less determining factor in the work industry, men and women still have a certain idea of what their role in society should be. Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is set in the 1960’s, a time where gender determined a person’s role in society. The females in the novel depict a man's point of view on powerful women in this era. The females in the novel are depicted as controlling, manipulative, and emasculating. Women of power are denounced and the author brings light to the ones who let the men control them. Through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a large Native American man, the reader in taken
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The men in the ward believe that Ratched is an imasculting, nightmare of a “woman.” The power that Nurse Ratched holds is a certain type of power compared to the other female characters in the book. Nurse Ratched uses her control and the use on un-sexualzing herself as a women as a way to control the men. The ward patients see this as a way of emasculating them, referring to Nurse Ratched as a “ball cutter.” By not showing her sexuality, this is threatening to the men. McMurphy, a rebellious patient, is upset with Nurse Ratched and attempts to strangle her to death. While choking her, he rips open her uniform revealing her breasts and her femininity. Chief watches this violent act, “Only at last - after he’d smashed through the glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out bigger than anybody had ever even imagined” (Kesey 318). By McMurphy ripping open her uniform, he takes away her control. Kesey is showing the reader that if a woman shows her sexuality, it displays weakness in a man’s eyes; she no longer has …show more content…
According to Kesey’s writing, women are considered “weak” if they give themselves physically to a man. Women in society are shamed for showing sexuality, while men are congradulated for it. When Nurse Ratched denies the men any sense of her femininity, they are crippled with emasculation. But after Billy Bibbit has relations with Candy, he is praised by the men on the ward and restores his manhood. Billy exited the room with a stride in his step after an eventful night, Chief states,“He looked pleased with his success, as if he wasn’t aware of us crowding at the door teasing him and hoorahing him” (Kesey 314). Billy is now considered a man by Kesey, but the Candy is forgotten due to the fact that Billy now has sexual power over her. In the novel, men are the ones who gain power and confidence with sex, but women will lose their power. Nurse Ratched never shows her sexuality until the end of the book when McMurphy forces her to do so, opening her uniform to reveal her breasts. When forcibly displaying her sexuality, the men lose the fear that they had of her. She is now “just another other woman” to the men, no longer deserving of
The men in the ward believe that Ratched is an imasculting, nightmare of a “woman.” The power that Nurse Ratched holds is a certain type of power compared to the other female characters in the book. Nurse Ratched uses her control and the use on un-sexualzing herself as a women as a way to control the men. The ward patients see this as a way of emasculating them, referring to Nurse Ratched as a “ball cutter.” By not showing her sexuality, this is threatening to the men. McMurphy, a rebellious patient, is upset with Nurse Ratched and attempts to strangle her to death. While choking her, he rips open her uniform revealing her breasts and her femininity. Chief watches this violent act, “Only at last - after he’d smashed through the glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out bigger than anybody had ever even imagined” (Kesey 318). By McMurphy ripping open her uniform, he takes away her control. Kesey is showing the reader that if a woman shows her sexuality, it displays weakness in a man’s eyes; she no longer has …show more content…
According to Kesey’s writing, women are considered “weak” if they give themselves physically to a man. Women in society are shamed for showing sexuality, while men are congradulated for it. When Nurse Ratched denies the men any sense of her femininity, they are crippled with emasculation. But after Billy Bibbit has relations with Candy, he is praised by the men on the ward and restores his manhood. Billy exited the room with a stride in his step after an eventful night, Chief states,“He looked pleased with his success, as if he wasn’t aware of us crowding at the door teasing him and hoorahing him” (Kesey 314). Billy is now considered a man by Kesey, but the Candy is forgotten due to the fact that Billy now has sexual power over her. In the novel, men are the ones who gain power and confidence with sex, but women will lose their power. Nurse Ratched never shows her sexuality until the end of the book when McMurphy forces her to do so, opening her uniform to reveal her breasts. When forcibly displaying her sexuality, the men lose the fear that they had of her. She is now “just another other woman” to the men, no longer deserving of