Patriarchy

“When the personal, emotional, sexual experiences of women’s lives gained significance as legitimate social concerns with political consequences, men were forced to examine their own socially constructed roles as men…” (Plain and Sellers) This notion takes shape in Robertson Davies’s 1970 novel, Fifth Business. The novel presents an interesting debate over whether or not it is a feminist text since it was written by a non-feminist man. However, Fifth Business was authored during the second wave…

As we spoke about how her sex has influenced my mother’s sense of self, I was reminded of Christ’s article, Why Women Need the Goddess. One section that I felt really related with my mother’s experience was Christ’s statement about how women need the Goddess to reclaim the female body. In her article, Christ urges to reclaim the female body, aging, menstruating, birthing, and all as respected forms of women. She speaks about the denigration of the female body, especially in aging and in death…

Men are the oppressed group. Little do they understand that it is not feminists causing their problems; it’s the patriarchy. Patriarchy is a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and authority are in the hands of adult men. However, even though men are the main beneficiaries of patriarchy, both women and men are restricted by patriarchal ideals. The patriarchy not only tells women how to behave, but it controls the actions and behaviors of men as well. Men assert…

discussed in this course as an example of modern theories and is often associated with the issue of ideology. Your discussion should refer to the discussion of these terms as well as the major elements connected to them (e.g. gender, écriture feminine, patriarchy, etc.). In your analysis of the poem you may want to ask questions concerning Plath’s personal life and her relationship to male figures in her family. Do you read the poem as a personal or a political poem? Would you characterize Plath…

During the 1960s, several socio-cultural and political events like students’ protest, anti-Vietnam war agitation, liberation for lesbians and gays andthe Women’s Movement shook the American literary scenario. The new generation of playwrights used drama as a potent medium in depicting the ongoing turbulence that prevailed in the society deftly. However, the Women’s Movement gathered women from allwalks of life, to come to the streets to record their protests and speak their voices. In spiteof…

The author exonerates the fears and problems under which the women live in the face of patriarchy. When the men descended from upstairs, the women hid the dead bird and stopped their conversation shortly, an indication that the patriarchal force had rendered them voiceless, and their concerns considered peripheral. At one point, Mrs. Peter remarks…

Introduction According to Froehlich (2011), 'social roles for men and women are often perceived to be pre-determined in the Early Modern period' (p.37). Elizabethan and Jacobean England was governed by a strict social order, and gender roles are one of the most notorious examples. Women in particular were imaged as predisposed to vices, sensitive and orderly. These ideas are explored in two dark tragedies, The Tragedy of Macbeth (1623) by William Shakespeare, and The Tragedy of the Duchess of…

Traditional feminist theory, the study of ‘gender patriarchy and the oppression of women’[1], offers insights into many aspects that relate to the context of the poem, Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning. It could be argued that, due to the fact that Browning and his wife were heavily involved in the feminist movement at the time, feminist theory influenced his writing. The title of the poem, Porphyria’s lover, provides a unique perspective for a feminist interpretation with the focus of the…

Wives are set too high expectations and standards to their husbands which has been created by society, media, traditions, and culture. These expectations are seen as unrealistic because, in fact there is no such woman as the perfect wife which can lead to her feeling stressed and pressured. This fear of not meeting the bar of being the ideal wife can lead into multiple psychological disorders. Kate Chopin previews the women’s feelings of marriage in her short story “The Story of An Hour”,…

present day we often hold ancient pieces of literature such as; The Epic of Gilgamesh, Shakespearean plays, and The Iliad upon pedestals. Sadly, overtime these stories have shown their true colors, they are a reflection of the sexist views their patriarchy societies held. One such story is the Odyssey, an Epic poem composed in ancient Greece. Three specific characters do an exemplary job of exposing the ant-feminist views of the civilization. Through the representation of the main female…