Feminism In Louise Halfe's Body Politics

In doing so, examine the feminist lens’s interpretation of the text. How are gender roles defined? Where to women fit into the text’s plot line. What do you notice about the women in this text? Is this congruent (similar) to society’s view of women, by today’s standards?

“The women in Harwood’s poems are always shown as victims of a male-dominated world. Discuss.” Throughout her poetry, Gwen Harwood often revisits and challenges the statement that women are victims of a male dominated world. The expectation that women would only serve as domestic housewives and child bearers is thoroughly rejected as Harwood identifies the repressive and restrictive cultural and social ideologies in which women were restrained too.

During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.

Here one sees the stereotypical, archetype of the female protagonist- found within chic-lit, emerge. Hence it is easy to problematize the chic-lit genre as it follows a very formulaic plotline in which only an extremely small percentage of woman fall under. In Barbra Smith’s writing she discusses the importance of a universal feminist standpoint that does not exclude or naturalize the patriarchy. Feminism is, “The political theory and practice that struggles to free all women: women of colour, working class women, poor women, disabled women. Jewish women, lesbians, old women- as well as white, economically privileged, heterosexual women, anything less that this vision of total freedom is not feminism, but merely self-aggrandizement” (Smith 1998).

5,6) the issues that have been mentioned above are expressed. Since, especially black women, are considered to be living in the shadow this passage exposes the feelings and representation of black women in society. Their existence in the world which is not considered and respected. Considering especially the fact that the lyrical I is a black maiden, she seeks for recognition and acceptance among the other figures of the poem. Referring to contemporary issues, the lyrical I would be classified as a lower ranked person since she is black and being occupied as a maid, which clearly makes her powerless and voiceless in society.

The different key features also plays an important role for example the tone that is being formed by the lyrical voice that can be seen as a nephew or niece. This specific poem is also seen as an exposition of what Judith Butler will call a ‘gender trouble’ and it consist of an ABBA rhyming pattern that makes the reading of the poem better to understand. The poem emphasizes feminist, gender and queer theories that explains the life of the past and modern women and how they are made to see the world they are supposed to live in. The main theories that will be discussed in this poem will be described while analyzing the poem and this will make the poem and the theories clear to the reader. Different principals of the Feminist Theory.

It can be said that society has always been quite judgmental, and at times misguided when it comes to women. The negative perceptions that society has towards females are often times directly related toward her actions. What a female does seems to degrade her identity and capabilities in the eyes of some men. In the poems “The Lady’s Dressing Room” and The essay “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift, we can see both authors use of tone, form and style to develop their works. These poems are mainly driven by men’s attitudes towards women.

She breaks her thoughts down in order to show the indifference. She says that women are first portrayed as objects; this patriarchal society sees us as mere bodies. Thus, we are either regarded as objects or as bodies; the mind does not exists here. Here, the subjectivity does not lie in the mind, but within the body. Women’s sole purpose is to be that of another subject’s intentions and manipulations.

Feminism is the advocacy of women 's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes and is a movement for the equality of women politically and socially. Throughout history, women have been degraded for the importance and contribution to society, therefore giving women the image of a 'weak ' figure and only need in society is to take care of men. However, as exemplified in Kafka 's "the Metamorphosis," women begin to develop a stronger role of importance not only as the providers, but as the voice of opinions and critique. The Metamorphosis tells of a sexist society based on the idea that women are the weaker sex taking care of one thing: men 's needs, all in while men provide for the household as a whole. In "the Metamorphosis, Kafka uses

Gender inequality is a social justice issue that is prominent in several societies as it is a direct reflection of the systematic power distribution amongst the two binary genders. This form of inequality is reflected through a set of adverse behaviours projected from one individual to another, known as domestic violence. Individuals perform the identities that is associated with their gender role because it is what is culturally acceptable within their given society. Judith Butler’s theory of ‘Gender as a Performance’ depicts that the practices that individuals repeat and perform assure the elements that an identity is composed of. This theory is an embodiment of domestic violence as it establishes the inequality amongst the different genders, by allowing the male to perform his dominance, causing the female to feel inferior to this.

Can Societal Gender Roles Limit an Individual? A man is supposed to be strong, powerful, and well respected. What if all genders were seen in the same light? In most societies, past and present, men are viewed as the dominant gender.

Poetry is way to express oneself by using unique thoughts and putting them into words. Specifically, female poets, use their poetry as a way to show their experience with internal conflicts. Throughout this anthology we decided on the theme of “women.” Being the only table with strictly females, as a group we agreed that choosing poems with this topic would be beneficial to us, and the reader. Over time, females have experienced oppression, abuse and inequality.

Feminist literary criticism’s primary argument is that female characters have always been presented from a male’s viewpoint. According to Connell, in most literary works, female characters often play minor roles which emphasize their domestic roles, subservience and physical beauty while males are always the protagonists who are strong, heroic and dominant (qtd. in Woloshyn et al.150). This means that the women are perceived as weak and are supposed to be under the control of men. Gill and Sellers say that feminist literary criticism’s approach involves identifying with female characters in order to challenge any male centred outlook.

Standing Female Nude, written by Carol Ann Duffy, is a poem which describes the condition of a prostitute who is struggling to make a living. Duffy, as with a majority of her other works, attempts to give a voice to voiceless women in the middle and lower economic classes in an effort to promote her feminist agenda. This poem is in fact very layered and explores multiple aspects which may not be spotted on a superficial level, and enables her to transmit her ideas to the readers. Duffy puts across her main ideas of society’s treatment of the prostitute versus the treatment of males, and the prostitutes introspective views. Duffy creates a society, not too distorted from our own in fact, which objectifies the woman and values her purely for her physical assets.

This novel is also autobiographical. Throughout history, women have been locked in a struggle to free themselves from the borderline that separates and differentiate themselves from men. In many circles, it is agreed that the battleground for this struggle and fight exists in literature. In a