Comparison Of Masculinity In The Handmaids Tale

Offred is a handmaid given the task to procreate with a Commander. She is one of many of the women who are basically imprisoned into labels and must abide by many limiting laws. She is given multiple options to break the rules by people who, even though they are blessed, also try to break the rules. The lowest and most burdened class to the highest and blessed class break the rules of this new regime. No matter how many benefit from a “utopia” many, from different class and social status, will rise against these injustices in any way, shape, or form leading to the dysfunction and even destruction of society.

It also showed how hard it is to escape it, to keep fighting it or to conform like almost everyone else. The biggest examples I can think of that proves this are how much society had changed for Chief when he saw it again and how everything was almost completely identical, and the on going battle between Nurse Ratchet and McMurphy. Nurse Ratchet and her ward being society, trying to turn the patients into how they see fit so they can be fixed and going to live in society based on society's standards. McMurphy would the individual who would fight against the society he was forced to live in, just wanting to be free and be who he was, and he would do it until the very end. This book could also represent what was happening when it was written.

This is suggested by Helen Simpson who stated that Carter centralises ‘latent content of fairy-tale’ is that women are objects of male desire hence patriarchal discourse establishes male supremacy to which Carter does this to challenge contemporary perspectives on the place of women by revealing the oppression that society inflicted. The Marquis is an overt example of male ownership of female bodies. Similarly, where Atwood exposes the harsh realities of oppressive patriarchy through the female body, Carter utilises the construct of the Marquis in the eponymous story ‘The Bloody Chamber’ as a grotesque embodiment of patriarchal control. In her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ Laura Mulvey coined the feminist term ‘male gaze.’ She argues that men are the audience and women are to embody the male perspective of women as objects of satisfaction.

In both texts, Ray Bradbury and Andrew Niccol display repression of individuality, however, oppression and discrimination play a huge role in Fahrenheit 451 and Gattaca. The novel Fahrenheit 451 demonstrates discrimination through the government, enabling strict controls, to ensure no one in the society behaves differently. This is highlighted through fireman’s “burning books”, “the mechanical hound” which is used for physical control if individuals in the society don’t accept the governments rules, Furthermore, Captain Beatty who is the head honcho fireman states” not everyone born free and equal, as the Constitution says, but everyone made equal”, This demonstrates how everyone is equal however, due to governmental control individuals have

Patriarchy presents the roles of men and women in a distinct form. Men are expected to be the dominant leader, strong, protector and sole provider where as women are subverted to the role of domestic duties, raring of children and fulfilling her man’s every desire without question or comment. In Lynn Nottage ’s play Poof! , she brilliantly portrays the roles of men and women, and experiments with the concept of changing gender roles that are characteristic of our society.

Analyzing Nora’s both enriching and alienating experience with exile further reveals the ideas Ibsen intended to convey. From a broad perspective, Torvald represents the traditional, patriarchal structure that makes men the head of the household and women subservient to men. His character also signifies such a society’s insecurity toward the threats of woman empowerment. Having the antagonist symbolize society at the time the play was written was Ibsen’s way of challenging such established social values including but not limited to the confining gender roles, evident in Nora and Torvald’s relationship. Moreover, the latter also portrays the importance of reputation, which was the last straw in Nora’s abandonment of her marriage.

Life is a competition, however sometimes others make the competition unfair and it is the right of the society to revolt against these barriers. In today’s society, the fear of oppression lingers in the minds of every man, woman, and child and for these two narratives, that fear has become a reality. In a dystopian future, V for Vendetta and The Hunger Games Trilogy both demonstrate a similar archetypal pattern: one of rebellion against an oppressive government which results in social identity that helps inspire the oppressed. Both narratives are set in the realm of an oppressive government which motivates the main protagonists to revolt against them for the injustices committed against the people. In V for Vendetta, V seeks revenge against the Norsefire regime for past wrong-doings, particularly events that were orchestrated by members of the very same party and their oppressive control over the people of London.

Character Analysis Essay Have you ever been expected to act a certain way? To conform to the standards thrust upon the people of your ethnicity or gender? In Harper Lee’s, To Kill a Mockingbird, the majority of Maycomb’s citizens are bigots whom thrive on societal propriety. Discrimination and segregation are intertwined with every aspect of the book.

A patriarchy is defined by Merriam-Webster a “social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line” or “a society or institution organized according to the principles or practices of patriarchy”. However, these definitions do not fit the society we currently live in, so why do feminists always claim that the patriarchy is oppressing all women? The fact of the matter is that the standard definition of a patriarchy does not apply to the first world so feminists have adapted the term. Alda Facio says “Patriarchy is a form of mental, social, spiritual, economic and political organization/structuring of society produced by the gradual institutionalization of sexbased political relations created, maintained and reinforced by different institutions linked closely together to achieve consensus on the lesser value of women and their roles.

John Locke an English writer states that “ As guards and fences to the properties of all the members of the society, to limit the power and moderate the domination, of every part and member of the society.” (Doc.5) ‘Society’- The general public must endeavor to fight for a say in court for the laws that are being created and used against for them. Through people like Locke, it created an equality in the government, which now involved the voices of the lower class(Mkay). Voltaire, French writer and most famously known for “ I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” , (Doc 6.)Writes the letters on the English, which highlight the importance of a well-governed government, one of which involves the help of all, not just nobles.

Different from the concept of playing game and brutally killing people, Vonnegut explored a different way to show it totalitarian power by making everyone handicapped. People who are too smart, too pretty, or too talented are required to wear a weightier handicapped or a hideous mask to cover up their face. Due to insecurity from the actual handicapped people for not being normal, Vonnegut create a society where they can fit in and where those who are not handicapped can learn to embrace others who aren’t. Those are the positive qualities of the society but the negativity lie beneath the government. The government secretly control these people by installing devices and gears onto people to slow them down and to romantically match them with people who are not naturally gifted.

This play consists of numerous displays of sexism, but its’ intended purpose is to depict the injustices women face universally. Although comedic, Shakespeare’s

Language is the most powerful tools in connecting between the author and the readers. In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood uses word choice and sentence structure to expose that the shocking cultures of Gilead society are built upon foundations of sexism. Additionally, with the use of double entendre, Atwood emphasizes the theme throughout the novel: the presence of power. Atwood shows Gilead society is a corrupted place where people seek to break the rules and to show power through the action between the Commander and Offred.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller is a historical fiction about the Salem witch trials in the late 1600’s. John Proctor plays the protagonist and throughout the storyline his masculinity decreases due to Abigail Williams. Throughout the play it's clear the female characters have more power than the men in the Theocratic society of Salem. The girls are put in court after being caught in the woods for witchcraft. They exploit their feminine traits and manipulate the men in charge of the court.

Discourses have far reaching effect on how we as humans discuss and experience our bodies. The discourse of normalcy has produced a socially constructed body that either fits or deviates from the socially constructed norm. This results in categorization and stigmatization of individuals based on whether they have more “normal” or “abnormal” traits. Normalcy causes people to continually and meticulously analyze their body, producing discomfort and desire to change. The discourse of gender tightly regulates how and when males and females discuss their bodies.