Femininity In The Handmaid's Tale

Discuss the major contributions of feminist theory to the understanding of social And political life. Feminist theory has come to be recognised as an influential theory that has singled out the social exclusion of women. This could be seen as its main premise but it is a far broader perspective. Feminism has articulated that gender differences subjected to sex as argued have played a secondary role to men in the most influential decision making and power positions in society. This has caused the invisibility of women, which has become an indicator of inequality.

Chauvinism and Feminism in Handmaid’s tale Introduction This paper explores the relations between patriarchy and class in the context of a dystopian society which is very well depicted by Attwood. In this sense, how patriarchy is used against women. Debates appeared when society acquired language and now a days is still a hot debate. Radical, feminists point men as the 'main enemy’ and they say that, patriarchy is considered as a form of domination imposed by men on women. Feminists are dealing with how to understand the relations between patriarchy and how to confront, oppose male chauvinism in the ruling class.

The two texts illustrate how society brings about the oppression of women and this exacerbates the commodification of women. These texts demonstrate the societal issues involving oppression of women, women’s sexual role and their status. The Handmaid’s Tale depicts the rigid societal structure whereby women are forced to serve in various aspects and functions in the society. The boundaries of the context set are in Gilead, a totalitarian state dominated by Christian fundamentalists, indicating that Gilead enforces conformity among its citizens. In a simply put manner, one’s social position is fixed.

Toni Morrison in Beloved emphasizes Paul D’s weakness by humiliating him at the hands of so-called weak and restless women, contrasting to the patriarchal tendencies. But the question is wouldn’t men be agonized just as much the women when they are raped? Be it physical, mental. Rather than taking a stand on assault on men, it’s better for us to know what happens to the oppressing gender when oppressed by the society that they created. The idea of male rape is tabooed.

It turns out that Lady Macbeth let the stereotype overrule her conflict and allowed Macbeth to do the deed himself. She still involved herself in the plan, (in a not so innocent way) by distracting the other men with the king by getting them drunk. Lady Macbeth’s character depicts the significance as to how women deal with the conflict of gender role stereotypes in relationships everyday. The bible talks about how the husbands are supposed to "rule" their wives in the same way that kings ruled countries, wives are also supposed to submit to their husbands like the kingdom submits to the ruler. (Ephesians 5:22-33) If Lady Macbeth respected Macbeth’s decisions in not wanting to kill the King, then it would not have led to the guilt’s and consequences they both faced at the end of the story.

The most prominent point of The Second Sex is to illustrate how women are segregated from society by men, something which happens a lot in Heart of Darkness. De Beauvoir explains to the audience that men and women often do not understand one other and because men hold a higher social status in a patriarchal society, they have made women the ‘Other’ group in society. This is made evident by De Beauvoir’s following quote: “To pose Woman is to pose the absolute Other, without reciprocity, denying against all experience that she is a subject, a fellow human being.” (De Beauvoir 1266). As a consequence of not understanding women, De Beauvoir explains, men use this false sense of mystery as an excuse not to understand women or their problems. In Heart of Darkness the narrator Marlow believes that women live in their own naïve little world and that they should not interfere with the affairs of men, which he states in the following

This character is derived from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Atwood’s novel reveals that hunger for control can lead to the oppression of women, this is demonstrated through the Commander’s characterization, the Aunts attitudes, and some of the Gileadean rules/laws. Having the world at the tip of their fingers, and having men still feeling as if that is not enough, is the reason for the oppression of women in this novel, this is shown through the Commander’s characterization. In this scene, the Commander is explaining to the protagonist, Offred, that men felt as if everything were too easy to take hold of. Creating this new society was more for the pleasure of men than women.

Additionally, he focuses on the inferiority of women, who cannot openly exert their power. Most damningly, Steinbeck frequently considers that women are more easily susceptible to temptation, and cannot restrain themselves once tempted. These intentions of limiting women are subtle in his writing and project Steinbeck’s own bias against

This comprehensive characterization popularized by the media and mainstream fragments of the movement rears problematic queries. Mostly women, belonging to lower class suffers more and do not gain anything from the society as they are repetitively reminded of their fragile position in society.The representation and characterization of women in the novel show how patriarchy was instituted and fabricated in the 20th-century Latin American society.The depiction of women characters in the novel not only renders their internalisation and illustrates to what extent they were subjugated but it also characterises their insurrection and fighting against the oppressive

According to that ideology, men are active and creative while women are passive, fragile and dependent. For that reason, women are regarded as submissive and only considered as domestic ones. This point of view on women which defines women as ones who are bounded by domestic life also influenced the medical treatment and Gilman uses this to show social oppression towards women. As the society regarded women as the social ornament of men, idle, delicate images became the virtue of women. As a result, many women felt tedious and restrained.