„Bruised Hibiscus“ – Coping with Hegemonic Masculinity Since time immemorial women are suppressed and exploited by men, a process that is based on social conventions and which sociologists define as hegemonic masculinity. And the feminist consciousness for equality exists as long as the discrimination itself. Concerning successful movements, feminists often refer to sisterhood as the driving force in this struggle. Historically, only major movements seem to be successful. Hence, my goal is to examine on the basis of Elizabeth Nunez’ novel “Bruised Hibiscus” to what extent sisterhood can be promising for individual women and to what extent its success is influenced by hegemonic masculinity.
Society views men and women differently in many ways. Men are usually recognized as the leaders and dominant ones. But, women are viewed worthless in business and only great at housework. In the book We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she argues how there is a problem with gender and a feminist is a man or woman who will take action to change that problem. Adichie argues that women’s rights are human rights and both genders should approach change together.
Feminist Perspectives on Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Feminist criticism has blossomed to a large extent and it has become one of the world 's most vibrant and vigorously practiced schools for analyzing literature. It has also provoked some spirited warfare in academe.It is obvious that all feminist critics are not only women and they disagree with one another on many debatable points. There is no denying the fact that they share common ground in the belief that literature reflects the oppression of women in a world dominated by men. The society that Shakespeare reflects in Belmont and Venice is largely patriarchal in structure. In spite of the male dominated values of Venice and Belmont, the female characters of the play, become
Gender issues have been a problem in our world since the beginning of the days; the stereotypes of the housewife woman and working man are the concepts of life our people are brought up with. For millennia, women didn’t have the right to vote, work or even talk; some have been burned alive for accusation of witchcraft, others stoned for being “seductive”. Masculinity is the characteristic for which a man considers himself superior to women in social and private contexts. Masculinity is still with us and, although being obsolete, it still influences our life. The causes for such behavior are psychological and social, they are inherited from common knowledge, media or religious texts; masculinity interrupts development and limits the social creativity of both men and women by constricting them to stereotyped roles.
The main objective of this investigation is to look at Sri Aurobindo 's masterpiece Savitri as a feminist epic where the female character, Savitri plays a pivotal role breaking the conventional trends of the contemporary society and literature where male characters dominate in the domain. Usually women are taken into consideration as inferior to men socially, biologically, financially, psychologically, and also religiously. Feminism demands women 's liberation and the rights of women on the ground of the equality of the sexes. This article has been attempted to probe deeper into the story in order to bring out the evidences which will establish the final confirmation regarding Savitri as a feminist epic. KEYWORDS 1) Feminism 2) Liberation 3) Discrimination 4) Marxism 5) Capitalist Sri Aurobindo’s Savitri As a Feminist Epic It is the aim of this essay to look at Sri Aurobindo’s masterpiece Savitri as a feminist epic.
In Simone de Beauvoir 's The Second Sex, de Beauvoir argues that women have historically been treated as inferiors and secondary to men. Her book is strongly emerging with the second wave of feminism that calls for basic equalities in some social issues such as the rights of women in voting and inheriting. Further, the second wave highlights the struggle of women in sexuality, abortion, domestic violence, and business field. In addition, Simone de Beauvoir argues that, in all cultures, men are able to dominate and as a result, women have surrendered and become subordinate to what society have been dictated them to do. To de Beauvoir, "one is not born, but rather becomes a woman" (de Beauvoir p.).
Imagine living in a world where roles are given, freedom is taken, and you must abide to the rules unjust to everyone. Would you fight back, or reluctantly follow these oppressive rules? Offred is an independent and emotional woman who is forced into labor. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, women are forced into certain labor based on their fertility and status in this new society. Both men and women have become oppressed for the sake of the country.
Imagine living in a world where roles are given, freedom is taken, and you must abide to the rules unjust to everyone. Would you fight back, or reluctantly follow these oppressive rules? Offred is an independent and emotional woman who is forced into labor. In the novel The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, women are forced into certain labor based on their fertility and status in this new society. Both men and women have become oppressed for the sake of the country.
Every aspect of society works not only to gain control over those of low social standing, but also show a significantly great amount of prejudice against women. In this way, the societies enforce their patriarchy onto its citizens, allowing modern time readers to draw contrasts between their own societies and the ones in the novels that oppose ideas of freedom through indoctrination, using education as a form of empowerment and violence to evoke fear. Men are only regarded the monarchs of society once women have been demeaned. This is evidenced through Attwood’s use of animalistic language to display the false power the Commander holds over Offred. Upon their first meeting, Offred states that she thought ‘he might be toying, some cat-and-mouse routine, but now [she] thinks that his motives and desires weren’t obvious even to him’.
Many of Marie De France’s pieces show great romances and hardships, and a battle of power mixed with stereotypical male and female relations of this time. Power has a vital part in how it affects the characters within the text and the audience that reads it. Specifically, Marie De France’s “Chevrefoil (The Honeysuckle)” where power is one of the main social constructions, working along with gender to follow the story of Tristan and the king’s wife being powerless against the king. Gender roles of this time period were important in how power was addressed as men typically had power over women, but also of those younger than themselves. “Chevrefoil” has a lot of power struggles where the wife wishes to be with a younger man whom she loves, however,