Discussion Of The Poem 'Phenomenal Woman' By Maya Angelou

Questions: 2.) In this section, the Wife of Bath comments on the different answers given to the Knight, and her comments give insight to her opinions and views of women. For example, the text states, “Others assert we women find it sweet when we are thought dependable, discreet and secret, firm of purpose and controlled, never betraying things that we are told. But that’s not worth the handle of a rake; women conceal a thing? For Heaven’s sake!” This quote suggests that the Wife of Bath believes all women are incapable of keeping a secret, which is an untrue and harmful stereotype.

Her works provide an incentive for women to take action in starting their own debates or joining a debate that can contribute to the quarrel. She also gave suitable advice to the women of the time about learning to live in that society despite all the misogyny because that’s how God intended it to be. Without Christine’s involvement, it’s very probable that women would have never had a way of joining the quarrel or t least would not have joined until after the Renaissance. The audacity that Christine had in speaking up about the Rose and challenging the work of such a revered piece of fiction, set her apart from any other female writer because she was willing to put her career and reputation on the line for the chance to participate in what would later became an important movement for women of the Middle Ages. Simply, without Christine there would be no querelle des femmes nor would the genre of misogynistic writing exasperate as it did in later

Having little to no overall power in your society can have a huge burden on Women but this can also fuel certain Women to strive to change the society they live in. Aristophanes Lysistrata and Homer’s Odyssey both show how women can thrive in their society and fight for what they believe in, even if that goes against the gender roles portrayed in Greek Civilization. In Aristophanes Lysistrata, the author portrays how one woman can fight for what she believes in and make a difference in society. Lysistrata ultimately wanted to end the Peloponnesian War, she knew the only way to do so was to take advantage of the Men. Men were dying day after day because of this war and Lysistrata had enough, she wanted to end it.

Pollitt states, “Difference feminists want to give women credit for these good behaviors by raising them from the level of instinct or passivity- the Camille Paglia vision of femininity- to the level of moral choice and principled decision” (407). Pollitt maybe thinks that logically women only follow difference feminism because it makes them feel good, this shouldn’t be the case. Pollitt may be suggesting that the ideas of difference feminism can be countered by looking at the world. Difference feminists claim that the lives of men and women are distinct. Pollitt logically claims that, “The ultimate paradox of difference feminism is that it has come to the fore at a moment when the lives of the sexes are becoming less distinct than they ever have been in the West” (411).

“To the Ladies”, written by Lady Mary Chudleigh, is a poem that expresses feminism, and gives women a taste of how they would be treated in a marriage. Chudleigh displays this poem as a warning to women who are not married yet, as she regrets getting married. She uses such words that compares to slavery, and negative attitudes toward future wives to warn them. Back in this time period when the poem was published in 1703, women were known as property of men and you won’t have an opinion or a say so. The poem expresses a life of a naïve woman, who is bound to marriage by God, and she cannot break the nuptial contract.

Clifton will never think that she is worthless because of what other people think of her. She feels that her size will not make her any less of a woman than anyone else. Clifton also says “these hips are free hips” (524), what she means is that because she is a woman, she will not be enslaved

(For the sake of being respectful, and not using the vulgar language; it is very similar to the saying screw off or Go away.) The promoters are pushing toward a joking ideology of the slogan, or they are encouraging women that being well-behaved will make it more difficult to cause a change because of passive aggressiveness. This is unlike Ulrich’s slogan since her slogan is portrayed in a serious way, and would never contain a jokingly vulgar add-on. Also, Ulrich wants women to believe they can make history no matter who they are; It doesn’t relate well since their product is more of a joke, rather than a relation to a

While reading the epic, the roles of women seen are the adulteress, who lures characters away from good; the wife, who keeps things in order and represents proper behavior; and the goddess, who supports the plotline and characters. Though the roles of women are not significantly noted by the author within the epic tale, it is important to identify the roles of females in such ancient times. As they were not valued as individuals, but rather as prizes, women lacked recognition. This is a continuity into the modern era, which can begin to be rectified by the identification of female power in places one would not normally look, such as a tale where the protagonist is male. Perhaps women are dishonored in literature, but that doesn’t mean the female race must be dishonored in the

Portrayal of women is in answer to all the women in the Odyssey. There are different ways for women to be portrayed in the Odyssey. They can be disloyal, sexual, and loyal woman that gets used for these things. Could you ever grasp a point of how you would feel if you were the one being portrayed? In the first section of the Odyssey, women are presented to us as controlled by the culture of the day, and it is only within that area that we can consider the way Odysseus provides women to be admired or despised throughout his journey.

To his surprise, this presents Horner with an "alternate economy of feminine desire” (Burke 237). Feminine desire, which is largely ignored in patriarchal society, forces Horner to humanize the women he’s talking to instead of treating them as a commodity. In fact, the women get defensive when Horner brings up the issue of payment. This commodification of women paints them as very one-dimensional. Additionally, Dainty speaks of embarrassment, “we blush when they are shame-faced” (Wycherley 1189).