This paper is a rereading of Henry James’s The Bostonians in an attempt to answer the question ‘can woman be a patriarch?’ Or how far woman’s quest for being a patriarch is a success or failure. First of all, there must be a reference to the origin and meaning of patriarchy as well as its historical development.
Patriarchy is a central concept that is prevalent in large parts of the world. In the sociology of gender the origins of patriarchy are closely related to the concept of gender roles. The positions of men and women pass through several studies in fields like religion, philosophy, anthropology, sociology and psychology. These studies get to various interpretations which conclude that there are natural differences between men and women. These differences lead to normal inequalities and sexual divisions of labor between both genders. These studies refer to patriarchy as a historical and temporal phenomenon.
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Their understanding grew out of the patriarchal interpretations of the Old and New Testament writings, Greco-Roman culture, and the thinking of the Church Fathers who extended the dualism of flesh and spirit, body and intellect to the sexes. Women were viewed as highly sexual beings inferior to men by nature. In this seemingly rationally defined natural order, it followed that the man, as the superior being, was head of the household. The woman fulfilled her primary role in marriage through the procreation and nurture of children. The education of children, an intellectual activity, was the man’s responsibility (Beach 89). Therefore the women of the Middle Ages were totally dominated by the male members of their family. Those women were expected to instantly obey not only their father, but also their brothers and any other male members of the
In the article “Traditions Subordinating Women”, Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser explore the very strong opinions, theories and beliefs of female subordination within the eyes of various origin cultures through stories, passages and history itself. This article gives a vast understanding of a woman’s role, the purpose of her body, what is expected of her, society’s double standards and how literature and poems portray women. Before Christianity, there existed many old cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Germanics and Celtics, who all came in agreement to preserving the subordination of women. A woman’s main duties were to remain faithful to her husband, to be fruitful and to preserve and nurture her home. A woman was incapable
Overtime, these roles lead to the development of patriarchal society. According to Allan G. Johnson’s article on Patriarchy, “a society is patriarchal to the degree that is male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered ” meaning that it was a system where men were in authority over women which could be considered as a variation within The Takers philosophical supremacy (153). The practice of patriarchy or male dominance benefitted men of all races and class, but in turn, placed women at a disadvantage. With patriarchy, the society became centered on men, which overshadowed women.
This is important as the change in education implemented the idea that educated women would divert from Christian values but a man strongly opposing the idea dismisses it, and lends a supportive perspective of educated women. However, something that is not showcased in this document is that women were taught theology, basic arithmetic, and language which limited them to their lives at home. Not being so educated in a vast variety of subjects like the men of their times eventually led to the downfall of women. They lost power and and didn’t have a very crucial role in shaping
Extra Credit Presentation: Rhetoric of Subordination Professor Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza’s presentation on the Rhetoric of Subordination gave an in-depth perspective on how religious scriptures have had an influence on society’s views on family structures. Throughout her presentation she also brings to light how Christian scripture helped to establish the foundation for how men are perceived as superior by society compared to women. Professor Fiorenza’s findings are focused on a theory that society is “double blind” when it comes to a woman’s role in various communities, and made an interesting point on how the word ‘women’ and ‘she’ includes the words ‘men’ and ‘he’. Listening to her presentation reminded me of some similarities in Lynn
, this quote gives an example of just how much dominance the men had. Girls acquired how to act from their mother. The women were strictly in charge of cleaning the house and being the spiritual leaders of the house. It was their responsibility to see that their family attended church every week. The women were involuntary subordinate to the men of that day.
Examine how either text represents either class or gender. Are these representations problematic or contradictory? How do they relate to the plot and structure of the novel? Jane Eyre is a female Bildungsroman written by Charlotte Brontë in 1848.
These standards are dictated by Christianity because the household structure contributes to church activities. Also, church defines and impacts the women’s role and their significant in civil law. Women are expected to follow a script, which limits their function and freedoms. The text illustrates that women’s were supposed
Firstly, what was the women, in particular, in the eyes of husbands and fathers in the family? In early modern Europe, many people believe in that, the most appropriate place for women was the family which gives them certain responsibilities like obedient daughters, wives, and widows. Many books and theories included that women should marry and constitute their own family. These kinds of thoughts were strengthened by medical assessment about '' the biological nature of women, who were thought to be at risk of severe physical and mental illness if they did not engage in regular sexual relations.'' General belief in that time was that women were sexually more greedy, which came in sight in ribald
During this time “A woman's most important commodity was her virginity,” (Murphy 1). It was important to society that women were virgins before marriage and when married they were to have many children. When a woman was married she lost her rights to own property and business, their husbands became guardians over them and gained full control of all property, businesses and land they owned before marriage (Vann 1). Before marriage a woman had some control over her own life but as soon as she was married it was expected that the husband would take over and make decisions for
Women of the Medieval Times Women have always had a significant role in history even though they were treated horrible in most cases. During the Medieval Times was really the first time women were allowed to become more than just a house wife. The fight for equality has always been a struggle and even in today’s society is still an ongoing battle. Although women of lower and middle class were treated poorly in the Medieval Times, some powerful women held great responsibility and were looked up too by both men and children; despite being admired, “men were thought to be not only physically stronger but more emotionally stable, more intelligent, and morally less feeble” (Hopkins 5). “The position of women in the Medieval Society was greatly influenced by the views of the Roman Catholic Church” (Heeve).
A patriarchy is a system where men dominate, and women are marginalized. The patriarchy can be traced to Aristotle’s writings in Ancient Greece, where he spoke of women as subordinates of men. Aristotle was also dependent on dualism (dividing reality into different spheres). In the case of men and women, men were seen as the rational and women, the emotional. These labels lead to sexist behavior and thus oppression of women, because they were seen as less than men.
Patriarchy is the typical system in a society where the male holds the most power over a female. Multiple civilizations have been this way for centuries. There are many aspects that caused this division between the two genders. The causes in the development of patriarchy from the Paleolithic Eras to the Neolithic Eras are the creation of civilizations, home environments ,and agriculture. Each one of these causes lead to one another because they have a “chain reaction.”
The doctrine of the spiritual equality of women, the sanctity of the marriage, and the rules of consanguinity, divorce and remarriage, though sometimes perverted to ambitious purposes, nevertheless were powerful engines influencing the Roles of Women in the Middle Ages, and raising their condition in the
Mary Wollstonecraft’s, Maria or The Wrongs of Woman, is an analyzation and critique about a woman’s place in society. Specifically, that socially, politically, and economically woman are at a disadvantage. Furthermore, society perpetuates this imbalance through certain expectations about motherhood, marriage, and double standards. This power imbalance has always been present in society and through the analyzation of Maria and themes such as: motherhood, domination, and traditionalist thought it is possible to contextualize the era that Mary Wollstonecraft lived in to gain a better understanding of what women went through in her time so that we have a reference to compare to how women are treated today.
According to the famous sociologists Sylvia Walby, patriarchy is “a system of social structure and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women”. Women’s exploitation is an age old cultural phenomenon of Indian society. The system of patriarchy finds its validity and sanction in our religious beliefs, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or any other religion. For instance, as per ancient Hindu law giver Manu, “Women are supposed to be in the custody of their father when they are children, they must be under the custody of their husband when married and under the custody of her son in old age or as widows.