Feminism In Feminism

When one closes their eyes and hears the word feminist, one can imagine seeing a mob full of women marching down the street burning their brassieres while chanting anti-male chants, while holding signs that sheds light on the unfair treatment women were exposed to for several decades. On the other hand, if one closes their eyes, and hears the word feminine, one can imagine seeing either a dainty female looking sweet and innocent, something like a princess, or a lady with “tasteful” sex appeal. These images along with other images associated with femininity and feminist comes from how the media, new papers, and stories portray them. Looking on the surface, they seem quite the opposite in nature. In Claire Miye Stanford’s essay “You’ve Got the Wrong Song: Nashville and Country Music Feminism” Stanford poses a question, “Can a show that is so ostensibly interested in the ‘feminine’…also be feminist?” (Stanford 277). At first glance, one would disagree, but more TV shows are portraying their leading women as a feminine feminist. Shows like Nashville, Insecure, and Orange is the New Black are breaking the boundaries and changing the views on what the new feminine feminist looks like.

A feminist lens looks at the relationships between men and women. It specifically focuses on the portrayal of women within the work of literature. It attempts to analyze how women have been affected by men and their actions. It not only works to show how women have been marginalized and suppressed by society, but also how they have been privileged. However, a “feminist lens” mustn't solely focus on femininity. It also examines the role of “masculinity” in the portrayal of men .The “feminist lens” accomplishes all of this in the pursuit of analyzing gender boundaries and norms (Delahoyde 1).

The feminist school has various goals when being used to scrutinize a piece of literature. As Gillespie points out, historically texts were written by males with primarily male protagonists, and thus, the male sentiment is most dominantly expressed in many works of literature. The lessened representation of women in literature is usually confined to typical stereotypes of the historical period. This can be seen in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, and this will be further explored and discussed. Through the feminist lens, women’s presence and portrayal in the play, as well as the common stereotypes about women in Shakespearean society, can be studied carefully, despite the centuries that have passed between the play’s conception and the present. Additionally, as stated in Literary Theories: A Sampling of Critical Lenses,

The role of the patriarchal society and its impact on the oppression of female characters

Early feminism was typically focused only on white women, likely because racism was still extremely prominent at the time feminism began emerging. It was not until Kimberlé Crenshaw introduced the term “intersectionality” in 1989 that feminism started to look at oppressed group’s needs (Nash, 2008, 2). Intersectionality is a way of thinking that acknowledges that when a person has identities that belong to more than one oppressed group, it impacts their quality of life more negatively. In this paper, I will argue that intersectionality is important in the discussion of feminist theories and activism because it ensures that feminism is for all women, not just a select group of them. Intersectionality has changed the way the feminist movement handles the overlapping of different identities, which has helped feminist theorists understand the experiences of women of colour much more clearly. While intersectionality has a very important role in the conversation and practice of feminism, there are certainly critiques of the concept that should be brought up. These critiques, however, can offer a way to improve the study of intersectionality.

According to a quote by The Atlantic, America is still a “patriarchal community” (Cohen 1). The majority of humans live in a society influenced by men and have little to no understanding of a matriarchal society because it is not around. For centuries, women have fought for equality and it is a reoccuring theme in literature. This theme can show how people critique and analyze many works of art. Countless people can read a text and depict it differently, from the beginning to end. This depends on what critical lens they view it from, allowing people to comprehend the different ways literature is written. There is many different critical lens to choose from. An example of one of the critical lens is the feminist viewpoint. The feminist theory, analyzes the nature of gender equality. This approach shows how women can compare to men. This can be done politically, socially, or economically. In William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, he can be seen going against the feminist theory. This lens will affect Hamlet’s two main, female characters Gertrude and Ophelia. While viewing Hamlet through the feminist theory lens, many male characters can be seen as being, aggressively, dominant; creating the women to have many stereotypes.

Men and women and their actions, thoughts, and behaviours have been at the centre and focal point in several types of literature. The relationships between one another have been portrayed in various ways, each one representing each gender differently. The representation of women has been a common and controversial subject. The female gender roles depicted in each time period have always been present in literature throughout history. These traditional female roles that society has placed on women have not always been evident. Even with different time periods, there has always been a break in the traditional female roles. Traditional female roles have

Do women continue to struggle for equality in the world? The answer may vary from person to person. Although conditions have improved for women in the United States, women are still subjected to unequal pay, rape and sexual harassment, underrepresentation in government, exclusive responsibility to the household, and are less likely than men to have careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. A male-dominated world is a reality that has been ingrained into society ever since the beginning of time. Women have been exploited throughout history, and many examples of oppression can be identified in the past. The examination of literature in stories such as “A Jury of Her Peers” and “The Story of An Hour” provides evidence of the normality of oppression against the marital role of women. Authors Susan Glaspell and Kate Chopin lived during similar time periods, and they expressed themes related to the anguish women had to face while searching for their own self-identity and fighting against conformity.

In 1606, William Shakespeare wrote a play for King James I, the tragedy of Macbeth. For the last five-hundred years, this highly regarded piece of literature has been studied by countless students and intellectuals. One of the many methods scholars use to interpret a piece of literature is through the feminist perspective. Feminism is defined as the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men (“Feminism”). Although one can use a feminist lens to interpret Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the historical perspective will provide the most effective means of interpretation for readers.

In the words of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, “Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you who you are”. Even though in this day and age, this is a concept almost every women can agree on, in the age of Shakespeare, it was a belief women would not dare support. Today, there are still several misogynistic issues that all women struggle with, and it is very evident that the misogyny present in Denmark during the Middle Ages was much more suppressive and aggressive. In Hamlet, Shakespeare explores the idea of male chauvinism in the 17th century and how it forcefully and severely distorts the lives of the female characters in Hamlet in different ways. Specifically, he depicts how the actions, views, and criticism

Over centuries, people have fought for equal rights and have put in the effort to remove certain labels that are known to be sexist. In the tragedy of Macbeth, Shakespeare depicts and explores the idea of gender roles and the traditional sense of them. The typical gender norms in society are that men should be strong and fearless and women should be caring, nurturing, and fragile. However, in Macbeth, the reversal of gender roles plays around with the idea of the stereotypes set out in a particular situation. The way that he portrays certain characters and the way they act makes the audience question the long-established sexist ways and values. Although the book is somewhat discriminatory, it was only a representation of the mindset and

Andersen examines representation of gender because both men and women need to be looked upon as equals with one another. For example, there are many times when a women needs help and most men think that she is a “damsel in distress”, because a woman that needs saving looks fragile and needs a “man” to save her. This also shows that usually the women are the ones being saved, so that the men can be the ones doing

Since it’s earliest days, feminism has had many misconceptions about it. These include feminists wanting female superiority over men, the idea that feminists hate marriage, men, motherhood, etc. In both A Doll’s House by Fredrik Ibsen and The Awakening by Kate Chopin these stereotypes are reinforced to the reader. Both A Doll’s House and The Awakening represent poor examples of feminism because the main characters rely on men for validation and also search for superiority over equality with the men in their lives.

Do you believe that men and women are portrayed equally within literature? As the patriarchal ideology is systemically rooted throughout history, these views have undoubtedly become manifested within literary works. As a result, a feminist literary critic would condemn the notion of equal characterization between genders and argue otherwise. Often, men are portrayed as strong and independent leaders aligned with the concept of masculinity while women are portrayed as weak and dependent on those powerful men. Despite critical acclaims of the strength within William Shakespeare’s female characters, the women in Hamlet do not defy their sexist feminine stereotypes; instead, they are illustrated as merely tools that enable men and protect their

FEMINISM Introduction to Sociology  Feminism Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. The movement organized around this belief. Feminism Feminist Theory is an outgrowth of the general movement to empower women worldwide.