May Swenson Women

The two publications that best contextualize gender are the Lowell Offering and the Godey’s Lady Book periodicals as the articles found in both magazines depict traditional gender roles for males and females. For the Lowell Offering, this is best seen in the article entitled, “Woman’s Proper Sphere”, which focuses on the thoughts associated with oppression like, “Is it ambitious wish to shine as man’s equal, in the same scenes in which he mingles” or “Does she wish for a more extensive influence, than that which emanates from a woman’s home?” Yet these progressive questions are met with answers like “How necessary, then, that she should understand these pursuits (of men), that she may truly sympathize with and encourage those, with whom she may be associated. In this way…her influence must and

Ever since the days of World War I, women have been seen as second rate to men. They had to live up to many social standards that men didn’t have to and had strict guidelines on how to live their lives. This all changed when modernism deliberately tried to break away from Victorian Era standards in which women were subjugated to a lot more scrutiny. Ezra Pound, who was a large figure in the modernist movement, captured the spirit of the era in his famous line “Make it new!” Consequently, many writers started to experiment with many different and wild writing styles, which led to the short stories and poems we have today. The stories The Wife of His Youth and Mrs. Spring Fragrance were all written in this era of modernism. While they are written in a more traditional style of writing, both these stories have strong implications on feminism from the viewpoints of both male and female writers.

In “It’s a Woman's World,” Eavan Boland utilizes several literary techniques to reveal the poem’s complex conception of a “woman’s world.” Boland sheds light on the static nature of a woman’s role in society, which sparks their desire to overcome the societal limitations that is put upon them by men. Through her sarcastic title, use of personification, and critical tone, Boland is able to expose both genders stereotypical responsibilities and to convey society’s desire to silence women’s outrage against their role in this world.

Anne Sexton was a junior-college dropout who, inspired by emotional distress, became a poet. She won the Pulitzer Prize as well as three honorary doctorates. Her poems usually dealt with intensely personal, often feminist, subject matter due to her tortured relationships with gender roles and the place of women in society. The movies, women’s magazines and even some women’s schools supported the notion that decent women took naturally to homemaking and mothering (Schulman). Like others of her generation, Sexton was frustrated by this fixed feminine role society was encouraging. Her poem “Cinderella” is an example of her views, and it also introduces a new topic of how out of touch with reality fairy tales often are. In “Cinderella”, Anne Sexton uses tone and symbolism to portray her attitude towards traditional gender roles and the unrealistic life of fairy tales.

In the poem “It’s a Woman’s World,” Eavan Boland uses many poetic devices such as alliteration, simile, and enjambment in order to explain life from a woman’s point of view and how women have lived the same since the beginning of time.

“I’m a woman…Phenomenal woman, that’s me.” This quote from Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” characterizes the common theme between the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the speech, “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and “Phenomenal Woman”. The common theme between these three different pieces is the idea of a strong, independent woman, which ties into feminism and the concept of being equal to men. Even though these three pieces are each diverse genres, they are all conveying the same general theme in their own way. Throughout any of these texts, it is evident that the authors are pushing the idea that a female is not inferior to any man just because they have a different body structure or a different gender.

To begin with, the author’s implementation of short sentence fragments throughout the poem illustrates the exasperation and frustration bottled up in women in response to

It is impossible to discuss the role of women in literature without mentioning the influence of feminism. The later in the timeline one reads, the more prominent it becomes. Each new wave of feminism brings with it its own goals, yet it also continues to strive for some of the same goals as past generations because not everything is accomplished all at once. Although “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall and “Rubyfruit Jungle” by Rita Mae Brown, are two starkly different texts that strongly reflect the feminist eras in which they were written, they have some similarities as well.

Poetry. A seemingly simple word to the eye, but is one of the most fundamental and interesting concepts of English. The beauty of poetry is that each one of us in this room could have a different perception on any poem. It can make you angry, sad or happy, It depends on how you interpret the words. Today I’ll be breaking down the elements included in Gwen Harwood’s ‘In the Park’ and how women are viewed. Generally, women can be depicted as poor or wealthy, nasty and aggressive or compassionate and affectionate, intelligent or dumbfounded, loyal or unfaithful. Roles of women include Mothers, daughters, Aunties or housewives just to name a few.

This poem is an example of the ideas women of an uneducated part of the country may reflect about themselves. Although some may suggest that women of this time could never amount to greater things than cleaning a toilet, today’s accomplishments of women exceed that stereotype of women. The references to “The Frog Princess” connect Hazel’s story to the “ideal” lifestyle of a privileged woman of that time. The symbolic examples conveyed in this poem explain who Hazel is and the conditions she lives in. With the symbol of Hazel representing the women of her country, it creates the perception that women like her are part of a community that is unqualified for equal perception between women and men.

The “petty places” she is describing are literally places that larger hips may be looked down upon and also metaphorically symbolizes places like the kitchen or the bedroom; places that women are expected to be in, inn her society. Clifton believes women don’t want to be in these places that won’t get them anywhere in the world, they want to go out and do what they want and want to have some sense of fulfillment in their lives. However, During the time period, this poem was written when females were stereotyped and told to look a certain way. The fact that females always belonged in the kitchen whiles men went out there an pursued their dreams was bizarre . it's so surreal how females had no rights to peruse what we wanted to but rather, men were praised and men were "the head".

What women go through is not being able to trust anyone, anybody, because we know and we’ve seen, how men hurt the innocent and beautiful structure of women because they are delicate. As women, they are wishing for a place that has no worries, no fears, and no hiding anymore. There’s perfect ethos for the poem “What women go through”, not the words, not the sentences, but the author herself. Why? Because the poem mainly concerned about the feeling of women and the author, who standing from a woman’s perspective, it’s more credible to let the audiences believe that the poem is

The society always queries about the role of women and for centuries, they have struggled to find their place in a world that is predominantly male oriented. The treatment of women was remarkably negative; they were expected to stay home and fulfil the domestic duties. Literature of that time embodies and mirrors social issues of women in society (Lecture on the Puritans). But, slowly and gradually, situation being changed: “During the first half of the 19th century, women 's roles in society evolved in the areas of occupational, moral, and social reform. Through efforts such as factory movements, social reform, and women 's rights, their aims were realized and foundations for further reform were established” (Lauter 1406). Feminist poets like Emily Dickinson and Anne Bradstreet talked substantially about feminism in different lights in the past two centuries. They were very vocal and assertive about their rights and the ‘rights for women’ in general. While they might have been successful at making a good attempt to obliterate gender biases but still there are lot of disparities between the two genders. Nevertheless, their poetry reflects a deep angst.

The first stanza of the poem is an example of the cycle of sexist, patriarchal, societal normalcy regarding females portrayal. In lines three and four, the mention of "wee lipsticks" and "miniature" stoves and irons, suggests that parents will often times raise their children based on what gender they are. Depending on the gender, adults would choose to gift their child toys they feel are considered as a culturally “normal” to give. The parents of the girlchild in this poem are prime examples of this. Instead of being given race cars or legos, the girl was given common objects that women are often associated with in regard to domestic roles. Also in line four, the author chooses cherry flavor of all candy flavors in the world. Cherries are

Anne Sexton was a junior-college dropout who, inspired by emotional distress, became a poet. She won the Pulitzer Prize as well as three honorary doctorates. Her poems usually dealt with intensely personal, often feminist, subject matter due to her tortured relationships with gender roles and the place of women in society. The movies, women’s magazines and even some women’s schools supported the notion that decent women took naturally to homemaking and mothering (Schulman). Like others of her generation, Sexton was frustrated by this fixed feminine role society was encouraging. Her poem “Cinderella” is an example of her views, and it also introduces a new topic of how out of touch with reality fairy tales often are. In “Cinderella”, Anne Sexton uses tone and symbolism to portray her attitude towards traditional gender roles and the unrealistic life of fairy tales.