...Bianca Rosales May 24, 2015 Period 4 Fiela vs. Barta In the novel, Fiela’s Child by Dalene Matthee, there are several scenes in which gender discrimination can be seen through the portrayal of the actions of certain characters. The character of Fiela, a strong mother of four biological children and the hand lamb of Benjamin, is portrayed as Christ like, sacrificing herself for her children, especially Benjamin. In comparison, there is the character of Barta, a mother who lost a young son and raising three others in the Forest. She is very submissive and dependent to her husband Elias, a ruthless sexist old man. The author relates their stories and their struggles against the mid-nineteenth century views in South Africa in a patriarchal society. Dalene Matthee uses the maternal foil characters of Fiela and Barta to highlight gender discrimination in South Africa. To begin with, Fiela and Barta have maternal characteristics that differ when it comes to the reaction towards their children. Fiela is strong and loving towards their children, while her foil Barta is insensitive and weak in a stressful situation. Fiela represents the typical mother who goes against all odds to defend her child and Barta is complete opposite and shown to the extent that she is useless. In one scene, Fiela and her family is visited by two census men, a tall man and a short one. They had finished interrogated Fiela with their questions, when unexpectedly Benjamin shows up. The census men start...
Words: 1538 - Pages: 7
...“Women are the only oppressed group in our society that lives in intimate association with their oppressors.” Evelyn Cunningham. Hanan Al Shaykh is a Lebanese novelist, short-story writer and a playwright. She is regarded to be one of the leading contemporary women writers in the Arab world. In fact, she follows Nawal Al Saadawi’s footsteps, especially in her explicit representations of women’s role in the traditional Arab Middle East world. Throughout her works, there is a glimpse of the patriarchal oppression she faces during her life. Not only by her father and brother, but also by the traditions enforced upon her by the neighborhood. The Story of Zahra is seen as Al Shaykh’s first step towards international attention. The novel is divided into two parts. The first part is entitled “The Scars of Peace”, where al-Shaykh foreshadows the miserable life of Zahra as a woman in a patriarchal society. The second part is subtitled “The Torrents of War.” In the second part, Zahra develops to a person who is ready to sacrifice herself in order to stop the war. The novel sheds the light upon how women are being treated as objects of sexuality throughout the Arab Patriarchal World. In fact, women are seen as “Invisible entities.” Hanan Al Shaykh incredibly shows how women are being oppressed and marginalized within the first part of the novel. To begin with, the novel starts by Zahra remembering her early life. She sees her life as a miserable one, where she has always been...
Words: 3807 - Pages: 16
...Rudy Hernandez, Jr. HIST-1302 10/06/13 Analytical Book Report [pic] As I sat and read The Creation of Patriarchy I could not believe the depth of the anger I was feeling just from reading someone else’s work. I had to reread the whole thing again just to be sure that the emotions that I was feeling were in fact because of the reading. It was a powerful piece that gave me a sense of connection between Ms. Lerner and my own life. As an Anthropology minor the notion that all known societies are patriarchal has been engrained in me. A woman's maternal duties are often offered as the explanation as to why the men have "time" to pursue some kind of "attainment". Patriarchy is enacted in our day-to-day experiences which not only affect our psychological make-up but also affect our brain development, thus putting the gender stamp on all of us in a way we feel intrinsic. Gerda Lerner’s book, The Creation of Patriarchy angrily challenges this patriarchal tradition in our society. Gerda Lerner argues that male dominance over women is not "natural" or biological, but the product of an historical development. The question of the roots of oppression of women is as much a question of history as it is of economics, sociology and analytical and cognitive psychology. Patriarchy is a stigma from a past and could disappear when it becomes irrelevant. But in the context of the current world civilization, it is created all the time. While undoubtedly true, it cannot...
Words: 730 - Pages: 3
...Introduction In modern society, especially since the 1960s, there has been a strong push for women’s equality. There are many Christians and non-Christians who believe Christianity had a hand in the perpetuation of the patriarchy leading to misogyny. Christians who oppose this idea may argue that it is founded on a lack of theological knowledge, that there is biblical evidence supporting that God desires equality, and that discrimination is not condoned in biblical stories and teachings. It is easy to initially construct the notion of misogyny in the Old Testament when acquiring only a shallow view of scripture. However, when applying a hermeneutical approach, one can see that equality among genders is a common theme. The Bible itself is, without a doubt, patriarchal in nature, but presents evidence of equality. Of note is the theme of religious equality; “that is, equality of the woman as a person before God.” This essay will explore various events in the Bible, beginning in Genesis, to support the claim that the Old Testament, though patriarchal, is not misogynistic and demeaning to women. Equality in Genesis Genesis states, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27, NKJV). This verse provides evidence for equality between women and men and that they are both made in the image of God. Taking a look at Genesis 1:26-28 as a whole shows that the words “image” or “likeness” were used four times...
Words: 1945 - Pages: 8
...In David Brook’s New York Times article, he argues that trumps behavior and politics is a revolution in the advancement of the definition of masculinity and a rejection of the civility codes created over time He rejects the balance between masculinity and felinity ideal, and he embraces all the identity of masculinity and is also built on misogyny Brooks argues that trumps misogyny is different from historical misogyny which blames women that are corrupted and are monsters. Trump’s misogyny has a commercial flavor, where in the area of male competition women are used to win points in the competition. Trump’s misogyny is to immaculate arrival male competitors by either insulting their women if she is not attractive, or concurring his rivals...
Words: 255 - Pages: 2
...The Fantasy of Disclosure in The Faerie Queene: A Look at Misogyny and the Fear of Female Sexuality In Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, fantasies are the clues to the substructures of the unconscious. In Book I, fantasies work to expose the “ulcers” that threaten to destabilize the magnanimity of the righteous Christian man. Spencer evokes the powerful use of images to disclose the idea that the abyss of female sexuality is a direct threat to the virtues of Protestantism. Two scenes in particular illustrate first, how females are viewed as the creators of sin, which leads to weakness in man, and secondly, how female sexuality is the primary source of misdirection for the heterosexual Christian male because it creates sexual desire and fantasy, which can lead him astray. In the first scene in which the fantasy of disclosure of the “ulcers” first occurs, Spenser depicts female reproduction and maternal functions as Errour, or “A monster vile, whom God and man does hate” (I.i.13). Additionally, Errour’s ability to breed is grotesque because the progeny she proliferates is emblematic of a never-ending cycle of deceit that continually seeks to subvert Protestant principles. In the second scene in which the fantasy Commented [LG1]: Good sense of the ideology of sexual reproduction here…. of disclosure occurs, the exposure of Duessa’s hideous “neather parts” suggest that female sexuality is indeed fundamentally evil because it undermines Protestant ideology...
Words: 2341 - Pages: 10
...“Do you really believe… that everything historians tell us about men or women- is actually true? You ought to consider the fact that these historians have been written by men, who never tell the truth except by accident.” As Moderata Fonte says, you cannot always go by what was written down on paper because it is not what actually happened. These words spoken by Fonte relate with the story The Necklace, by Guy de Maupassant. Not only do they both describe different thoughts between men and women, but they both display misogyny. In this short story, Monsieus Loisel is immensely misogynistic against his wife. I understand that time has changed from today and the late 1800s, so the way that he treated his wife was just erroneous. Monsieus...
Words: 758 - Pages: 4
...In the writings of God and Empire, Then and Now, was truly full of eye opening moments through out each chapter. Basically it explains how Jesus the son of God was sent to earth on a peaceful non-violent mission to save us sinners from going to hell. In fact, those who didn’t listen and follow his peaceful teachings will have a violent ending by the hands of our Almighty God. Crossan's theory was that as Christians we are taught not to be of violent nature but to put our faith in God and he will deliver us from evil. By being a Christian, we were not only saved by Jesus Christ who was crucified for our sins, but by keeping the faith and follow in his foot step, God the Father would return to earth for the good and faithful servants and violently avenge and destroy the evil and non Christian believers, just as the Roman Empire did to Paul, Peter, John the Baptist, the Jewish people and many others that opposed the unjust Roman Empire rule. Crossan's argument and analysis was based on the Christian Bible being non-violent or violent to for or against Jesus nonviolent mission to save the sinners from hell. Also, Crossan questions as Christians will there be a second coming of God the Father or God the Son as stated in the book of Revelation and Is God’s rule just as violent as the Roman Empire rule. After reading chapter 2, God and the Ambiguity of power, not only inspired me, but quotes from the book of Deuteronomy( 10: 17-18) proves and answers any questions concerning Gods...
Words: 440 - Pages: 2
...The Fantasy of Disclosure in The Faerie Queene: A Look at Misogyny and the Fear of Female Sexuality In Edmund Spencer’s The Faerie Queene, fantasies are the clues to the substructures of the unconscious. In Book I, fantasies work to expose the “ulcers” that threaten to destabilize the magnanimity of the righteous Christian man. Spencer evokes the powerful use of images to disclose the idea that the abyss of female sexuality is a direct threat to the virtues of Protestantism. Two scenes in particular illustrate first, how females are viewed as the creators of sin, which leads to weakness in man, and secondly, how female sexuality is the primary source of misdirection for the heterosexual Christian male because it creates sexual desire and fantasy, which can lead him astray. In the first scene in which the fantasy of disclosure of the “ulcers” first occurs, Spenser depicts female reproduction and maternal functions as Errour, or “A monster vile, whom God and man does hate” (I.i.13). Additionally, Errour’s ability to breed is grotesque because the progeny she proliferates is emblematic of a never-ending cycle of deceit that continually seeks to subvert Protestant principles. In the second scene in which the fantasy of disclosure occurs, the exposure of Duessa’s hideous “neather parts” suggest that female sexuality is indeed fundamentally evil because it undermines Protestant ideology. Thus, the “ulcers” that Spencer discloses and identifies within an obscure second level reading...
Words: 2341 - Pages: 10
...Misogyny, the hatred of women, is as old as society. It is found in the first story of mankind, that of Adam and Eve in which Eve sinned by eating of the forbidden fruit, and then persuaded Adam to do the same. As a punishment God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and condemned Adam to work hard for the rest of his life, and for Eve and all women after to suffer great pain in child birth. It is because of this story that religious men have justified their own misogyny. They either point to the fact that Adam was created first and must therefore be superior to Eve, or to Eve’s weak character that made her give in to temptation. However, as I will show, misogyny is not based on religion but men used religion to justify their misogyny and their persecution of women. The story of Adam and Eve is part of the Torah, the Bible and the Koran, and is therefore regarded as part of these religions. Some writers, such as Celia Kitzinger, see it as a myth created by the founding fathers of the great religions in order to take away power from women. Before Judaism, says Kitzinger, women were seen as goddesses who had the miraculous power to reproduce, a process often symbolized by a serpent who had the ability to shed their skin, or be “reborn.” The church fathers, alarmed by women’s sexuality, turned this goddess of fertility into “a shameful sinner” (Kitzinger1) who caused all women after her to suffer in childbirth. Therefore, according to Kitzinger, the church fathers were not...
Words: 965 - Pages: 4
...equality of the sexes” (Merriam-Webster). Feminism is combatting all of the notions and systems of oppression against women, such as the Glass Ceiling, to advocate in the ideas and validity of women. Most advocates of Feminism have become Feminist critics. Feminist critics are more “concerned with the ways in which literature [, or roles in society,] reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women” (The OWL at Purdue 2010). Feminist critics call their practice, reading through “Feminist Lens”, which is the idea of reading literature and “striving to expose the explicit and implicit misogyny in male writing about women” (Richter 2016). The Feminist lens are feminist critics way to expose the negative perceptions of women that is expressed by...
Words: 1324 - Pages: 6
...original positive outlook people had on Greek life. Modern fraternities provide a chance for self-improvement, reinforcement of leadership skills, and philanthropy. Public criticism is deserved when it comes to excessive drinking. But do these organizations advocate misogyny? A fraternity is a holistic institution; to say that all brothers are misogynistic is absurd. Charging fraternities for being misogynistic rape houses is completely illogical. Misogyny is defined as the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. If male Greek’s are misogynistic,...
Words: 743 - Pages: 3
...Femininity and Masculinity views have changed rapidly over time. The Taming of the Shrew is a 1967 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli. It is based of a play by William Shakespeare. 10 Things I Hate About You, is a 1999 comedy directed by Gil Junger. Back in the Elizabethan time, males were the Rough and Tough workers and the females were the ones who stayed at home and were considered weak. According to Dictionary.com Mysogyny is the dislike or hatred of women. I felt like these films represent misogyny in very different ways but yet also very similar. Masculinity and Femininity are very important themes in both movies. I thought that The Taming of the Shrew contained more masculinity than 10 things. In both films Femininity is demonstrated...
Words: 547 - Pages: 3
...Misogyny: a suffering that women have been dealing with for thousands of years. Misogyny is typically an unconscious hatred that men form early in life, often as a result of a trauma involving a female figure that they trusted. What makes man and woman so different? Why should they be treated like outcasts and be disliked? Isn’t this ingrained prejudice against women causing things like feminism and sexism to spread more and more in the twenty-first century? Thinking about it logically, women are humans too. Is it right to treat them with so much contempt and dislike? Is this justice? Some men might say that women are the cause of a lot of problems like stress in a male’s daily life or things as illogical and generalized like the cause of many car accidents and deaths because of them. While other men believe that women get their own ways because they are simply “women”. While this might seem very unfair for women to be generally hated, the reason behind men hating women, without even being conscious about it, can be because of many emotional reasons that this certain man has dealt with in which a woman is included or behind it, for example, an abusive or negligent mother, sister, aunt, teacher, and even girlfriend. This kind of situations will somehow generate a loath towards women in general. While women might say “but we aren’t like that” or “he is over exaggerating”, it does scar a man and it’s near impossible to get out of especially if it occurred to him at a very young...
Words: 1270 - Pages: 6
...This hashtag dates back to 2014 when Elliot Rodger murdered six people in Isla Vista, California, deeming hatred for women and sexual rejection as the reason for his rampage. In his final video, Rodger said, “You girls have never been attracted to me. I don’t know why you girls aren’t attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It’s an injustice.. I don’t know what you don’t see in me. I am the perfect guy and yet you throw yourselves at these obnoxious men instead of me, the supreme gentleman.” This message unmasked Rodger as a lonely misogynist and catalyzed the female section under the label of male sexual entitlement. Soon Twitter and Tumblr were brimming with stories of everyday sexism and misogyny. The idea behind the hashtag...
Words: 357 - Pages: 2
