In What Ways Has Society Conflated Women and Monsters - Research Paper Example

Theories and Practice of Gender In what ways has society conflated women and monsters? Discuss in relation to monster theory, feminist discourses and examples from film and or media. The present paper aims to elucidate the reasons behind the depiction of women as monsters in films, TV, media and pieces of literature at large. Main objective behind exploring the topic selected for this paper includes drawing the attention of society in respect of damaging the image of female folk within cultural perspectives, which has implied a certain and an unabated division of social establishment on the basis of gender. Since both the genders are essential ones for the survival, growth and expansion of social fabrics, portraying the members of one specific gender to be monsters, fiends and rivals of male folk looks absolutely contrary to the principles of ethics and morality. Such discourses not only create feelings of jealousy, envy and disgrace in the minds of the victim community s i.e. women, but also leads towards increasing sense of alienation from the male-dominated society that appears to be unable to protect the rights and privileges of females. The study has been supported with the Marxist-feminist perspective and Monster Theory. References from various sources of media and literary genres have been produced in support of the topic under investigation. By looking into the history of the world at large, it becomes crystal clear that almost all human societies have observed explicitly male dominated orientation within their cultural fabrics. Consequently, with the exception of some backward tribes of Africa and Far East witnessing matriarchic system, as per mentioned by the anthropologists Margaret Mead (1973, p.48), an overwhelming majority of cultures have always been patriarchal in nature. It is not only because of the extraordinary talent, wisdom, foresight or physical strength that has earned power and domination of males over females; on the contrary, men’s established belief in their intellectual and physical superiority over women serves as an outcome of their ruling over women since the known history of the world at large (Ember & Ember, 2004, p.21). Another imperative reason behind the influence of male stratum on females includes their command, efforts and abilities over generating food and resources for themselves, women and children, which the females had been unable to perform in the same manner as it has been the tradition of males. It is partly due to the very reality that by dint of their physical strength and strong nerves, the male members had obtained domination over natural calamities, wild beasts and other disasters and difficulties of various kinds. Since males had played decisive role in providing the female, elderly and young members of their family with food, shelter, protection and security, they ultimately turned out to be successful in earning dominance over females (Hughes & Hughes, 2001, p.119). Consequently, political, social, economic and physical control remained at the hands of male stratum, which portrayed the image of women as weak, feeble and incapable stratum that is unable to compete with men in any field of life. Not only this that women are considered to be incapable of earning food and providing shelter to their family, but also male stratum has also portrayed them in such a horrible manner that women are viewed to be quarrelsome, nagging, lustful, easy to get seduced, disloyal and even monstrous at domestic, social and political scenario in general. Hence, the image, thoughts and activities of women are aptly compared with devil, monsters and trouble-makers, presence of which always invite calamities, disasters and disgrace in the wake of the wrath of the Nature because of the disobediences and deviations frequently committed by women. Portraying the female folk as monsters and devils is an outcome of the domination of males in art and literature, society and politics, financial matters and corporate environment, and film and media as well. On the one side, the Hebrew Bible blames Eve for getting motivated to taste the fruit of forbidden tree in the wake of the temptations made by Satan in the form of a serpent (Genesis, 3, verses 4-8). It gave the (mis)conception that women maintain the natural tendency towards evil temptations, and can easily become the victim of their wishful desires and longings even because of the false promises and apparent glittering that is strictly against the nature of male proportion of society. The same frailties could also be witnessed in the literary works produced by the literary giant i.e. Shakespeare, and others including John Donne, Thomas Hardy and D.H. Lawrence etc. Shakespeare had drawn out the character of woman as disloyal and narrow-sighted one in his distinguished work Hamlet, where the Queen Gertrude makes unnecessary haste in re-marrying only few weeks after the death of her first husband. It is therefore Shakespeare argues, through the mouth of player-queen in these words: “A second time I kill my husband dead, when second husband kisses me in bed” (Hamlet, Act III, Sc. II, Lines 132-133). The protagonist Hamlet also laments over the incident of his mother’s second marriage to King Claudius in haste by stating: “Frailty thy name is women” (Act I, Sc. II, Line 146). Illustrious English metaphysical poet John Donne has demonstrated women’s disloyalty in his Song in these words: If thou be'st born to strange sights, Things invisible to see, Ride ten thousand days and nights, Till age snow white hairs on thee, Thou, when thou return'st, wilt tell me, All strange wonders that befell thee, And swear, No where Lives a woman true, and fair (Lines 10-18). Hence, woman could either be beautiful or loyal, according to Donne’s verses, where a graceful lady could never remain loyal and committed to one man. In other words, woman is the personification of betrayal that should not be trusted in altogether. Hardy’s Tess of D’Urbervilles also draws out Tess as having no control over her feelings (Hardy, 2007, pp.103-104). Similarly, Lawrence’s Women in Love (1987, p.431), and The Rocking-Horse Winner (1966) also portray women to be licentious and voracious respectively. The Rocking-Horse Winner particularly draws out the image of Hester as an extremely selfish and cruel mother, who does not have any concern with the members of her family; instead, she only loves her son Paul, the protagonist, because of his making hardest efforts in earning money for his mother. The concept of women’s betrayal is not confined to English Literature; on the contrary, German, Arabic, Persian and other literatures produced in various parts of the globe also declare women as deceitful, cunning and hurting fellows. Renowned collection of magic tales i.e. Alif Laila produced in Arabic language and translated into all important languages of the world emphatically condemns and censures the debaucheries and immoralities practiced by the women belonging to the royal families and ordinary backgrounds alike, which invited anger and hatred of the king for women (2007, pp.9-31). Not only this that women are signified to be lacking commitments to men, but also they are demonstrated to be monsters and witchcrafts that would inflict pains and sufferings on their enemies and opponents just because of their non-compliance to the longings and commands made by the women. It is therefore the tales of magical spells aptly target women for displaying harms to humanity out of sheer feelings of rage and revenge. Alif Laila, the Sleeping Beauty, Rapunsel and others demonstrate the practicing of black magic by women and witches alike in order to retaliate from the rivals and enemies for the minor mistakes mostly observed quite unconsciously by the victims of the witches and black magic practitioners. In Rapunsel, the beautiful girl Rapunsel is snatched by a witch from her parents during her infancy, and is imprisoned in a high tower, who eventually is rescued by a prince (Zelinsky, 2002, p.19). Portrayal of women as evil is not confined to literary pieces; on the other hand, TV programmes, films and movies also depict women as monsters and fiends, which will apply all efforts for bringing troubles and difficulties to humans. In addition, female bodies are also projected and promoted to be the object of sexual fantasies perhaps for the male film viewers. Consequently, female bodies are revealed just for the amusement and entertainment of males. Directed by Gustav Machaty, Ecstasy (1933) is regarded as the first non-pornographic English movie displaying the breasts and genitals of the protagonist Eva (performed by Heddy Lamarr) for the purpose of male entertainment and sexual desirability (Mclean & Cook, 2001, p.131). Moreover, an overwhelming films and websites exhibit female nude bodies and sex organs for the sexual pleasures of the males. Since almost all websites and films are directed and established by men respectively, males are responsible for stripping and uncovering the female bodies for seeking sexual pleasures and pecuniary gains on the one side, and to humiliate them by presenting them without dresses and attire on the other. Thus, males maintain the entire responsibility in respect of portraying women as adulterers and seducers as well. One of the most significant reasons behind presenting females as monsters and fiends in movies and stories include the wide-ranged interests and aptitude of the viewers to see the members of delicate sex in the form of monsters. Film monsters, according to Fischoff et al., have proven to be such unforgettable characters that in many instances they have become part of our culture. Most Americans would recognize a picture of Frankenstein, Dracula, King Kong, Godzilla, or the Mummy, before recognizing the current U.S. Vice President (2003, p.6). Since female characters look far more attractive and fascinating ones in all characters, the film directors involve and hire the services of women performers in the horror films and movies as protagonists or monsters. Some of the most inspirational movies sketch women as monsters and serial killers even with the background message that it is the male exploiters that lead women to become monsters and reactionary in order to take revenge from the cruelties the male stratum has inflicted upon them; the movie with the title Monster (2003) reveals the same. The movie presents the real life story of a Florida prostitute Aileen Wuornos, who had to undergo several severe physical, mental and emotional harms and traumas during the course of rendering her professional services to males as a prostitute (Paneva, 2008, pp.9-21). Performed by Charlize Theron, the story reveals how such a fatal incidents of cruel rapes, physical tortures and painful throbbing force her to take revenge from the rapists and masochists for the offences and torments they inflicted on the hapless prostitute. As a result, not only this that she starts killing the persons exercising agonizing on her, but also seeks mental and physical relief in the company of her friend and the young lesbian Selby; famous US feminist activist and writer Dorothy Allison also argues in favour of the same. Allison was the illegitimate child of an unwed mother of fifteen years only, who was continuously abused, tortured and raped by her stepfather from the age when she was only five years old. The shameful raping continuously exercised for six long years till she was eleven years old. It resulted in the development of feelings of hatred for the entire male folk, and Allison eventually decided to opt for the same sex preferences in order to escape the sexual domination and exploitation at the hands of men. Allison submits to state that the shameful rapes of her made by her stepfather are of no meanings for her; instead, the stories she had made out of such brutality certainly contain meanings and senses in them (2005, p.218). The feminist perspective also elucidates the similar points while condemning the injustices observed by men on the women. Analogous with the Marxist perspective in nature, though not in scope, feminist theory vehemently turns down the exploitation of women at the hands of men in one way or the other. Marxist perspective submits to state that the rich and affluent i.e. industrialists, agriculturalists and, feudal lords i.e. bourgeoisie exploit the services of the workers, peasants and labourers i.e. proletariat by denying their proper share in the income and profit an industrial or agricultural unit generates out of the hard and dedicated efforts made by the workers. Although the workers and labourers render their services for several hours a day for the smooth running and growth of the workplace, they certainly deserve significant and satisfactory remuneration against their toil and work. However, the major share goes to the owner by dint of the financial investment he has made for the establishment and administration of that specific industry, mill or agricultural land. As a result, the wages offered by them to the labourers are unable to meet with their financial needs, and they experience disappointment, despair and starvation even. Such type of situation creates the feelings of absolute alienation in their minds for their workplace, and they start regarding the workplace to be the station of exploiting their investment of energies and time (Ritzer, 2007, p.231). Hence, instead of developing attachment with their organisation, the workers start abhorring the same, and begin thinking of leaving it in order to lead a better life on the one side, and for escaping their financial worries on the other. Since some of the workers appear to be such revengeful and vindictive that they do not hesitate from damaging and destroying their workplaces in many ways in order to inflict the same harms the organisation has continuously exercised upon them; the same is equally applied to the feminist perspective. Though the sense of getting free from the male exploitations had appeared during the first half of nineteenth century, where remarkable literary pieces were produced by the feminist writers including Jane Austen, George Eliot, Emily Bronte and other, and were further developed by Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, Betty Friedann, Margaret Drabble, Tony Morrison and others from last years of nineteenth century to both half of the twentieth century onward (hooks, 1984, p.15). The idea of radical feminism, according to Freedman in the early 1970s helped make sense of an unnamed hierarchy that now can be observed everywhere. It has been realised by women that the nature of so-called love is mere a sexual contract, in which the white men had direct access to power, money, and authority while most women were supposed to procure indirect access to these prerogatives by being attractive, maturing and dependent on men who possessed them (2006, p.7) Demonstration of female physical charms is also considered to be another imperative motive in respect of presenting women as monsters in films and media. The female werewolf, Clark maintains, embodies a kind of gendered border crossing: a female body expressing characteristics labelled both masculine and male by the dominant culture e.g. power, strength, rage, aggression, violence, and body hair (2008, p. ii). Hence, the female desire to dominate over their male counterparts also serve as an important phenomenon in respect of depicting them as monsters, wolves, vixen and witches etc. Here appears the Monster Theory articulated by Cohen. Cohen (1996) has presented the Monster Theory, according to which monsters serve as the outcome of human belief in the existence of supernatural and metaphysical powers that maintain important roles on the life and activities of humans. It is therefore, demons, djinns, ogres, witches and fairies etc have been the subject of great interest for the writers, poets and story-tellers. In addition, monsters also reflect the powers of Nature essential for the regulation of the affairs of humans. As a result, the images and presence of the monsters keep the humans in-touch with the powers of good and virtue in order to seek shield against the powers of evils i.e. monsters and evils. Since monsters always bring disasters and damages in the wake of their arrival, ordinary humans appear to be unable to overcome them with their physical powers. Consequently, they require either the Powers of good, or the persons like Prometheus, Achilles and Hercules etc to save them from monsters. In addition, monsters also serve as the reflection of the unfulfilled desires of humans to dominate their enemies, opponents and rivals by dint of obtaining magical powers or extraordinary physical strength, sufficient enough to defeat the rivals (Cohen, 1996, p.47). The same desire can particularly be found among comparatively the weaker strata of society including children, women, elderly, poor and downtrodden individuals. Since women are unable to overcome men because of their lack of physical strengths, they are portrayed as monsters in movies, which would inflict pains on the cruel and evil males for committing offences on women (Fischoff et al. 2003, p. 15). The Indian films and TV programmes are the most notorious in this regards, which always demonstrate the situation of serious and unending conflicts and clashes between the women bound with one another through matrimony. Since Indian culture still observes joint family system, mother-in-law, daughters-in-law and sisters-in-law always look making conspiracies against one another in order to let down and humiliate one another on trivial family matters related to domestic politics. Consequently, males members of Indian family appear to be conciliatory ones in order to bridge the differences arose between their female relations. The effects of cable access on attitudes towards spousal abuse and son preference, autonomy and fertility can also be found in the everyday life, where women appear to be more independent, quarrelsome, rebels and inclined to western styled modernity (Jensen & Oster, 2007, p.13). Indian films aptly portray women to be monsters and fiends, which look determined to impose severe inflictions upon the cruel males of society. Several films including Ab Bas (or enough is enough) directed in 2004 narrates how a housewife turns reactionary to the adulteries, extra-marital relations and domestic violence committed by her cruel husband. Though the protagonist woman tolerates the atrocities for many years, but eventually adopts the image of the Hindu goddess Durga in order to teach him the remarkable lesson of his debaucheries, betrayal and cruelties (Lal & Nandy, 2006, p.290). several other Indian movies also narrate the same by elaborating the same situations with the topics selected by the film directors for the Indian movies, where the victim women stand like monsters against the females that are exhibited inflicting pains on their poor daughters-in-law either because of lack of dowry they have brought with them or getting married to their sons against their will (Lal & Nandy, 2006, pp.24-28). It is partly due to the atrocities actually practiced against women in the Indian culture, which gave birth to the characters like Phoolan Devi and others. Phoolan Devi belonged to the lower stratum of Indian society, which was gang raped by the feudal lords. Eventually, she became robber and rogue, and killed all the individuals involved in her rape. Later, the Indian cinematography also directed film on her life with the title Devi or goddess. To conclude, it becomes evident that females are aptly portrayed to be monsters and fiends in various movies and literary pieces. Though in most of these sources of media, the women are drawn out as fiends either for recreational purposes or to demonstrate them as revengeful of the cruelties, injustices and inequalities adopted and observed by males upon them. However, proportion of depicting the females appears to be far higher than they actually turn out to be monsters in their real life. Though several films are directed exhibiting them to be fiends for society, though only very few cases of killing or serial killing appear in which the female victims of rape, violence and torture take revenge from the culprits and offenders. The same is the situation with the literary pieces declaring women to be lustful, unfaithful and immoral. The feminist perspective and literary pieces are actually the response to the literature produced by male writers and poets depicting them as committing immorality and creating fuss and tensions at domestic and social scales. On the contrary, women actually serve as the individuals equivalent to men in society that not only turn a house into home, but also play the roles of daughter, sister, mother, wife and companion to men. Thus, portrayal of females as fiends and monsters is contrary to reality as well as challenging for the peace and stability of social establishment at large. 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