Gender and Society: The Feminist Perspective - Essay Example

Gender and Society Analytical Essay The feminist perspective offers succinct avenues of collaboration with contemporary sociologists who tend to adopt diverse theoretical perceptions, especially symbolic interaction and conflict theory. The feminist perspective augurs well with the conflict theory due to its assertions that structural social inequality is preserved by ideologies that are often accepted by both the oppressed and the privileged. Feminists work by exploring a number of avenues that tend to increase womens empowerment. Through the realm of empowerment, passivity has been superseded by critical an open debate between feminist scholars and between those that concur or disagree with feminism. The different representations of the feminist stereotypes in the contemporary writing domain highlights the key features of misogyny, the disdain and contempt of women that exacerbate their oppression. While reflecting their role in the society during the twentieth century, many women in the literature domain are usually depicted as subordinate to their husbands and to the society in general. They are often portrayed at a level that is not only inferior to men, but also dominated by them. Regardless of whether they were dealing with their careers or spouses, these women in literature appear as mere characters in a male-dominated world. Susan Glaspell and Charlotte Perkins Gilman were no exceptions to this role. However, these two women took their limitations in their stride and created stories that are a clear reflection of their lives and experiences. "Trifles" by Glaspell and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Gilman are stories that allow the reader to reflect on the minds of these women in literature during this era of harsh oppression. The stories are crafted to express emotional depletion, insubordination, and the different roles that women played in different times in a bid to bring change to the society. The stories demonstrate the evolution of women in literature as well as society. The theme of feminism is a dominant factor in these topics, accompanying the reflections on womens minds during this time. The common factor between these two women is that they are both affected by male oppressions over time. The women struggle to illustrate how women in society become psychologically and emotionally unstable. However, they finally open their eyes to the mistreatments that they are suffering. The stories have a common agenda of demonstrating that unhappy marriages are the result of over-control of one partner by the other. The situation is further exacerbated by lack of attention and love coupled with excessive discord and anger. According to Kimmel (1994), the cultural definition of masculinity is about the desire by the individual man to seize those cultural symbols that symbolize manhood, signals that the individual has indeed achieved it. The author states that masculinity is about "those standards being used against women to prevent their inclusion in public life" (Kimmel 31). Thus, the key major effect of masculine dominance over women is that it aims at concealing women to a devalued private sphere. From a historical and developmental perspective, masculinity has always been discerned as the running away from the feminine. In ‘Trifles, Mrs. Wright is trapped in an unhappy relationship and eventually falls suspect to the murder of her husband. Even their neighbor describes the Wrights house as being cheerless. Mrs. Wright, who was once known as Minnie Foster, is now a shadow of her former self. She has been reincarnated into a resemblance of her personal items in the household. In contrast to the hostility that Mrs. Wright suffers in the ‘Trifles, the narrator in Gilmans ‘The Yellow Wallpaper suffers from an over-controlling husband who orders her not to work, write or have any form of stimulation whatsoever. She has been denied even the opportunity to spend time with their newborn child. It is notable that the narrator has not been given any name as an implication that her identity does not matter. This is because the tribulations that she suffers reflect the demeaning environment that women in this society have been subjected to. According to Caputi and Russell (1990), murder represents the simplest form of sexist terrorism. When it comes to masculine dominance, femicide is the best way to describe murders of women by their male counterparts, whether “motivated by hatred, contempt, pleasure or a sense of ownership of women" (Caputi and Russell 245). The authors assert "the aim of violence against women-whether conscious or not- is to preserve male supremacy" (Caputi & Russell 245). The authors further state that the homicidal culture is one whereby the male is worshipped. Such kind of worship is achieved through tyrannical means either overtly or covertly. When Mr. Wright figuratively murders his wife by killing the bird, there is transference of roles and Mrs. Wright now represents the cat. This symbol of the cat represents high levels of self-confidence and sexual interdependence. It is also a symbol of firm connection to creativity, intuition, and the unconscious. In ‘The Yellow Wallpaper, the symbol of the creature becomes apparent when the narrator begins to perceive a cat-like woman entrapped within the wallpaper. She sees herself crawling around the room and then freezes in bright spots just like a cat would do in the spotlight (Gilman 399). It is notable that these two women are reeling under the heavy burden of abuse and neglect by their husbands. It is this mistreatment that precipitates their downward spiral into a mental disorder. It seems that it is not beneficial in any way for the women to remain in such states of naivety and stay on the receiving end of the abuse. The authors are categorical that each of the women must devise ways that will free them from these depressing marriages that they had earlier mistaken as havens of love, care and happiness. It is high time that men understood the feeling of burden that women undergo under male oppression. Research studies have indicated that men who feel assaulted at any period in their lifetime suffer a great degrading loss of masculine identity at the hands of their perpetrators (Mulkey, 27). The authors in these two stories are adamant that women suffer more than simply a loss of feminine identity. Womens literature classes must demonstrate that empowerment is not only a process but also the result of the process. Essentially, the classes must acknowledge the fact that the concept of women empowerment should be viewed as the result of important dialogues, critical discussions and struggles generated by women movements such as those depicted in the two stories above. Gilman and Glaspell have demonstrated that women can use literature actively to engage in their world by knowing how to get what they want as well as influencing others in ways that propel their interests. According to Kellner Douglas, the ability to learn how to criticize, read, and understand the manipulation by different media messages can enable one to become empowered in relation to the dominant culture. The above women authors in are trying to demonstrate that even though women in the society have suffered from oppression for a long time, their ability to criticize the culture can boost their individual sovereignty over the contemporary culture, and provide them with "more power over their cultural environment" (Kellner 6). When it comes to cultural studies, the ideological concept has a central importance (Kellner 7). While acknowledging that the number of men who happily practice the hegemonic masculinity pattern in its entirety may be small, Paechter (2006) argues for a salient approach to such dominant forms of masculinity in offering a much wider group with patriarchal dividend in regards to the overall subordination of women (Paechter 255). In conclusion, it is plausible that the literature during this period offers insight into women lives concerning their roles and the societys expectation of them. As inferred in both stories, the woman has been subdued, dominated and confined to the home and the husband. In order to re-configure the social systems, the society needs to appreciate their colossal unseen dimensions. The details and salience that surrounds privilege is the core political tool here. The modern society, such as that highlighted by these two women, has kept the thinking on equity or equality incomplete, thereby protecting unearned advantage as well as conferred dominance by making some taboos the subjects of their reasoning (McIntosh 143). However, there remains a provision that women have sufficient motivation to seek changes that will reverse the oppressive culture that has made them subjects to masculine domination. The feeling of entrapment initiates the innermost desire for revolution and rebellion. Women like Gilman and Glaspell have utilized literature as an outlet through which they could share the tribulations of women in the society, and offer solutions that will lead to feminine independence and equality. Feminist advocates assert that when the patriarchal society is perceived as a benefit to social stability, it hinders movement into egalitarian roles desired by both women and men. It is plausible that patriarchal systems are widespread and that gender equality remains a historical fact in many cultures. In some other societies, gender equality is a fashionable fact. Works Cited Caputi, Jane & Russell, Diana. “Femicide: Speaking the Unspeakable.” London: Lang Communications Inc, 1990. Print Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. “An Introduction to Literature.15th ed.” Longman Pub Group, 2008. Print Glaspell, Susan. “Trifles. An Introduction to Literature.15th ed.” Longman Pub Group, 2008. 953-62. Print Kellner, Gouglas. “Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, and Media Culture.” In J. Humez (eds), Gender, Race, and Class in Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 1995. Print Kimmel, Michael. “Masculinity as Homophobia: Fear, Shame, and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity, from Harry Brod (ed): Theorizing Masculinity.” New York: SAGE Publications, 1994. Pp. 119-141. McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” In The Institution of Education, Menget et al (eds), New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. EBook. Mulkey, Marty. “Recreating masculinity: drama therapy with male survivors of sexual assault.” The Arts in Psychotherapy 31 (2004) 19–28. Print Paechter, Carrie. “Masculine femininities/feminine masculinities: power, identities and gender.” Gender and Education 18.3 (2006): 253–263. Print Read More