Woman's Image in Novel Scruple by Judith Krantz - Research Paper Example

Women in Literature Question 1 A novel that got my attention was written by Judith Krantz in 1978 called Scruples. This is a novel detailing the journey of Billy, who is an overweight girl and had to deal with issues that were not of great concern to her, but which mattered a lot to the society. Any woman who was overweight as considered backwards and this made it difficult to find anyone to love. Judith looks at life from the society’s angle where the aesthetic attributes make more sense than the way an individual behaves when dealing with different attributes within the society. In most cases, the women have to undergo various body changes to suit the desired shape while the men can get away with anything provided the society remains a paternalistic one. Billy had to turn to food for comfort when her family was nowhere near to help her during her younger years. The housekeeper must have been happy to get a child who loved to eat because she made sure she fed her well. She loses weight when she heads to Paris to live with a French family and incidentally reconsiders her ideologies as she gets a new awakening that transforms her body and soul (Shimura & Palmer 94-98). Billy is willing to make use of the $10,000 she inherited from her aunt. She gets to learn that an elegant woman has to be stylish and thin rather than the overweight woman she was before coming to Paris. When she returns to New York, people were awed by her body and they liked her new look. She meets Jessica who shows her about money and men and embarks on a sexual discovery. She lives glamorously and is happy about the life she has begun (Shimura & Palmer 99). From this novel, it is easy to see that the author is looking at two main aesthetic values and themes that characterized the modern woman. The novel shows the different aspects that women were known for rather than their knowledge and wits of what was happening in the society. At the end of it all, Krantz shows that the society has to look at a woman from another angle. Though Billy inherits a huge fortune from his much older husband, she opens a boutique to help her deal with the shopping compulsion she developed when her husband was still alive (Shimura & Palmer 102-3). The first theme portrayed is of sexual awakenings. Before her return to New York, Billy was happy with her status. However, it was not until Jessica showed her the beauty of having many sexual escapades that she decided to explore her sexuality. She married an older person and upon his death, she felt guilty. This shows that her conscious was not clear regarding the issue of her husband and his stroke. This meant that she was a stereotypical girl looking for a wealthy man to marry (Shimura & Palmer 104). The second theme was body and embodiment, which shows the design and shape that women ought to adopt for them to feel worthy. When she was overweight, she was hopeless and no one gave her a second chance. Everyone was unwilling to see her as a girl in trouble. Had she not had the inheritance from her auntie, it could have been difficult to attain the kind of attention she had after coming back from Paris. The culture was only beneficial to the men but the women had to change to fit a certain level. If this did not happen, it would be difficult to seek empowerment on many different levels of interaction in the society (Shimura & Palmer 110). Ideally, the society had set a culture that could only view women based on their sexuality and their bodies. The author also shows that men and money were a common narrative theme that played right into the needs of the men at the expense of the women (Grazian 99). Question 2 When looking at feminism, it cannot be only about the gender. Equality is also an issue that many examine. It is an important aspect of the society that requires instant and constant attention. This is seen when looking at feminist literature. Of greater importance is the understanding of how a narrative and novel from a feminist differs from each other. Mostly, the growing need for a social gathering to expound on the issues that affect the women is rife across the society (Griswold 21). This leads to the growth of literal aspects such as novels and narratives to deal with the need to pass information and air what people feel as their inherent desires and needs. A novel is not only about whom the feminists are but also the way they live. It considers the plight of women and examines the greater goals within the society that make the writings descriptive of what the society is all about. The women have suffered for a long time and feminist need to show this to the world through their works. It does not explicitly deal with the lives of women and their stories alone (Griswold 25). It has to show the cause for change the inherent need for the growing aspect of humane treatment of women wherever they are in the world. It is a platform to air the views and agitate for change. Narratives on the contrary, are those that make it difficult to deal with arising issues while similarly making greater impact on the capabilities that women possess in their literal prowess. It is a place where women portray their abilities that show an ease in communication when the need arises. They have a niche that novels do not when it comes to accessing different markets and populations. Novels will have to fall under a variety of categories because readers have a specific taste and preference when it comes to reading (Griswold 26-7). Narratives, however, are an essential aspect that shows the imaginative capability of women in their surroundings. The similarity between the novel and the narrative is the intention to show the growing skills women are gaining from their surrounding and the ease with which they communicate their ideas to a wider audience (Griswold 32). Question 3 Feminism and music has taken different twists and turns in the past years. Women have taken over the industry and are now more involved in making and producing music than before. They have become the center of attraction and currently make it their duty to deal with issues within their surroundings. The growing need for a better understanding of the society at hand makes it ideal to revitalize the needs of the society and ensure they spread their skills across the globe (Durham 41). However, the issues that feminists were seeking liberation from have taken center stage in a rather strong attribute. The women have become objects of sexual desire and are taking their skills for granted (Grazian 111). They still have issues with their bodies and have to maintain a certain shape and size to reach their goals. They are not willing to overlook any chances of getting famous, with some having implants to either make them more desirous or sexier, depending on their genre of music (Grazian 114). Feminism in music has not really made the impact expected, given the lack of confidence that women have had when making and producing their music. They have not agreed on making a good impression based on their skills but on their sexuality (Ellis 55). It is important to understand the difference between dealing with body issues such as obesity and anorexia, and the deliberate changing of one’s preferences to gain fame (Grazian 116). Some of these women do not understand the risks involved in making some of the changes or even incisions in their body, yet continue to grace the screens skimpily dressed and overrating their sexuality just to earn followers (Durham 44). They have to embody the same aspects that men do and the issues that led to the feminist waves earlier on. These issues were affecting so many people hence the need to be against such demeaning acts (Ellis 58). Works Cited Durham, Aisha. ‘Check on It’, Feminist Media Studies, 12.1(2012): 35-49. Print. Ellis, John. ‘Stars as Cinematic phenomenon’, in Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader, ed. by Sean Redmond and Su Holmes, New Delhi: SAGE, 2007. Print. Grazian, David. Mix it up: Popular Culture, Mass Media, and Society. New York: W.W.Norton, 2010. Print. Griswold, Wendy. Cultures and Societies in a Changing World. London: SAGE Publications, 2013. Print. Shimura, Arthur P. & Stephen E. Palmer. Aesthetic Science: Connecting Minds, Brains, and Experience. Oxford University Press, 2012. Print. Read More