In Ivan Bunin’s short story Light Breathing, Olya LAST NAME manages societal views of women and rape. The way Bunin describes her rape illustrates it to be a satanic act. In order to cope with rape, Olya acts and dresses like a woman because that is how she views herself. However, this further damages her emotionally because she faces societal consequences from acting so far beyond her years. She understands how society views her and uses this understand to commit suicide in the form of homicide. Neither the man that kills her nor the man that rapes her face any consequences for their actions because society believes that their actions are a result of her behavior. Later, in the graveyard, Bunin gives some idea of how Olya fares in the afterlife. …show more content…
When walking with INSERT NAME, her rapist, he says he is like FAUST AND MARGARET. Faust is under the devil’s influence and Gretchen is so pious and pure that even Mephistopheles cannot corrupt her. Faust proves to be even more immoral and more evil than Mephistopheles, a demon, by taking advantage of Gretchen’s innocence and naivety. Further exemplifying the devil, INSERT NAME has DARK EYES AND A FORKED BEARD. Bunin only briefly touches on these details, showing how little the evil in rape matters to society when it comes from the man. Moreover, the story focuses on Olya’s behavior and how society views this as a cause for her …show more content…
She is scolded for acting like a woman, whereas previously she had been scolded for acting like a child. According to AUTHORS in their study The roles of situational factors, attributions, and guilt in the well-being of women who have experienced sexual coercion, Olya is “socially encouraged to "look at [herself]" for reasons as to why [she is] victimized” (CITE). She is also told that her appearance is her responsibility, as are the actions of those around her as her clothing influences them. The principal of her school rants at her, saying INSERT RANT HERE to dress more modestly, however she is dressing like a woman and, specifically, a woman of a higher class. She receives other messages from society, pointing her out as the cause of men’s actions. Olya begins to understand how society views her and how she can incite specific reactions from the men in her life. From this understanding, Olya manipulates INSERT NAME. She leads him to believe she will marry him, and in order to anger him to the point of murder, she revokes her promise of marriage. However, he does not react violently enough to this, so she shows him the diary page which she knows incriminates her in his eyes and will be enough justification for him to shoot
The contrast between how She sees herself and how the rest of the world sees Her can create extreme emotional strain; add on the fact that She hails from the early 1900s and it becomes evident that, though her mental construct is not necessarily prepared to understand the full breach against Her, She is still capable of some iota of realization. The discrimination encountered by a female during this time period is great and unceasing.
Dr. Mary Pipher’s novel, Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls uncovers the reason why girls coming of age change throughout puberty and how outside forces affect them. Throughout the book the readers see Pipher successfully uses the five canons of rhetoric to explain her thesis and purpose. Dr. Mary Pipher’s use of rhetoric helps to paint a clear picture of her purpose- what is affecting young girls and how society can help to better their lives by embracing these young girls and their flaws.
She begins to cry fearing that her father will not trust her anymore. However, when the father does not become angry, but blames her action on the fact that “She’s only a girl” (Munro 147), the young girl seems to accept his explanation. She said, “I didn’t protest that, even in my heart. “May be it was true” (Munro 147). At that point, it is possible to understand that the girl who once viewed her mother as being silly and dumb for talking about boys and dances was becoming that girl. She was accepting a gender role in society for herself that was based on going to dances and being with boys as opposed to feeding wolves and working on the farm (Rasporich 114).
The word “bias” has always had a negative connotation. Although it is used synonymously with bigotry and prejudice, its meaning is actually more akin to “point of view,” “personal tendency,” or “preference.” Just as every individual has her own worldview, so she has a set of biases. These biases are often observable in a person’s habits, speech, and, perhaps most explicitly, writings. Daniel Boorstin, renowned University of Chicago professor, historian, author, and librarian of Congress, is undeniably biased towards certain cultures in The Discoverers. A book chronicling mankind’s scientific history, its first words are “My hero is Man the Discoverer.” In his telling of “man’s search to know his world and himself,” Boorstin declares that
... against the societal patriarchal norms, thus coding her as “other” and the facilitator of horror.
Offred and a friend of hers were walking outside one day, saw a group of tourists and thought about how “[she] used to dress like [the tourists]” (Atwood 28). The tourists were wearing clothing and makeup such as skirts above their knees and red lipstick. Offred and her friend were fascinated and envious of these women. They couldn’t imagine themselves wearing clothes like the tourist were wearing. Even though they couldn’t imagine themselves wearing those type of clothes and makeup, they used to wear it in their past. Offred remembered herself going to the laundromat and putting “[her] own clothes, [her] own soap, [and her] own money” into the machines and “having such control” over what she used to do (Atwood 24). She doesn’t have that control over her life anymore. Some women, such as Aunt Lydia, feels that she should be grateful that she doesn’t have to do those things anymore. They feel that Offred is complaining about something that is actually a good thing. Society brainwashes these women into thinking that not having that kind of freedom is a good thing. Society also makes women think that they are just good for having children and sex. Therefore, women lose self-esteem because of the pressure that they are faced with on a daily basis. For example, in the story, Offred has low self-esteem. She “[avoids] looking at her body, not so much because it 's shameful or immodest but because [she doesn’t]
From gender delegations, gender discrimination, and gender shaming the world is messed up place. From Scout, to the Flappers, to Leelah Alcorn nobody seemed to show any remorse towards the discrimination of any of them. Whether its society, the friends, or even the parents everyone seems to follows society’s gender guidelines and they beat up on who doesn’t no matter who they are, even if it drives them to the point of suicide. When society admits a gender rule everyone is pushed to follow this guideline and if they don’t well, from what it seems like they should just kill themselves unless they change. Similar to Scout, she was perfectly fine dressing like a boy, acting like a boy, and playing with boys until her Aunt installed these insecurities in her head to make her change her views and essentially herself. Society seems to always get it’s
Once Orlando returns to the world of civility, boarding a ship to London in her new dress, she reflects upon the duties of a woman. She remembers that, as a man, she thought women were to be “exquisitely apparelled” but also “chaste year in and year out” (251). This upsets her as she is overwhelmed by the large effort she will have to put into her appearance only to get no reward. Orlando’s dilemma has been one that women have always faced: the balance of sexuality and modesty. Her society places heavy emphasis on marriage, wherein daughters vainly alter their appearance in hopes that they will use their beauty to attract a man of status. Consequently, they must also show modesty, not making a man want them too much, in order to preserve their image of purity. After losing her ability to be sexual, Orlando realizes that she faces many problems that she didn’t have as a man. In coming home after a long trip, Orlando returns to countless lawsuits because her sons are fighting for a property she can no longer own. Although Orlando “remained precisely as [she] had been” (220), her memories and ability the exact same, society deems her incapable of owning property. Orlando’s society would rather take everything from her than admit that her sex changed very little else about her ability and personality.
Alexander Mussap stresses how “women and men are socialized to conform to gender-stereotyped roles” and this conformity heavily influences all their actions (Mussap). Christina explains her situation as “a lady cadet in a man’s world” reflecting how, in the perspective of a woman, the world is fixed around men’s standards and needs (Brooks ). When Christina talks about the plane incident, it is clear that she is angry at herself, highlighting how she “was squatting over a bucket like a goddamn girl” underlining the idea that doing something “like a girl” is not something to be proud of (Brooks 175). Christina beats herself up about something that she cannot realistically take the blame for. This is because society has promoted the idea that women are the inferior gender, and that everything they do has a negative connotation linked to it. At the end of the chapter, when Gavin Blaire has his suspicions of Mets, Christina immediately jumps to the defense, which makes readers question would Gavin Blaire even be questioning Christina’s sanity and story if she were to be a man. Authors Natasha Patterson and Camilla Sears discuss how society “[let’s] men off the hook” and elaborate further how in general men “suffer few consequences, particularly career or publicity wise, and the public seems no longer shocked by it” (Patterson and
To start with, Bartky describes how women personalize men’s expectations in regards to their physical appearance, style, attitude and behavior, by using “internalization”. The author is trying to explain that women incarnate “patriarchal standards of bodily acceptability” meaning that have embodied the social standards; which make them feel guilty if they fail acting in accordance with the appropriate principles. Furthermore, women struggle to meet men’s expectations with the fear that if they don’t, they will face male refusal. ‘Male gaze’ constructs how women’s appearance should be according to what is more attractive and more appealing to men. It is also recognized from Bartky that women willingly accept what men want and the disciplines are forced to, but she also understands that the...
Ove is a grumpy old man fought with his beautiful wife Sonja, before she died. He never truly understands where anyone else is coming from. Sonja’s friends always questioned why she was marry such a miserable man. Ove soon realizes that if he wanted to
Women are still expected to follow rules that society has set for them. Advertisements with unrealistic beauty standards are shown millions of times everyday. Women are still expected to stay at home and cook and clean while men go to work. Scout is a very brave girl who is not afraid to break the rules society has set for her. In every chapter, Scout shows the reader that she is not afraid to be herself.
In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” Guin uses characters as the main symbols. In this story the child locked in a cellar is the most important symbol. This locked away child is a symbol for a scapegoat. The child is a scapegoat for all the wrong and bad that happens in Omelas. Omelas is only a perfect utopia because all the blame is put on the child. “They all know that it has to be there. Some of them understand why, and some do not, but they all understand that their happiness, the beauty of their city, the tenderness of their friendships, the health of their children, the wisdom...
In the short story, “Girl,” the narrator describes certain tasks a woman should be responsible for based on the narrator’s culture, time period, and social standing. This story also reflects the coming of age of this girl, her transition into a lady, and shows the age gap between the mother and the daughter. The mother has certain beliefs that she is trying to pass to her daughter for her well-being, but the daughter is confused by this regimented life style. The author, Jamaica Kincaid, uses various tones to show a second person point of view and repetition to demonstrate what these responsibilities felt like, how she had to behave based on her social standing, and how to follow traditional customs.
Later on in the story, the narrator begins to act different from the social norms. It may have been portrayed as her going mental. “I wonder how it was done and who did it, and what they did it for. Round and round and round – round and round and round – it makes me dizzy!” (Gilman 325). The narrator also notices how other women were affected by the pressure and social stigma from society. “Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind, and sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her crawling shakes it all over” (Gilman 325). Many other women in that era are being suppressed, not just the