Devin Hanaway
April 1, 2014
Prof. Donato Fhunsu
AAAD 201
A Look into Freedom of the Judged and Oppressed
Throughout history we patriarchal societies dominating culture, with exceptions few and far between. From the Ottoman Empire to ancient Rome, from the Incans to the Mayans, and all through history we see the men have dominated cultures and for the most part, white men. Women’s rights groups worked in the 60’s to fight for equality of genders, but a more recent notion suggests that it is not individual rights that are the problem. The problem is about freedom, or the lack there of. Throughout history people have be oppressed and persecuted for various traits or qualities. In two novels Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and I, Tituba, by Maryse Condé, the two main women serve as great examples of the people deal with oppression and persecution of not, only sex, not only race, and not only religion, but of the many traits ostracized throughout history
While the two women, Sister Beatrice in purple hibiscus, and Tituba in I,Tituba live two completely different lives, in two completely different places in time and space. The two share a bond that can found even in the history of Christianity, with Eve and the story of the forbidden fruit. As Adam decided that eve dangerous and evil and had caused him to sin, a quality that has sustained through history. Women are seen as the root of evil and are oppressed for being nothing more then themselves. These two women go further than just this though, they are both black women, and happen to be in times and places where black is too seen as evil and where spiritual practice seems to be scrutinized no matter where one stands.
Sister Beatrice is a woman who finds herself amid...
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...ing, “I want this man to love me” (Conde, pg. 14). Mama Yaya simply replied, “Men do not love. They possess. They subjugate” (Conde, pg. 14).
Mama Yaya simply was trying to protect Tituba from being oppressed and loosing her freedom, but many times people must figure out the hardest lesson through their own actions than from the wisdom of others. . Mama Yaya saw that Tituba was ultimately giving insight into her life path, a path that would involve Tituba making many sacrifices in order to be involved with John Indian, as well as men in general. Similar to the challenges Sister Beatrice faces as a woman in Purple Hibiscus, Tituba exhibited submissive behavior simply for the comfort of a male companion. For Tituba, deciding to invest time, energy, and emotional connection to a man who brings no promise of a lengthy, committed relationship is a challenge she faces.
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
Tituba was a slave from Barbados, that clearly means that her beliefs were different from the Puritan religion. “ In the beginning of the play the girls
Society continually places restrictive standards on the female gender not only fifty years ago, but in today’s society as well. While many women have overcome many unfair prejudices and oppressions in the last fifty or so years, late nineteenth and early twentieth century women were forced to deal with a less understanding culture. In its various formulations, patriarchy posits men's traits and/or intentions as the cause of women's oppression. This way of thinking diverts attention from theorizing the social relations that place women in a disadvantageous position in every sphere of life and channels it towards men as the cause of women's oppression (Gimenez). Different people had many ways of voicing their opinions concerning gender inequalities amound women, including expressing their voices and opinions through their literature. By writing stories such as Daisy Miller and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Henry James let readers understand and develop their own ideas on such a serious topic that took a major toll in American History. In this essay, I am going to compare Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” to James’ “Daisy Miller” as portraits of American women in peril and also the men that had a great influence.
The novel begins by “Abena, my mother, was raped by an English Sailor on the deck of Christ the King one day in the year 16** while the ship was sailing for Barbados. I was born from this act of aggression. From this act of hatred and contempt,” (Condé 1). Her mother Abena was a slave and Tituba was born into slavery. Tituba was concemption is due to a white sailor raping her mother, an example of a white man dominating a black woman. The hierarchy is clearly established between the black people like Abena and Tituba, and the white slave owners. The policing of this hierarchy causes Tituba to see the very dramatic deaths of her mother Abena and a father like figure in Yao. Tituba’s early life experiences is only the beginning of despicable acts done to her and the people she cares
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
Throughout Tituba’s life she came across a lot of judgment from her own race that caused her to experience some draw backs. An example would be when Tituba lived by herself after Mama Yaya died where all of the other black slaves were viewing her in a way of disgust. She stated “when they saw me, everybody jumped into the grass” (11). The slaves thought that Tituba should be at work with them, due to the color of her skin. They didn't take into account what she had been through, they just saw the color of her skin. In addition, Tituba felt discrim...
In the analysis of the issue in question, I have considered Mary Wollstonecraft’s Text, Vindication of the Rights of Woman. As an equivocal for liberties for humanity, Wollstonecraft was a feminist who championed for women rights of her time. Having witnessed devastating results or men’s improvidence, Wollstonecraft embraced an independent life, educated herself, and ultimately earned a living as a writer, teacher, and governess. In her book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” she created a scandal perhaps to her unconventional lifestyle. The book is a manifesto of women rights arguing passionately for educating women. Sensualist and tyrants appear right in their endeavor to hold women in darkness to serve as slaves and their plaything. Anyone with a keen interest in women rights movement will surely welcome her inexpensive edition, a landmark documen...
Oppression is a term that has been used throughout history to describe the injustices brought upon minority groups. Feminist writer Marilyn Frye shared the definition of oppression, which essentially means to shape or conform certain groups of people (for this paper women will be used as the primary example) into socially constructed ideals through restrictions that mold and immobilize minority groups or females (Frye 11). According to Marilyn Frye, this term is sometimes loosely thrown around and used out of the term’s true context. The misuse of this term often creates a misconstrued view of what true oppression is and how particular groups of people are able to function within
Throughout history society has been controlled by men, and because of this women were exposed to some very demanding expectations. A woman was expected to be a wife, a mother, a cook, a maid, and sexually obedient to men. As a form of patriarchal silencing any woman who deviated from these expectations was often a victim of physical, emotional, and social beatings. Creativity and individuality were dirty, sinful and very inappropriate for a respectful woman. By taking away women’s voices, men were able to remove any power that they might have had. In both Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening”, we see that there are two types of women who arise from the demands of these expectations. The first is the obedient women, the one who has buckled and succumbed to become an empty emotionless shell. In men’s eyes this type of woman was a sort of “angel” perfect in that she did and acted exactly as what was expected of her. The second type of woman is the “rebel”, the woman who is willing to fight in order to keep her creativity and passion. Patriarchal silencing inspires a bond between those women who are forced into submission and/or those who are too submissive to maintain their individuality, and those women who are able and willing to fight for the ability to be unique.
Morrison uses the awkwardness of the two women’s meetings combined with the words spoken by the women to portray the confusion of race throughout the story. The first meeting was at Saint Bonaventure when they were roommates. Twyla’s mother was “always dancing” as a stripper and Roberta’s mother was a well off business woman “who was always sick” (Morrison) as Roberta would say. In the time period of the story, it would have made sense that a black mother would not have had a good paying job as a business woman. Because of this, one would think that Twyla was the black child while Roberta was the white one. Also, both girls’ mothers come to visit St. Bonny’s one day. Morrison focuses on the interaction between the grown women. Twyla’s mother, Mary, is dressed inappropriately and Roberta’s mother is dressed very well with “an enormous cross on her even more enormou...
Women had no choice but to follow whatever society told them to because there was no other option for them. Change was very hard for these women due to unexpected demands required from them. They held back every time change came their way, they had to put up with their oppressors because they didn’t have a mind of their own. Both authors described how their society affected them during this historical period.
...what she needs. She, an elder who should be respected, submits in a manner befitting of a female in that society. This further exemplifies the inherent control that men exert over women.
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
Since the beginning of time, women have strived to achieve an equal status in society. The vast majority of women have rebelled against the norm for equal status. As if washing the dirt off one’s hands, women are forgotten for all of their achievements. The identity of women in the Western world has evolved from domesticity and servility, and moved toward their valuation as individuals of intellect, talent, and independence. The culture about women’s empowerment has been reflected in literature and history throughout many ages.