Life is But a Stage...
This fall I performed the role of Stage Manager in the local high school production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Our director didn't cast the role as the traditional lead, white male that most productions use; we cut the role into two female parts of different race. Without the traditional portrayal to fall back on, we had to create our characters from scratch. The thought crossed my mind a few times that my character didn't really have a name. Certain names remind you of stereotypes, and based on a name you can make some easy, general choices on how to portray that character. Mindy is a ditz, Christine can easily be a nerd, and Irma can make a nice old maid. That name association gives you a point to start from, after which you can explore other things. But where on earth do you start with a name like Stage?
I formed an image of a guy wearing dirty overalls, walking barefoot and playing guitar outside his cabin in the woods. He liked to philosophize about the world, and found that a little Bailey's in his coffee made that world slightly clearer. He didn't need people around and didn't completely understand them -- or maybe he did, and just got frustrated because they didn't understand themselves. He usually walked with his hands in his pockets, looking either up at the trees or down at the ground, but never focused at eye level. Somewhere in the process I adopted a feminine perspective on my character, very much a tomboy but also very much a woman.
At two points in the show I took on other roles. . . in Act Two I played the minister at the wedding, which was a background character and not very distinct. Then, with fairly short notice I took on the role of Joe the undertaker in Act Three. I learned the blocking and the lines quickly, but my problem was that I had to change into Joe right on-stage, and just after my favorite Stage Manager speech. I decided to use a few simple physical traits to help get into character. First I buttoned my shirt, which in three seconds was the only thing I could think of to give the audience some clue that I was changing identities. I developed a squint, changed the tone of my voice, and I gave Joe a limp by keeping my left knee locked.
Knowing that the girls in her dorm felt disgusted and uncomfortable to have a male urinal in the bathroom, she decided to modify it in a feminine way which would cater to their needs. In the empathizing-systemizing (E-S) theory of sex differences in cognitive style, males are held to be characterized by a stronger systemizing or analytical style, whereas female boast a stronger empathizing style (Abraham et al 2016). Thus, it shows that Zoey (who’s a female) puts herself in other people’s shoes when she does things.
Millhone’s personality is “free spirit” and a tomboy type of character in this novel. She tends to avoid the typical female gender orientation by wearing mostly jeans, shorts, and, most importantly, turtleneck sweaters as a normal part of clothing attire when she begins her day with a morning jog: “A pair of shorts and an old cotton turtleneck. I’m really not a physical fitness advocate” (Grafton 67). In this manner, Millhone is not a woman that is overly concerned with her appearance, which gives her a carefree quality in her behaviors. This aspect of Millhone’s character defines a tomboy personality that cares very little for the traditional “feminine” gender role.
Brannon, Linda. "Chapter 7 Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity." Gender: Psychological Perspectives. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2005. 159-83. Print.
Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her drunken husband Stanley, and also in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, where the female narrator is claimed unfit by her husband as she suffers from a sort of depression, and is generally looked down on for other reasons.
The French Revolution started during 1789, it allowed for the people to have a better government that actually protected the natural rights of the people. This toke a nearly a decade of rioting and violence for the Third Estate to have their way and get the rights they deserved. From all the causes like the famine of wheat, long debts because of wars, the heavy taxes, and their rights not being protected, some causes stood out more than the others. It is noted that these reasons had to play a major role in order for the French Revolution to occur. The three most important causes of the French revolution are the ideas that came from the Enlightenment, the Old Regime not being an efficient class system, and the heavy taxation.
Sandra Cisneros’s coming of age novel The House on Mango Street, is a good example of an instance where the ‘macho man’ stereotype is extenuated. Esmerelda, the narrator, is growing up in a very traditional patriarchal culture. In this environment, the men are seen as the head of the family, often controlling what his wife and family can do. In the chapter, “Alice Who Sees Mice” Esmerelda tells about a girl, Alice, who was forced to take her mother’s role and care for her younger siblings and father. When she attempts to go to school to escape the life, her father berates her sections and tells her that her
characters created to display a woman’s search for a way out of the bonds of her society.
Why do authors or directors decide to give no names or self-refuting names for characters in their films or books? Nobody refers to be called “Nobody” however he is certainly not nobody. As a matter of fact, he is a savior and a guide to a helplessly injured white man. In the film “A Fistful of Dollars,” Clint Eastwood’s character is introduced as “The Man with No Name” and is often being called “Stranger” throughout the film. Perhaps, the viewers do not question his name because Stranger appears as a complete stranger, the townspeople are surprised and unpleasant of his arrival to their little Mexican border town. On the other hand, Cormac McCarthy also establishes two nameless characters—the judge and the kid. The kid’s name is not revealed attributing a sense of lowliness, insignificance and abandonment of his family. However, Judge Holden’s character is often called “the judge” not just “a judge,” therefore his name suggests that he has power and control over all he encounters.
...rule of Amenemhet. He was responsible for rebuilding democracy, staff of scribes and administrations. He used propaganda literature to reinforce his position as king. The Egyptians pictured him as a good shepherd opposed to inaccessible god. Ammon was given prominise over other gods. His kingdom became extremely powerful. He established trades with foreign land and formed a standing Army and built forts on the southern frontier.
Even though Crane threatens the women of Sleepy Hollow with his intrusiveness and vast knowledge of things beyond the Hollow, he surprisingly associates with them more and with greater ease that with the men of Sleepy Hollow. The "feminine" in Crane is ...
The protagonist in the story began to realize society’s views of her when her father introduced her to a salesman, while she was working outside, as his “new hired hand”. She was almost pleased until the salesman replied “I thought it was only a girl”. Even her grandmother bombarded her with commands, “Girls keep their knees together when they sit down.” And “Girls don’t slam doors like that.” The worst was when she asked a question and her grandmother answered “That’s none of a girl’s business.” Even after that, she continued to slam doors and sit awkwardly because she felt that it kept her free. In other words, she was not ready to accept and claim her gender identity.
Gender is such a controversial subject. There are some people who see it as what you are born as whereas other people see it as a choice to be whatever you want. There are people who judge whatever gender you are, no matter the choices you make. Paul Theroux wrote about how restrictive masculinity is in his article “Being a Man.” There are so many more restrictions on being feminine. Theroux’s idea of masculinity being restrictive is being challenged on the account that being feminine is seen as bad, and weak.
For this essay I will use the number 2 and 3 definitions of wealth and the number 2 definition of opportunity
‘Like it or not … one cannot be gender-neutral in this culture ' (Bordo 2003: 242). With reference to your own examples, discuss the construction of gendered identities and differences in popular culture.
The young girl in the story is struggling with finding her own gender identity. She would much rather work alongside her father, who was “tirelessly inventive” (Munro 328), than stay and work with her mother in the kitchen, depicted through, “As soon as I was done I ran out of the house, trying to get out of earshot before my mother thought of what to do next” (329). The girl is torn between what her duties are suppose to be as a woman, and what she would rather be doing, which is work with her father. She sees her father’s work as important and worthwhile, while she sees her mother’s work as tedious and not meaningful. Although she knows her duties as a woman and what her mother expects of her, she would like to break the mould and become more like her father. It is evident that she likes to please her father in the work she does for him when her father says to the feed salesman, “Like to have you meet my new hired man.” I turned away and raked furiously, red in the face with pleasure (328-329). Even though the young girl is fixed on what she wants, she has influences from both genders i...