Raymond's Run Argueaky

985 Words2 Pages

Squeaky and the Average Girl

“"Rosie the Riveter"” is an iconic piece of artwork used by feminists (as a symbol of unity) all around the world and after its rediscovery (it was not seen since the 1940s). Different from its WWII message in modern times, it has united women all over the globe against gender inequalities. "Rosie the Riveter" is a symbol of feminism and shows that women can be strong. This type of strength can be seen in Squeaky, the protagonist of “Raymond’s Run”, a story of an impoverished girl in 1960s Harlem, New York. Squeaky is plagued by gender stereotypes, as her mother wants her to become more girly-- like other girls-- and not what she is now. Squeaky does not want to be a “strawberry”; she wants to run. That …show more content…

Squeaky shows how she can be herself even when her mother forces a gender stereotype upon her: Squeaky does not want to be girly; she wants to be herself, as seen in the following …show more content…

(Page 32, line 188). Squeaky believes that her mother should be grateful that she is not wasting money on a dress that she will not be able to wear it next year, and the truth is that she is an impoverished black girl. Another example of Squeaky being similar to "Rosie the Riveter" is Squeaky refusing to be stereotyped and fighting back against gender inequalities, like being tough and standing up for yourself, instead of acting weak and girly. “That’s right fatso, and the next word out of anybody and I’ll be their mother too” page 31, line 160-161 . At this point in the story, Squeaky is standing up to bullies when they bully Raymond for having a mental disability. Like Rosie, Squeaky believes in people, specifically her brother, and wants to see him succeed. Proof of this can be seen in the following quote from Squeaky, “But what has Raymond got to call his own?” p. 37, line 388-389 . Squeaky realizes her brother has a running talent, and wants to help him succeed, just like Rosie did for the women during WWII. She wants to give Raymond something to be proud of. Similarly, "Rosie the Riveter"

Show More
Related

  • The Role Of Ruth Connors In The 1970's

    767 Words  | 2 Pages

    However, later in the book, readers soon discover how Ruth is labeled as “the quietest kind of rebel” by Susie for drawing “pictures of nude women that got misused by her peers” (Sebold 77). Whether it was because they feared drastic change or reactions, girls, such as Ruth, who were inspired by what they read, began to take small steps in expressing how they truly felt. By not setting up any restraints in her drawings, Ruth “refuses the constraints of the status quo in these areas as well as in the arena of acceptably feminine behavior” (Hacht 140). As more insight on Ruth is given, readers come to terms that the character’s thoughts and actions represent the 1970’s feminist movement due to her determination to deviate from social norms. Her development into a strong, independent woman mirrors real women who were also influenced by the same movement. In addition, Ruth’s free spirit embodies what all 70’s feminists were fighting for, liberation and

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of A Speech At The Democratic National Convention

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    Richards draws attention to the fact that she is a women giving the keynote speech by mentioning that “Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did …. She just did it backwards and in high heels” (Richards). Another, area where Mrs. Richards draws attention to herself as a women is when she mentions to the audience that she is a grandmother to a little girl named Lily, and how while rolling a ball back and forth with Lily, how she is going to explain to her how the world has changed, from blacks not being allowed to drink from the same water fountains as whites, to the fact that women weren’t allowed to vote, or that Spanish wasn’t allowed to be spoken in public schools when she was

    Read More

  • Comparing Raymond's Run And The Good Deed

    483 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “Raymond’s Run”, Squeaky is very offensive. She “[doesn’t] feature a whole lot of chit-chat, [she’d] much prefer to just knock you down right from the jump and save everybody a lotta precious time.”. She is too offensive to make friends, as shown in a scene where she meets some other girls in her class. She immediately

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Film Iron Jaw Angels

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    This movie explains the struggle of American women who, in the beginning of the 20th century, started showing resistance of unequal treatment. In the movie, the National Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was the body that has kicked off advocate that the United States government amend the constitution to allow women the rights to vote. The association was leaded by Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Chapman. In the process, Alice Paul, a University of Pennsylvania doctorate graduate, was introduced to the National Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA). Alice Paul with her friend Lucy Burns, an Oxford graduate, approached the NWASA leaders, Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Chapman, to discuss how to contribute to the suffrage movement. Alice suggested that a parade will get the attention of Washington politicians and the media, but Anna and Carrie were not willing to fund such effort. They authorized Alice and Lucy to setup the congressional union and go ahead with the parade in Washington; Anna told them that NAWSA will not fund the

    Read More

  • Gender Roles By Jamacia Kincaid, Alice Munro And Joyce Carol Oates

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the story, however, the word girl is constantly used as an insult against her. For example, when a feed salesman comes to the father, the father introduces her as a hired-hand, and the salesman laughs and says, “ ‘Could of fooled me.’ He said ‘I thought it was only a girl.’” The mother also reinforces that she should not be out there when she talks to the father about keeping the girl inside. The narrator sees her mother in a negative light and does not want to become her; she hates housework and describes it as depressing and endless, despite the fact that shortly after she says that the father’s work is “ritualistically important.”

    Read More

  • The Role Of Black Women In The Film Imitation Of Life?

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    Annie’s role is that of the stereotypical Mammy. The Mammy as a controlling image influences Black women deeply, for she is the caregiver to White children while neglecting her own, she cooks and cleans after a White family and is happy while doing so, thus as she works hard as men do, she is not viewed in the same feminine lens. Collins describes how this image was created to justify the exploitation of Black women doing domestic services, “by loving, nurturing, and caring for her White children and “family” better than her own, the mammy symbolizes the dominant group’s perceptions of the ideal Black female relationship to elite White male power” (71). Therefore even as Annie takes care of her daughter and Lora’s, Annie is eager and accepting of her subordination. Collins further states “Black women who internalize the mammy image potentially become effective conduits for perpetuating racial oppression. Ideas about mammy buttress racial hierarchies in other ways. Employing Black women in mammified occupations supports the racial superiority of White employers” (72). This is seen within the film, both by the role Annie symbolizes and the fact that this role was offered to Black women during that

    Read More

  • Comparing Women in The Bell Jar and Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

    1032 Words  | 3 Pages

    In their manifesto, the Redstockings argued that the relationship between men and women was a class relationship, and that the men repressed and controlled the women. The women were objects, and the men owned them. They said that, as a class, women "are exploited as sex objects, breeders, domestic servants, and cheap labor" by the male class(Bloom, Takin' it to the Streets, 486). Many of the women characters in The Bell Jar and Enormous Changes at the Last Minute give us examples of this repression and exploitation.

    Read More

  • Hedwig And The Angry Inch Stereotypes

    1883 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a future class, the question “what is a woman?” should be addressed with a study of the musical film Hedwig and the Angry Inch because Hedwig reveals how a façade can lead to authenticity. Many women today are under the impression that they must fit a certain gender binary mold in order to live up to the definition of their gender. Women plaster on makeup and create personas centered around societal beliefs and not personal beliefs. Hedwig and the Angry Inch highlights how the gender binary mold lead individuals to choose a gender and within that set gender mold, express themselves to a limited extent. In other words, makeup and playing into the gender binary isn’t terrible. However, it leads to a constricted form of self-expression that

    Read More

  • Janisse Ray: Defying The Norm

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Janisse Ray was not your typical southern girl; “feminism came early and naturally to me” (Ray 203). In her book Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Ray takes us into her childhood and way of life. Ray talks about the land she grew up on, and shows us that through her childhood she became a “tomboy” as her mother stated (Ray 203). In the South in the 1960’s this was not smiled upon, women were supposed to fit a certain role. Janisse Ray’s book is influenced by her gender and she also looks not only at the stereotypes of men and women, but conflicts that arise from these stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Wuthering Heights By Alice Ann Munro

    2460 Words  | 5 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • Wonder Woman: A Symbol of the Feminist Movement

    3230 Words  | 7 Pages

    For over 60 years, Wonder Woman has filled the pages of her magazine with adventures ranging from battling Nazis, to declawing human-like Cheetahs. Her exploits thrilled and inspired many young girls, including Gloria Steinem. Through all of this, she has had to pilot her invisible jet through territories that her male counterparts have never had to. She is constantly pulled in two directions; her stories must be entertaining and non threatening to the male status quo, while simultaneously furthering her as the original symbol of 'Girl Power.' She is praised for being an icon of strength to women everywhere, but chastised for wearing a skimpy costume and tying men up, as if she were no more than a male fantasy. No comic book character has had to endure as much scrutiny as Wonder Woman. That's because Wonder Woman represents an entire gender, at a time of important social flux. Although she was created by a man to influence a male audience, Wonder Woman has evolved into an important symbol of the feminist movement.

    Read More

  • Raymond's Run Essay

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    I think that one of the themes in Raymond’s Run by Toni Cade Barbara is putting family first. I think this because squeaky defends Raymond, she throws hard work away for Raymond, and she teaches Raymond.

    Read More

  • Masculine and Feminine Norms and Gender Identity

    1481 Words  | 3 Pages

    Norms in society do not just come about randomly in one’s life, they start once a child is born. To emphasize, directly from infancy, children are being guided to norms due to their parents’ preferences and choices they create for them, whether it is playing with legos, or a doll house; gender classification begins in the womb. A prime example comes from a female author, Ev’Yan, of the book “Sex, love,Liberation,” who strongly expresses her feelings for feminism and the constant pressure to conform to gender. She stated that “From a very young age, I was taught consistently & subliminally about what it means to be a girl, to the point where it became second nature. The Disney films, fairy tales, & depictions of women in the media gave me a good definition of what femininity was. It also showed me what femininity wasn’t (Ev’Yan).She felt that society puts so much pressure on ourselves to be as close to our gender identities as possible, with no confusion; to prevent confusion, her mother always forced her to wear dresses. In her book, she expressed her opinion that her parents already knew her gender before she was born, allowing them t...

    Read More

  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker and Push, by Sapphire

    3221 Words  | 7 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Raymond's Run Theme Essay

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    The theme of the book “Raymond’s Run” is that friendship, love, and respect are most important in life than the competition. This theme is supported by the fact that Squeaky is more focused on her delight at seeing Raymond after the race than on finding out who won. "You’d think she’d be glad her daughter ain’t out there prancing around a May Pole getting the new clothes all dirty and sweaty and trying to act like a fairy or a flower or whatever you’re supposed to be when you should be trying to be yourself, whatever that is, which is, as far as I am concerned, a poor black girl who really can’t afford to buy shoes and a new dress you only wear once a lifetime because it won’t fit next year."

    Read More

More about Raymond's Run Argueaky

Open Document