Free Women And Gender Essay Sample

Over time, the manner in which women were defined in the society has changed. Initially, the roles of women were prescribed to be those in the kitchen and around the compound. Males always relied on the ancient theories that considered them superior to oppress women. However, as time goes by, women have managed to advocate for their rights. As Haraway argues, ‘women know very well that knowledge from natural sciences has been used in the interests of our domination and not our liberation’ (Haraway, 10). Women were seen as playing a subordinate role to men, and they were always seen as inferior objects. However, this has changed. Women have become more aggressive, and they are now considered equals of men. The job allocation in the current market does not take into account the gender of an individual. This is because the women have proved that they can do anything that the men can do. As such, discrimination based on gender has no place in the modern society.
Femininity refers to a group of attributes and behaviors that are commonly linked to women and girls. Essentially, femininity is constructed socially. This implies that all that is considered as being feminine in one society may differ from the other society, depending on the culture and the traditions. Similarly, anything termed as being feminine could be different from all that is considered the biological female sex. Some traits are considered feminine, inherently and traditionally. Sensitivity, gentleness and empathy have always been associated to femininity. However, it is important to note that the traits that are associated to either masculinity or femininity vary depending on the cultural and social factors. As such, femininity depends on the society’s take on something.
C.L. Moore’s No Woman Born is a short story that tells about how a famous dancer, Deirdre perished in a theatre fire. This is all about fiction. However, Maltzer, a scientist, saved her brain from the fire. Maltzer placed Deirdre’s brain in a metal body that he developed. The essence of this was to preserve Deirdre. Eventually, Maltzer’s work amazed John Harris, who was Deirdre’s former manager. The effect of this preservation was that Deirdre was perceived to be a beautiful golden robot. Despite the fact that she is only a robot, Deidre has the qualities to communicate verbally and has the abilities to move in a similar manner that she used to when she was alive
Soon, Deidre moves to the stage, amid reservations from Maltzer. Maltzer thinks that the public will perceive her as a novelty. Deirdre manages to put up wonderful performances, exceeding the performances that she put up when she was alive. This prompts the public to erupt with approval on whatever they saw from Deidre. However, this angers Maltzer, the effect being that decides to retreat for several weeks to solitude. Later when she returns, Maltzer takes his own life after concluding that the creature he built was a mistake. However, before Maltzer could achieve to do so, Deidre managed to save him with speed and agility. She then reveals to Maltzer that instead of being subhuman as he had intended her to be, she ended up having abilities that cannot be matched by humankind. As such, she also fears that her newfound superhuman qualities would see her detached from humanity. As such, she requests Maltzer and Harris that she stays with the public. This is so in order that she remains connected to the public that she considered to be of her kind.
The story by C. L. Moore, largely, reveals major aspects of feminism in the modern times. Feminism themes are well integrated into the book, as further evidence of the evolution of feminism and the emerging roles of women in the society. As such, the women can be equated to men since they are almost par with them. Whatever men can do, women have an equal chance to do it equally. Essentially, this story offers a valid insight to issues that are related to power, female beauty and embodiment in general.
Largely in the story, Moore manages to explore the image of the women. As such, she manages to expose how it is constructed socially. This is unlike the past theories that considered women to be weaklings and inferior to men. These sentiments seem to rhyme with those expressed by Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique. In the book, Friedan argues 'the American girls started getting married in High School’ (Friedan, 32). Conclusively, this shows that education for the girl child was not considered essential. She describes Deirdre as a superstar in the entertainment scene as she had the abilities to dance efficiently. The description goes to a further extent, terming her to be the loveliest creature. Essentially, although the theater fire destroyed her body, her brains survived. It is at this stage that her body is compared to an electromechanical machine. When John Harris arrives to have a look at the new form of Deirdre, it creates a picture that feminism has succeeded to get command by all people in the society, even from the masculine gender.
The theme of feminism has played a major role in the development of Moore’s story on No Woman Born. The introductory part of the story concentrates on the definition that should be given to Deirdre’s body. Essentially, according to Harris, Deirdre’s uniqueness was not because of her body. Harris speaks to the effect that there are several women in the world with perfect features, but they have never been remembered. What made Deirdre shining and lovely, as such, was not her body, rather her character. This leads one to the conclusions that a person’s body is not of major emphasis. What shines through the body is the most important thing on mankind. As such, whether female or male, humans should be respected according to the qualities they have, rather than the gender they belong to.
The definition of femininity should not be based on the physical qualities. As shown in the story, nothing is impossible for women. Outside beauty is just but an illusion that should not be given much concern. Even when she was destroyed by fire, her brains still worked wonders. After Maltzer molded her brain in a golden metal, Deirdre still managed to attract fans, much to the dislike of Maltzer who contemplates ending his life. Even after losing her face, Deirdre could still dance better, hence bringing out her super qualities as a superhuman. In essence, the other two novels are consistent with the femininity in a modern society as argued by Moore’s No Woman Born.
On a similar note, The Feminine Mystique was written by Betty Friedan and has been credited to be galvanizing the feminism in the modern world. After conducting a survey on the role that women played, she concluded that most women by then acted as mere housewives. This is a role hated by the majority, but they thought they had no other option. Instead, they were always under the shadow of men and played a substitute role. The author terms this issue as a problem without a name. Apparently, this widespread problem made the women unhappy. Marriage alone and material comfort does not make a woman happy. They need to have their dignity and command respect among the members of the society. As such, this book was geared towards mobilizing women to rethink their position in the community. Housewifery and marriage do not offer fulfillment to women. This led to the fact that it became difficult for them to ignore the voice from within to the effect that they wanted something more than their homes, children and the husband. As such, the book entirely focused on feminism and on the agenda of how to empower women in the society.
Throughout the book, the arguments that Friedan seeks to bring out was how women were perceived poorly in the society and the reasons as to why they should be given a chance to participate in the development of the society. For instance, she reveals how men made most editorial decisions despite the fact that they contained information related to women. As such; the articles did not reveal the real plight of the women in the society. Any problem that women were related to was always considered to be because of their failure or their marriage. Friedan argues, 'if a woman had a problem in the 1950s and 1960s, she knew that something must be wrong with her marriage or herself’( Friedan, 19).The men portrayed the women as being happy to be housewives, which was very wrong and inconsistent from what was taking place. She at one time had to give up her promising career in order to raise children. This is a problem that most women faced, and in most cases, it made them drop from schools at early stages in order to attract men and get married. Becoming educated, she revealed, would play a major role in ensuring that the women would be unattractive to the men.
The effect of the book was intended to reveal how women were treated with scorn in the society. As a piece of advice, she motivates her fellow women to have a new life plan. Though self-actualization is a tough task, as they would have to face many opposing ideas, they had to gang up in order to succeed. As such, she also gives a list of women who have gone against the societal norms of portraying women as housewives to become important members of the society. As she concludes in the book, education and meaningful work are the only means through which her fellow women would avoid being trapped in the mystique. As such, she advises the women to rethink what it takes to be feminine. Essentially, the book is entirely on feminism as she tries to motivate the women to rediscover their role in the community.
‘Simians, Cyborgs and Women’, on the other hand, is a book by Donna Haraway in which she discusses the role gender plays in the world of science and technology. This book has become a catalyst to the post feminist era theories that deal with cyber culture. Similar to the two books already discussed above, this book was geared towards encouraging women and young women to dictate their destinies, rather than being viewed as housewives.
Haraway manages to present a Marxist feminism in the capitalist society. Apparently, the construction of roles in the society plays a major role in determining the pleasure boundaries and the responsibilities each gender should play. Through using cyborgs, she manages to explain how all human beings in the current society relate to cyborgs. As such, there are always advantages and disadvantages that relate to being one. She further explains how cyborgs transcend the biological boundaries. As such, she rejects universalism. Patriarchy in the society should be avoided. All these are geared towards ensuring that all human beings are treated equally, regardless of one's gender.
The three books have feminism as their main theme. Essentially, through the books, the women will be enlightened and as such, they will get a chance to understand what is expected of them. Though the authors received some criticisms from many groups, the books managed to act as catalysts to the women movements, hence serving their purpose as playing a catalyst role effectively.
In conclusion, women in the modern society are defined based on their femininity. Unlike the ancient times when they took up the passive roles, the women in the modern society are very active as they take part in many development issues. Several of them have taken up political positions, hence stressing on their improved presence in the society. Women groups are also ensuring that the girl-child is given an equal opportunity as the boy-child, unlike the past. The emergence of lesbians in the modern society also explains the extent to which women are determined to be independent. This is what defines femininity in a modern society.