Essays on Womanhood

Introduction: Historically, female Black slaves endured the worse treatment, but have received the least amount of attention than their male counterparts in North American Slavery (Hine, 2007). There are longstanding myths that surround the experiences of female Black slaves, and struggles they face daily trying to survive. Deborah Gray White provides an intimate look into female slavery that until 1985 was long overdue. In her book she stated “Slave women were the only women in America who were sexually exploited with impunity, stripped and whipped with a lash, and worked like oxen” (White, 1999, p. 162). In the nineteenth ...

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the complete or partial removal of the female genitals. Different cultures in various locations perform the practices in a variety of different ways and to differing degrees. The World Health Organization describes four different standard procedures: a) Clitoridectomy – a practice where all or part of the clitoris is detached; b) Excision –a practice where the clitoris and part or all of the labia minora, the inside vaginal lips, are eliminated; c) Infibulation – a practice where all of the outside genitalia is eradicated and then the opening is tacked up to where there is only ...

Sexism is still prevalent amongst us as it was in the historical eras where women did not possess much value in the society. The practice has now shifted to media and technology through advertising and films that outline the expectations the world has concerning the females. Jean Kilbourne has been at the forefront of disrobing the tactics that advertisements utilize that continue to shatter the respect and value of womanhood. This essay conceptualizes on the primary ideas that Jean Kilbourne presents in her documentary titled Killing Us Softly. For years, females have strived to earn their equal and rightful ...

Zora Neale Hurston's, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God' is a book about a girl called Janie Crawford who is of mixed parentage at a time when it was difficult to be of mixed parentage. Upon becoming an adolescent, Janie becomes overly obsessed with finding and meeting her true love. Neale then documents Janie's journey and experiences coupled with the maturity and emotional growth she goes through in her three marriages. American history depicts a new ideology that begun in the mid- 19th Century about women that was referred to as the Cult of True Womanhood. According to True Womanhood, ...

The ideology of domesticity

The women played an important role in the ideology of domesticity. Domesticity is an act of living together in a family and a home. The home life started during the 1800s and it was a time when people considered that women should stay and work at home instead of going outside. The women were expected to perform different tasks at home for other family members. Later educating women through different manuals and conventions changed the concept of domesticity. The women started the feminist movement and were informed that both men and women have equal rights. The paper investigates that ...

'A New Look at Black Families' is an enlightening book written by Charles Willie and Richard Reddick. The book focuses on explaining how black families in America go about their dealings. By use of case studies the authors are able to depict an array of Black family experiences and how socio economic status affects these experiences. The book does not only try to portray the working, low-income, and middle class families but also hints on the life of highly successful African Americans, their family experiences and the environmental factors that drove them to achieve success. The authors of this ...

Introduction

The appreciation for the literary craftsmanship of Franz Kafka cannot be understated. In fact, according to one journal article’s assessment by Berthoff, “Lovers of literature are forever indebted” to the writer’s friend Max Brod, “who ignored Kafka’s ‘last request’ to destroy all his manuscripts and proceeded to edit and publish” some of his novels (499). Also at the outset it is important to recognize that the original language Kafka wrote in was German, although he spoke in Czech. According to the same source Kafka’s office writings had been informed by – or at least and influencing ...

Epistolary novel The Color Purple, composed by American author Alice Walker, illuminates life of African American women in the South parts of the US during 1930-s. This novel is considered to be one of the most controversial and censored literary work of Walker due to its explicit scenes of violence. Thus, in her letters to God main heroine, Celie, reveals true horrors of her life. Being, uneducated and poor fourteen-year-old African American Southerner, Celie faces constant physical and emotional abuse first from her father, Alphonso, who beats and rapes her and later from her husband, known as Mister. (Walker) ...

Victor Turner’s “planes of classification in a ritual of life and death” is an analysis of the ritual and symbols among the Ndembu people of Northwestern Zambia. In the article, he describes Isoma- a ritual about female reproduction to expel bad spirits such as the death of infants. The multi-vocal quality of Ndembu symbols contributes to the ritual efficacy in their cultural context. The use of symbols among the Ndembu is extensive. Turner notes that the symbols are the "basic building blocks, “the molecules” of ritual” (Turner 14). The Ndembu use symbols to elaborate on three main areas; ...

The Mary Cassatt article focuses on the coming to birth of the modern woman through art. In this regard, the author presents varying types of evidences to support her thesis of the place of women in the society. Women in the past did not have a formidable voice, and were only relegated and defined in terms of their household chores and societal duty to take care of their families. The author, through her focus on the famous American immigrant artist, Mary Cassatt analyzes this aspect in relation to the former’s pieces of art. This illustration faced intense criticism ...

Introduction

“Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.”[ CITATION Kid02 \p 148 \l 1033 ], Sue Monk Kidd ‘s The Secret Life of Bees is much more than simply learning about secrets, it’s a tale where several themes and social issues are highlighted and the impact of all those on a young girl ‘Lily Owens’ is discussed, who is just 14 years old white girl, she says that “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.”[ CITATION Kid02 \p ...

Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a novella, published in 1958 on the brink of the sexual revolution and it perches on the edge of this to present its central protagonist, Holly Golightly, in an overtly sexual light, despite being set in the 1940s. It is set in New York – a place full of beautiful men and women, late night social scenes, culture and sex: it is the perfect backdrop to a story focused on the dynamics between men and women. In this case, the story follows the developing relationship between Golightly and the unnamed male narrator, a writer. As with ...