Monday, May 2, 2011

Analysis #6 - Woman - Knowing Her Place in Society



Woman’s status as being second to man has remained constant since the beginning of time.  In the era of Aristotle, the belief that women were inferior to men was reinforced by his influence.  In his quotes, "A proper wife should be as obedient as a slave, and “The female is a female by virtue of a certain lack of qualities - a natural defectiveness," (Aristotle; 384-322 BCE -Fable 1), he perpetuated the continuum of keeping women in this subservient role through rhetoric.
In examining the New American Bible, there is no fallacy in the fact that a woman’s place has been second to men since its conception.  History states that God removed a rib from Adam to create woman.  “The Lord God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man.  When he brought her to the man, the man said:  “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; This one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” (Genesis 4)  Therefore, being created from man has been a woman’s curse for centuries.  Simone de Beauvoir reinforces this ideology in her book, The Second Sex, by saying that humanity is male and that he defines woman relative to him as she is not an autonomous being. (de Beauvoir 3)
Have women reached a point of enlightenment in realizing that they can achieve the status bequeathed to men?  A shift began to occur with the Suffrage Movement and the Seneca Convention led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a radical Quaker Group on July 19, 1848.  The push for change helped the women to achieve a “greater proportion of social, civil and moral rights.” (Wikipedia/Seneca)
A second wave of feminism began after World War II and at the time when capitalism prevailed.  Women maintained the position as the suburban housewife thus fulfilling her role in a patriarchal society.  The media helped to influence this role by airing shows like Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. (Wikipedia).  Unlike the first wave of feminism, this wave focused more on sexuality, family and the workplace. 
While great strides have been made for equality, “Women still make 77 cents for each dollar men make in the US.” (Gunelius)  Knowing this, women pull out all their tricks in an attempt to break the inequality by using their intelligence, femininity, body and looks.  But this is no easy task and often ends in self-destruction.  As Susan Bordo states, “Through the exacting and normalizing disciplines of diet, makeup and dress – central organizing principles of time and space in the day of many women – we are rendered less socially oriented and more centripetally focused on self-modification.  At the farthest extremes, the practices of femininity may lead us to utter demoralization, debilitation and death.” (2240) 
Even today, our media reinforces this subservient role through art.  As depicted in the attached clip, “Coming to America,” the potential princess is groomed, educated and trained to serve and meet the needs of Eddie Murphy’s character, the prince, thus supporting the anti-feminist’s view of a woman’s place in society.
While things have progressed somewhat over the centuries regarding women’s rights, achieving an equal status to men in our society is still improbable.   





Works cited:

New American Bible, Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988, Genesis, Chapter 2, vs 22-23, page 4

Fable, Jan. “The Woman’s Page”. http://www.forhealing.org/women.html  April 30, 2011

Gunelius, Susan, “Women Make 77 Cents for Each Dollar Men Make in the U.S.” –



Coming to America, Landis, John, 1988
Featuring: Murphy, Eddie, Hall, Arsenio, Jones, James Earl

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