Week X assignments. "The Estrangement" by Jamaica Kincaid and the "Rape Poem" by Marge Piercy

The Estrangement by Jamaica Kincaid

Reading “The Estrangement” essay by Jamaica Kincaid, one comes across many themes which are important topics of discussion such as motherhood, independence and hatred as a feeling.      
Through the essay the author has emphasized several words such as ‘eternity’ or ‘god’ giving the idea of a religious woman but when it comes to elaborating them it’s difficult not to notice the bad connotation in which they are used for. She often says that she would rather be dead than spending eternity next to her mother. This line reveals how much hatred she has against her own mother and also gives the main idea on how complex their relationship is. The reason why their bond was long broken before her mother passed away was because of her non-stopping criticism during all her life and the most severe reason was the death wish her own mother gave to her. Being brought up criticized and not valued all the time, gave Jamaica another perspective of motherhood and life itself. She understood that the way her mother was treating her was wrong and didn’t act like her with her own children.

What I valued most about the author was the fact that she was fighting for her own independence and was trying to give another meaning to her life as a woman regardless of the fact that her mother was against this fact. I believe the most important thing in life is trying. Trying to be a better person, a better woman in this case facing all kinds of prejudice, downfalls and death wishes even if they come from your own mother, trying to be responsible of yourself and leave a good legacy among those who are truly near you like your kids and not your neighbors.                           
Another point that I appreciate the author for mentioning was the fact that women who are valued to be the best mothers they can, are regarded like Gods and not like Goddesses. This brings up the feminist part of the author showing that women don’t have to be compared to God as a wonder man but on a female as well, simply because females are as strong as they want and choose to be.          

Rape Poem - Poem by Marge Piercy

“Lord knows there is a war to be won.”  I heard this phrase a year ago by a singer reciting a poem at the Women’s March and it stuck with me ever since. While reading the Rape Poem by Marge Piercy, it came back to me on how accurate that expression is.  In my point of view the author has done an incredible job by pointing out the fact that there is no difference between being raped and other horrible things that happen to humans because rape in itself is a horrible thing and it should be treated as such. There is no difference between being raped than being pushed down on cement, run over by a truck or being bitten by a rattlesnake. They all hurt the same. Same pain, same inside bleeding. People often fail to believe that. It is certainly ironic how no one asks a person why they were on the cement steps to begin with or why they were in the road where the truck hit them or why they didn’t run way from the rattlesnake but somehow it is normal to ask a woman why their skirt was short or even why they were out to begin with.          
Why do we always have to prepare women to protect themselves from half of the human race and not put that effort in educating and teaching moral to that half of the human race?   
Why should females feel the need to protect themselves all the time? Not opening the door, always being with a razor just grazing the throat and aluminum in the mouth….     

Forever afraid of the smiling man! Forever afraid of the serious man in whose fist is locked with hatred.   

You ever wondered how it is living with the constant fear of the dark side of the hedges, the back seat of the car, the empty house and worse… the rattling keys like a snake's warning? 

What triggers a man to rape is just the body of a female no matter the shape, color or problems. In my opinion rapists aren’t simply men. They are savage creatures who want to possess and punish in one act, ripping up pleasure and carelessly murdering those who dare to live in the leafy flesh open to love.  And no matter how much we try there is still going to be the fear of the smiling man, in whose pocket is a knife.                 
Either way lord knows there is a war to be won and if we all stand together against these kinds of act maybe…maybe one day they’ll stop existing.

Assignement 5 "Ain't I a woman"

The main purpose I find,as I go through this poem is to indentify the inqualities between man and women,and to convince readers that women and men are equal,and deserve the same rights.Another sad element that is trasmited through this poem,is the injustice between white and black women,and how disriminated they are treated even they have the same quality.The poem clearly gives a message,tha we are all equal before GOD,dispite the fact,some are black,some are white,some are tall,some are short,after all we are all just humans being.

Assignment 5 Ain't a woman

Ain't a woman  by Sojourner Truth.

This poem was written in a period when black women were kept in slavery. She writes his poem because she wants equal woman rights not only for black woman but for all woman in world.  I liked a frase in the poem:"he says woman can't have as much rights as men,'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? From a God and a woman!" In this frase Sojourner tells us that woman had no right because only man can have, but she makes a question and let the reader thinking about it by saying where did your Christ come from. It is obvious that a woman can give birth to a child . It says it because woman suffer more than men but they are trated without no rights.

"Hope" is the thing with feathers-Emily Dickinson

Just by reading the title I knew that I would love it.”Hope”which can be determined as the most positive word in the entire world and something that is needed in everyone’s life. It is true that we all have those “black clouds” in our lives and everyone face problems in different ways,but something in common is that in the end there is a light for everyone of us,the hope.Except it in the title are mentioned the feathers,which means,moving freely through life and there is no other natural creature than bird which can symbolizes better freedom.In the poem Emily Dickinson compares hope to a bird.The song which a bird never stops singing it is more or less the same feeling that hope gives to every person whose life has its ups and downs.In the Dickinson’s poem is used lot of imagination,which allows us not just to feel hope but also “see it”. By giving it feathers,we can understand that hope is refereed to a bird even though there is no bird mentioned.At the end there are two lines:”yet,never,in extremity.it asked a crumb of me showing that:if  people hope for something they don’t need to pay anything for what hope is given to them.So as a conclusion, hopeis the most beneficial when it is needed the most.

Ain't I a Woman?

Throughout the poem the author tends to incourage women in order to raise their voice  and not let man oppose them.Sojourner implements feminism as the main theme although it was black women's opposement that mainly concerned her or impacted her life.She writes the poem in a desperating mood  trying to find the  real devisions between men and women and what makes them diffirent from each other but unfortunately no such claims are true just only social stereotipes.The author tries to make the female readers understand that they should never feel inferior as there is nothing for a woman she can't do.Sojourney tends to bring women together by this cause as that's the only way changes ought to be done.

Week X

Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49622/perhaps-the-world-ends-here

The Estrangement by Jamaica Kincaid 

https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/lynn.pennington/reading-selections/the-estrangement-by-jamaica-kincaid/view 

Marge Piercy selections of poems 

https://www.poemhunter.com/marge-piercy/poems/  

Assignment 5 ~ "Ain't I a woman"

In this poem written by Sojourner Truth, the main theme is slavery. The author shares her personal life experience and she says that she was not treated with respect and that the men were considered to be better than women, or that they dominate and no one else. There is a phrase in this poem " And ain't i a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man". By this the author wants to express the equality between men and women and that because they are men, it does not mean that they are stronger, better ot they have rights and women not.

"Hope is the thing with feathers."/ Assignment: 5

From the very beginning, when I first read the title of this poem, it attracted me and after I read the whole poem, I loved it even more. The way that things are described in little words but with big meanings, are so unique and it made me feel and understand a lot of things. Well, this poem talks about "hope" and describes it metaphorically as a bird which has perched and lives in our souls. This poem shows and tells us that hope is very powerful and that it takes a very important role for our lives and our souls, of course if we use it. It requires so little to use it, we the people, to see and understand its light and its power of acting in our lives and it costs nothing. Through problems, difficulties and a lot of awful and bad things what may happen in our lives, there is a friend in our souls, hope, that will help us and remind us that in a world full of "black colours", there is a light which will always guide us to beautiful feelings. Hope will never stop to send us signals that it is in our souls and we just have to accept it. Here are some lines from the poem which are best described from what I said:

"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,"

A Man may make a Remark- Emily Dickinson

A Man may make a Remark—

In itself—a quiet thing

That may furnish the Fuse unto a Spark

In dormant nature—lain—

Let us deport—with skill—

Let us discourse—with care—

Powder exists in Charcoal—

Before it exists in Fire.

I like how this poem is written almost like a riddle. The author has used a very unique and special way to transmit the true meaning to the reader. The words she has chosen and the way they have been emphasized makes it almost impossible not to pay attention to her poem. She says that a spark symbolizes the power of a man's words and how that word or action can spread through a crowd like fire. Slowly burning like powder in charcoal. A man's remark can make a difference. But we ought to discuss with care and skillfully deport our thoughts.  The author stresses the importance of a remark but still claims that in itself that is just a quiet thing. This also gives a sense of irony hence a remark can never be quiet.  Words like quiet, skill, care; all could’ve been easily replaced with higher intellectual words but she has chosen to keep them simple to show the level of education that women had in that time and raise the figure of a man whom can be the only one making a remark.  The main point behind it is to give the impression that women may also make remarks. They need to stand strong and not be in a dormant nature. No one is going to hear their voices unless they give a reason why.

"Aint I a woman?"

These poem is writen by Sojourner Truth.The main purpose of "Aint I a woman" was that man and women to be treated equal and to have the same rights.Even she is a women she argued that was expected to do the same things as man.This poem talks about reality that women have gone through and ecperienced the same thing man have.Women in their modern day society were treated with an unequal level of respect compared to males.She is trying to tell the reader that white women get more respect that black women do,even though they are both just women.She is also saying that man say woman need to be treated with respect but she doesnt get any herself just because she is a black woman.Truth also repeat the rhetorical question "Aint I a woman?",this happens because she belief in her own deserving right to equality.She establishes a sense of identity as a victim of discrimination by describing how she faces prejudices as a black person.

Assignment 5 Ain" l a women?

In general this poem ,speaks about the inequality between women and man that has existed before many years.It is obvious the fact that she tries to bring her personal experience. In the first paragraph she said where did the christ come from? Of course, that by god and women.Why women dont evaluate for their rights ,just men. This is unfair.Also,she said " I have born 13 children and seen most all sold off the slavery and when i cried out with my mother grief".This is terrible she had suffred a lot by this injustice.Truth expresses her feeling toward this pain.She uses often the question ain"t l a women?  Why she repeat this question.She does that in order ,emphasize the women rights .Because we all are humans,  and deserves respect too.I think that this poem is very beautiful to read because it gives the idea that Sojourner is a heroine that fight for the rights of female.

Assignment 4 - Ain't I a woman?

   Ain't't  I a woman?
   This poem is written by a woman named Sojourner Truth who was born into slavery.

Assignment 4 - Ain"t I a woman?

This poem is writen by Sojourner Truth. The puropse of this poem is to convince people that women should start to have the same right as men. The theme of these poem was about injustice between black and white and how men treated them. Her experiences as a black woman in America provided her with the understanding to speak on the subject at hand. Sharing more about herself and her life helped her listeners to associate with her identity, and allowed them to imagine themselves in her shoes. The  verses that attract my attention is  ”I have born thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"  This verses allows most women to identify with the loss of a child due to slavery. The woman feel connected to the pain and agony of loosing their own kids.  I think that this is unfair thing because the pain that the women feel for their children is to big  and noone can imagine how a mother feel ,nobody cared about when she was cying for her children.Also, many people felt touched because everyone has lost a loved one, and at that time, most of them were lost because of slavery. According to Sojourner Truth the message of the poem is that everyone should  treated equally and to inform that women are as strong as men and maybe even stronger.

Assignment 5

AIN'T I A WOMAN?

Assignment 4 "The life you save may be your own"

    The life you save may be your own.

After reading this story, i think that the main theme is selfishness. More specifically, in the story there are two characters who take advantage of another character and use this person for their own benefits. Mr Shiftlet, wanted to buy a new car and Mrs Crater just wanted to get rid of her ill and deaf daughter. They both treat Lucynell as an object and not as a human being in order to satisfy their desires. I personally believe that Mrs Crater is the worst mom ever, mainly because instead of making her daughter feel happy or feel good despite the fact that she is ill, she wants do get rid of her because she is a disabled person and make her feel bad.

Assignment: 4/ The life you save may be your own.

This is a story which shows clearly from the beginning till the ending of it, the benefits that someone has for something and I think that this is the main theme of the whole story. Lucynell Crater has a daughter who is mentally ill and when one day a man, Mr. Shiftlet appears to their lives, she doesn't even know what's going to happen with the fate of her dear daughter. She gets to know a little bit Mr. Shiftleft, she doesn't know that he is approaching to benefit an automobile that he has never had one in his life and of course her money. Lucynell thought that he was the right one for her daughter, and the right one to make her happy, but he doesn't even notice her, he doesn't want her, but that car that he always wanted so much. They got married and after they left the house of the old woman, her daughter Lucynell is abandoned in a place lonely by him, because now he had everything he wanted and that was the most important for him. He just used people for his interests. He was a selfish person. Something that attracts me in this story is the fact that Lucynell wasn't fully convinced if her daughter would be happy with him, but regardless of her thoughts, she decided to marry her daughter with him. She felt a light for her daughter's life, but she doesn't even know how fate is playing.

Assignment 4 The life you save may be your own

This is a  short story  that speaks about the life of a girl that lives with her mother and she is deaf and disabled to. The story inside contains message, irony and themes and in my opinion the theme is selfishness. The main characters  are Mr. Shiftlet  and Lucynell, and her mother. The main theme in this story is how good people can be used by evil people. Lucynell exemplifies the innocence who is surrounded by Mr. Shiftlet and Mrs. Crater who are both examples of evil. They each try to take advantage of each other, Mr. Shiftlet tries to take the car from Mrs. Crater and her mother  want to marry her daughter ,so she doesnt care for her anymore ,she want only to  achieve her own goals.The irony in this story I think is  how a mother can marry her daughter with a person that she don’t know who he is  just for money .Mr. Shiftlet wanted the car and the  old woman offered him a job without payment and she wanted to marry his daughter with him.The irony is that he abandons Lucynell  in the restaurant because she is a burden to him. She can’t live her life and someone has to take care of her. I think that the author O'Conner was trying to say that a con artist can be anyone, some close to you or even a stranger. Such as Lucynell (Mother) and Mr.Shiftlet (Stranger) Lucynell (Daughter) would never expect that her mother would basically sell her to get her good work around her house.I think that the story was sad, they both used poor Lucynell to get what they wanted.They use her as a way to achieve their goals.

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Assignment 4 The life you save may be your own

As i  read the hole story with enthusiasm i noticed somethong that grap my attention.  It was the wedding of Lucynell and Shiftlet. The wedding was not because they loved each other but only because the old woman gave him money. It looks like she wants to get rid of her daughter because the way she did it was something horrible, the only thing that i can say is that the old woman is a monster. Another thing was when the went on their honeymoon,  when Shiftlet wanted to let Lucynell in the  restaurant. It shows that he do not love her but wanted to leave her there. Lucynell is a lonely person because she cannot hear or speak and she can get what she wants but what her mother wants.

The Life you save may be you Own.

The title may be confusing ,maybe till the end of the story becouse of it's irony implemented in it.A story of many themes,symbols and irony which can be founded throughout the story. The main are hypocrizy ,greed , selfishness and female oppression.The character of Mr.Shiftlet reminded me of the book of Myzanthrop the man who hated other people's immoralities and habits  who is always talking about justice, morality,sincerity and so on while in fact he couldn't be more hypocrite.Mr.Shiftlet  is a hypocrite, a fake man pretending to have moral, boasting and showing off like a humble man who values simple things and doesn't care about money.In fact he was a greedy man he craves for the old woman's car and money.Mrs.Crater offered him a place to stay and sleep in order to make repairs around the house and saw him as good son-in-low for her deaf daughter . She saw him as a saviour but in the end he only saves himself.Maybe she wasn't a selfish mother who wanted to get rid of her daughter,she already had money and a good living so her daughter wasn't a heavy burden after all she just couldn't hear and speak and Mr. Craters felt pitty for her. Her main concern was the future of her daughter as when she dies no one would take care of her and she knows what it means to live without a husband.This also implements the idea  that women's  ''happiness'' was based on marriage.Women couldn't make it in life without a husband..Unfortunately females have been treated like objects for years and so was the poor Lucynell,a victim of fate and objectification.

Assignment 4 "The life you save May Be Your Own"

Going through the story"The life you save May Be Your Own"we distinguish quite easily the focus on the attempts of two equally unscrupulous characters to gain advantage over the other.Through the use of colour imagery and somehow obvious symbolism manages to make this story more than just humorous.The symbolism in this story illustrates tje spiritual struggles between good and evil that we as humans face.
In my opinion in this"gothic humor"story I see two unsavory characters using each other.Mr shifted wants the car,and Lucynell's mother wants to get rid of her deaf mute doughter in a "clean"ways.In the end they get what they want.
While the doughter is left dozing in some diner,unable to communicate miles from home.
The ironic tone all through this story is both,humorous and painfull too.While Mr.Shifted mouths prayers  his behaviour is totally selfish.

Assignment-4

After I read the story I can say that I didn’t like it very much,the only thing that attracted me was the title,which is revealed in a road sign,but by the end of the story.Starting from the beginig ,there are our three main characters and the deal between Mr.Shiflet and Mrs.Crater ,also not forgetting her deaf mute daughter Lucynell,who can be called as the prize of that deal.While reading it,firstly I thought that her mother wanted for her daughter a normal life and saw Mr.Shiflet as an opportunity,maybe as the person who would take care of her after she passed away.After I thought that she was just looking for a way to get rid of her daughter,but after as it is mentioned in the story she started to cry and reached out to her as the car pulled away and she was leaving with Shiflet,showing that she loved her child.There are many symbols in the story and bird is one of them which was the only word that Lucynell learned and which symbolizes Mr.Shiflet because in the story it is said:”the daughter sat down and watched him as if he were a bird that had come up very close.”Another symbol is the car which was the reason why Shiflet accepted to marry Lucynell.That car which was its porpuse.He was lost in his life looking for its meaning and after he comes along the farm and think that the car will fix his life.We don’t know if the car fixed his life,but something sure was that the deal was fulfilled:he got the car and he thought he saved his life,Mrs.Crater married her daughter and the poor Lucynell was abandoned at the diner.

Assignment 4

"The life you save may be your own"

Ascertainment 4- The Life You Save May Be Your Own

      The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Assignment

In this story we have an old women and her daughter.She wants her daughter to get married so she asks Tom Shiftlet if he was married or single.Also she offers Tom place to stay and food.He explained that he 'can not find a woman innocent enough'.Lucynell Crater seems like doesnt want to take care for her daughter anymore.She knew that her daughter wasnt good mantally and nobody cant understand her needs more than her mother.Tom cant married because he has no money,but she offers him money just to keep them away.He married for interes because Lucynell gave him money and she has no problem.This was what she watnted,and they dont want to know what the girl thinks.They both treat her like they want.In this story I think the fault is most of older woman who wants her daughter away,or maybe in her mind she thinks that this i good for her,but the way she acts shows that she dont think to much for her.

The life you save may be your own.
After reading the story l realised that this story about Mr Shiftlet ,who is carpenter and mrs carter who has a daughter who is mate and deaf.Mr Shiftlet, was passionate with cars and made a proposal if, he will marry with her daughter.She will give a car and he accepted.They benefit from a innocence girl and treated her like an item.The whole story is full of selfishness by Mrs Crater,and Mr Shiftlet.In the story it is a sentence which i want to emphasize that shiftlet said." The world is almost rotten".l think, that he said that because the world is full of selfishness ,faith, pain,faith.You never know what life will bring to you.This means that life is unfair sometime.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

Assignment 3-The Yellow Wallpaper

When you start reading the story you may think that it is about a married woman who deals with depression and lucky her because her husband is also her doctor,but in fact it is the contrary.More precisely her husband is making her depressed by isolating her in a room with yellow wallpaper and limiting her to live her life.There is a sentence in the story:”but john says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition.” How she would not think about her condition when she is locked up as a prisoner and doing nothing even changing the color of the room.That yellow that was just straggling her.Well this color which is also the title of the book is also one of the main symbols of the story.It symbolizes her depression,sickness.It is said that every color has its own characteristics.Yellow for many people represents envy while for some others it stands for happiness something needed to the main character.Maybe the reason why john didn’t let her to redecorate the room was because he thought it would help her getting better,but this doesn’t change the fact he was over controlling her life.This pressure of John towards her shows us an important theme which is related to gender role.Something interesting is that this story was written at the 19^th century by Charlotte Perkins Gilman who had also been depressed  and tries to reveal  the gender differences,the dominance of men over women,the way how women were treated at those times.Going back to our story there are two other symbols which can be  as a refuge for the narrator :the window  which was her favourite place and the  diary where on one side she could express her feelings,thoughts but on the other side it emphasized her limitations because her husband didn’t let her to write down nothing.At the beginning I didn’t like much the story,but something that  attracted me was the end.She waited a long time until she relized that she is the only person who knows what is the best for her.After she understood it she ripped off that horrible yellow paper while her husband fainted.This seems to be  the end of the story but the beginig of a new life for the narrator.

WEEK IX

Week IX

AIN'T I A WOMAN?

Poem by Sojourner Truth (1797-1883)

http://www.crmvet.org/poetry/ftruth.htm

Emily Dickinson selected poems. 

http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/emily-dickinson?gclid=CO_3t7m3q9ECFRVmGwodZ3cM2Q

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs 

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=11030

WEEK VIII

Roast Beef, Medium: The Business Adventures of Emma McChesney by Edna Ferber

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6016/6016-h/6016-h.htm

The Life You Save May Be Your Own, by Flannery O'Connor
http://faculty.smu.edu/nschwart/2312/lifeyousave.htm

Assignment no.3 : "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

When reading this story, we learn that the narrator is living a rather good life. We have an unnamed young woman who has recently become a mother, after being married to a well respected doctor and how they have rented a mansion on the country side to spend a vacation together.

The yellow wall-paper. Assignment 3

The Yellow Wallpaper" written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson, is a well written story describing a woman who suffers from insanity and how she struggles to express her own thoughts and feelings. The author uses her own experience to criticize male domination of women during the nineteenth century.  "The Yellow Wallpaper" still brings a clear message how powerless women were during that time.In this story I see that the male dominace is an usually  thing . Her husband  named John is an physician and he think that keeping his wife isolated in the garish yellow  wallpaper room will help her get over her “nervous depression". He believed that keeping his wife in one room isolated from the outside world ,she will feel more better and her health will be improved. John treat her as an object an tell her what is right and what is wrong. One moment when she was looking the moonlight ,he tell her  that everything that she felt was an illusion and he shut the window. I think that her husband think only for himself,only for his feelings and not for wife feelings. He sees her as a woman who can stay at home and to obey whatever he say and treating her like own toy. The only think that she can do is writing her thoughts in diary because no one can judge her for what she  feel or thing about. The symbol of this story is the Yellow wallpaper which symbolised  that ,yellow is often associated with sickness or weakness. But in the end she begins to like the yellow wallpaper and she now  believes herself to be free because she is not trapped behind the wallpaper. Now  she think that in this paper are things that nobody knows about ,only me

Assignment no.3 : "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

          This short story from Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes the oppression of women during the nineteenth century ,more specifically , the lower position of women within the institution of marriage. The story reveals that this gender division had the effect of keeping women in a childish state of ignorance and preventing their full development. John’s assumption of his own superior wisdom and maturity leads him to misjudge, patronize, and dominate his wife, all in the name of “helping” her. The narrator is reduced to acting like a petulant child, unable to stand up for herself without seeming unreasonable or disloyal. The narrator has no say in even the smallest details of her life, and she retreats into her obsessive fantasy, the only place she can retain some control and exercise the power of her mind.

          The mental limits placed upon the narrator, even more so than the physical ones, are what ultimately drive her insane. She is forced to hide her anxieties and fears in order to preserve the facade of a happy marriage and to make it seem as though she is winning the fight against her depression. From the beginning, the most intolerable aspect of her treatment is the obliged silence of the “resting cure.” She is forced to become completely passive, forbidden from exercising her mind in any way. Writing is especially off limits, and John warns her several times that she must use her self-control to keep under control her imagination, which he fears will run away with her. Of course, the narrator’s eventual insanity is a product of the repression of her imaginative powee. She is constantly craving for an emotional and intellectual escape, even going so far as to keep a secret journal, which she describes more than once as a “relief” to her mind. I believe that a mind that is kept in a state of forced inactivity is doomed to self-destruction.

Assignment 3 "The yellow wall-paper"

As a read the story i noticed that thing are very different if you concentrate more. Throughout the story i noticed lot's of things that grap my attention. Sinc this story is written in the nineteenth century and the women rights wasn't in the highest levels we noticed that this sory talks about women rights
One think that i liked the most in the story was the way how John a physician treated his wife whic was described as mentally ill like a doll by calling her my dear,darling, little girl and taking care for everything ,what she eats and when should she sleep. At first it looks like everything is perfect but it clearly shows the dominance of the men and how his wife stay quite because she is afraid of his anger.  In the nineteenth century woman are treated as fragile and emotional  and the story shows it when John says:"What is it,little girl?"  Or :"why ,darling? ". In this two sentences we se cleraly the way how he treats his wife ,like a doll ,a person without feelings. Another thing that looks interesting is the diary that she starts writing her feelings about everything and it becomes a symbol of her rebellion against John's commands. She kept a.diary because that was the only way how she could speak.  And the last  but not least important is the mysterious picture in the yellow wallpaper . It looks like a woman who wants to be free and she understands that because she is at the same situation.  And finally she was free from all commands of his husband and understood that she is a woman with great value.

The Yellow Wall-Paper

The Yellow Wallpaper is a strongly emotional story. It transmits so much to the reader in terms of empowerment and mental awareness and also about inner strength and the way someone decides to live their life. The choices they have to make, what’s at stake and what they are willing to leave behind in order to find that much needed liberation. 

Throughout the whole story our character experiences a personal, emotional and mental growth. I wish I could say that she found the force within herself to surpass her husband wishes but unfortunately she had to get to that point of her mental state, in which it would be extremely hard to go back and make decisions on her own, with a clear mind.  
 A mental illness is never something physical. People who suffer from it often need an escape from the war that’s happening inside their soul and thoughts. Our character’s escape was to write. That’s what kept her sane during her awful and domestic life. Sometimes having thoughts that don’t apply to the place where you live or with the people you surround yourself with leads you astray from their reality. Being controlled by another person, doing as they say and most importantly not being understood when opening up to them is the biggest downfall one may suffer. In this case her husband didn’t want to accept her reality. He claimed to love her but the truth is that he only loved himself. He wanted her to get better in order for him to happy with her. Not at one moment did he try to understand the depths of her. He never tore down that hideous wallpaper nor allowed her to socialize the way she wanted to. 
The author has used the color yellow for the wallpaper and that's because yellow is often related with sickness or weakness. It almost gives a background of her life and the woman she sees creeping out of the wall is herself. She wants to escape. She feels as a prisoner in her own life. Being the perfect housewife, always listening to a husband who wouldn’t understand and that drove her to insanity.    
I absolutely loved that transitory moment in which she caved in and started to like that paper. That reveals that her pain of feeling trapped was so deep in her that she would've become completely rotten unless she broke free. Our character always made the most of the options given to her. She fell in love with that horrible wallpaper so much that she could sense it everywhere, smell it and analyze in such way that she became delusional. Yet she managed to abandon her husband beliefs and empower herself enough to change her reality.                                                   
What is interesting about the ending is that when Jennie saw the wallpaper it made no difference to her whatsoever but when John saw it, he fainted. That’s a symbol the author has used to show that in that particular moment the husband is the weak one and that he can no longer control her mind.  

Even though this is not particularly good for her because her demons finally got to her, we can at least still see the guilt in her husband action when he fainted. He can never get her back, ever again.

She's free in her own way now.                                                                                                                                                     

The yellow wall-paper. Assignment 3

This story totally confused me. First of all, this story is about a woman,  who is sick, and her husband, John, who was taking care of her.They also live in a little home only for some days. In the beginning i thought they are a great couple, as her husband takes care of her and really cares about her health. During the story, i understood that her husband controls her life and prohibids her to do things that she wants to do.A specific moment in the story that i would like to mention is when the narrator says " I tried to have a real earnest reasonable talk with him the other day, and tell him how i wish he would let me go and make a visit to cousin Henry and Julia". By this, i understand how much her husband controls her and that her husband decides for her. Despite this fact, I personally believe that John should let her go to visit her cousin, as this might be an "escape" from her everyday stress and routine and this would make the narrator happy.

Assignment 3: The yellow wall-paper.

   Well, the whole story, all the things mentioned, the way the words and the feelings are arranged and described in this story are so beutiful and meaningful and lets the reader to understand a lot of things, especially the character of the author. She is a housewife who wants and loves so much to be a writer, but her husband forbids her to be so. She continues to write even though in a secret manner without anyone seeing her. She might be mentally ill, but she has a lot of feelings. No one understands her, what she feels or what she is thinking, despite the fact that her thoughts sound strange for us. Her husband and her brother say to her that she is good and she will get better if she looks after herself, but she doesn't feel well inside and she fills this emptiness when she writes down different thoughts, and express feelings, although she doesn't want to be seen, because they say that she is ill just because she writes. Her thoughts, the war made in her mind, is all about that yellow wall-paper in her room. In her eyes, it is so creepy, and awful. It makes her feel bad when she sees it everyday. She wants to win this war by destroying this yellow wall-paper and to no suffer anymore and at the end she destroys it and she feels free and happy, because all that time with this yellow wall-paper she was feeling like kept in and not breathing. I think that this wall-paper with its strange patterns and all that stuff mentioned in the story, symbolize the chains that had kept her spirit and was not feeling free.

THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER/ Assignment 3

This story is written by Charlotte Perkins Stetson in the 19th century.

Assignment 3 - The yellow wall-paper

The yellow wall-paper is a short story,written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in the late 19th century. The story is about a woman

The yellow well-paper
After reading the story i understood that ,the narrator is suffering  from a illness an her husband a physician who is trying to cure her.They move into different places in order,to move and to change environment, and to breath fresh air in this way her wife can recover herself.In the story i found a sentence that, narrator mentioned." There comes john,and i must put this away he hates me to write a word".This means that she writes without the knowing of john.John, has stopped her writing.in fact, he know that , he has control over her.Besides this he treated her like a slave.And she cant do anything without her permission .When she was alone she took the diary and expresses her thoughts but she hides from john.Another sentence that narrator writes is " it is like a women stooping dawn and creeping about that pattern".She thinks that , the well-paper is something bad that a women is trapped there.Here is the moment when her disease appears completely.She is very obsessed with this figure and she thinks that the women who is trapped is her.She is convinced about this fact.

The Yellow Wall-Paper.

After reading the short  story I realized it  was actually deeper than it looks.Firstly you get the perception of a young women who deals with depression and her insanity worstens  and worstens  throughout the story  while in fact it isn't a story who talks about mental illnesses and depression and how to manage it .Its actual themes are gender roles and the  male oppression against women.Since the story is written at the 19 century which is a second wave of feminism the author tries to reveal how women were treated those times and suffered a lot.There are a lot of themes and symbols inside the story which all rotate to the main theme I mentioned above.Lets take for example simply the diary.It symbolises the true feelings and  some kind of insidious rebellion women had against men's pressure,it was the only place the narrator could express her real feelings ,but it also symbolises their limits as the narrator was not allowed to write by her husband John.Except she had limits inside her room she also had limits inside as she wasn't allowed to redecorate her room although that yellow colour kept driving her crazy.These show male dominance at every sphere of a women's life.That's what caused her depression.The narrator wasn't driving crazy from the writing  or that yellow colour but it was actually driving crazy from her husband's control and pressure and also by her domestic life..She was sick and tired of being controled and told what to do, it was obvious that her words didn't count a thing for her husband.The narrator is imprisoned both physically and emotionally.She isn't able to understand what's the real cause of her illness until the end when she rippes off that yellow paper inside her room which metaphorically means that she is no longer controlled and influenced by her husband  and gains strengh and  takes her own remote of her life.I actually find this short story very interesting  and beautiful as it implements feminist ideals in a such mysterious and metaphorical tone and style.

The yellow wall-paper

While reading this story I understood that,narrator was sick.John was her husband and takes care for her.They live in a home temporary.

Week VII

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/exhibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

Assignment 2: Beauty and Objectification.

The media, the commercials etc. They all use sexual objectification of women to sell.
How dare they!

Assignment 2

Reading thr beauty myth text  you agree almost with everything,that is written on it.
The phrase which had an impact to me is:strong men battle for beautiful women.
I totally agree,men always seek for beautiful women,the most important thing thay see at a woman is her apparence,she want her have a fit body,very attractive face,if it is so,for them this is an accomplished woman.They don't realise,apperance doesn't represent a person.They have forgotten,that the real beauty is the inner one,the fondamental features tha a person has,is not the externel beauty,but the inner beauty,which represent the character,the soul,the heart,the manner.All these makes a person complete.
The disagreement is,that on text it is said the discrimination beauty happens only towards women by men,in fact I don't get so,may be it is shown stronger at women,but in my opinion also towards men it happens  the same.Women as men see the apparence,how rich is he,what type of car does he have?They don't see who is he,what type of person?his behoviour,his mentality,the character and so on.I don't see the problem of beauty only between man vs women but a problem in a whole society.we forget,that we are all humans being.we should try to change our mentality,and to show respect towards each other,and to evaluate the real matters.

Assignment 2 - Objectification Theory

As it is widely shown it in the "Objectification Theory, Self-Objectification, and Body Image" article , we are provided with lots of examples that show how difficult and harsh it can be for women to put up with all the pression and to deal with every bad situation throughout the whole day without mostly saying anything back about it all.

I believe that all the statements and theories that were presented in the article should be taken into consideration as they show experiences that females from different age-groups have with objectification , sexual objectification , eating disorders , body-shaming , depression.

I agree that the media is clearly objectifying & sexualising women (on adverts , movies , songs , sports , magazines , news etcc) and that all this should change as soon as possible , because these are the signs of an unbalanced evolution overall. The feeling that men are the ones on top , making the rules , having to decide not only for themselves but also for other people (including both women and other men aswell) , choosing what is good for one and bad for the other ... all this should come to an end so everybody , men and women together , can look at personal growth as well as general growth too.

In conclusion , I can say that the article can clearly show and open the eyes of everyone on how impactful self-objectification on self–body relations is for women and how big of a problem it can be to large societies everywhere on earth.

Assignment 2

The part that I disagree is in the lecture about Objectification Theory, Self-Objectification,and Body Image. The sentence that struck me the most was: "That is,women come to view and treat themselves as objects to be evaluated on the basis of their appearance - or to self objectify." I am against this sentence because not all women treat themselves as objects to be evaluated for their appearance. Generalising the idea that all women are preoccupied more about their appearance than their inner world is absurd. Human beings are created to be beautiful inside and outside but the paths they take on life may turn them into forgeting the human element in them. Women are attacked all the time about their appearance but what is important to understand is that, they are not defined by it. Many people use women for their appearance and body, abuse with them in order to get fame or attract attention and this is wrong in many ways. Most women evaluate their inner world and mentality and what makes them a kind person to be more important than their face or body. In the women who don't find themselves in this, confidence is what should be raised in them, so they stop needing another person to appreciate them. The sentence that I agree is in the lecture of The Beauty Myth. "The beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance." I think that this is true because I can't describe a human being beauty if she treats someone bad,if she has knowledge about nothing,or her behaviour is the worst I had ever seen.So,every person is beautiful if we don't prejudice and live as equals. Behaviour and a kind heart is what makes us beautiful people.

Objectification Theory, Assingment 2

 While reading the two materials I had a more detailed  and a deeper view about all kinds of objectifications and beauty concepts which are actually prescribed vivid with true facts and examples .A lot of theories consisted the two lectures with good explenations which make us all rethink and reflect about the way our world is .
" Beauty myth'' presented a lot of theories which all are absolutely agreeable.Each one of them was supported with concrete examples and with well-based theories that made me open my eyes and have another point of view.

Exactly in this passage I have extracted from there made go deeper in my thoughts:
''The beauty myth of the present is more insidious than any mystique of femininity yet: A century ago, Nora slammed the door of the doll’s house; a generation ago, women turned their backs on the consumer heaven of the isolated multiapplianced home; but where women are trapped today, there is no door to slam.''
It's ironic in fact how women have fought for their rights for years and fortunately their life is not as difficult as it was before,and yet women are facing other issues.It's about "Beauty Myth''.It's like a paradox.Dealing with issues and not having the ability to fight or  protest against the cause.It's actually true women have grown stronger,entering politics or having the same positions as man in diffirent industries.While before and  nowadays women could fight and protest about their rights,giving laws about discrimantion,abusement ect, but there's another deeper situation.The beauty myth of the present is more insidious,women are fighting with themselves.It's them who are slaming the door to themselves trying to be perfect.They are suffering both phisically and psichologicaly .Society and marketing have a big impact in women's portrayment of themselves.Women are poisoned by the notion of beauty and some of them have the aging terror or have self-hatred about their apperance.
They are trapped in the ideal perfect view the society has of a female.They have became obssesed with physical beauty and feeling they are never going to be like the sexy girl shown in the magazine cover whose breasts are never droopy and whose face never ages but it gets shinnier and smoother.Unconsciously women tend to compare themselves with other women and end up feeling bad about their apperance and unconsciously fulfill society's desires and loosing themselves.Beauty myth is another limitation of women's freedom but this time within themselves.

Approving and reflecting on the lectures theories there was this one which made me hold on for a second :
"By viewing and treating themselves as sexual objects, it is argued that girls and women act as their own first surveyors in anticipation of being evaluated by others."
Although it's just a claim it's completely unacceptable.It's in fact hypocritical to say that females self objectify, or look at themselves like'' what should be done in myself to be fancied by others'' while it is society and men who makes them self objectify.It is society that forces women as I said above to judge themselves based on its criteria.It's actually deeper than just saying that women self objectify for attention and evaluation.Of course it's more like a psychological matter ,lacking confidence and having a lower self-esteem ,but in my opinion that is just the result or the outcome of this issue and I think it is unappropiate to make such a claim with no any bases at all.

Assignment 2 - Objectification theory

After reading the ''Objectification theory'' and ''The Beauty Myth'' I noticed that there are a lots of meaningful theories that everyone should know especially the beauty myth which deals with the beauty concepts. There were a lot of theories that were very interesting and very meaningful. But one that attract my attention is sentence which says: In 1962, Betty Friedan quoted a young woman trapped in the Feminine Mystique: 
''Lately, I looked in the mirror, and I'm so afraid I'm going to look like my mother.''
This sentence deals with the concept of beauty. For many people the idea of being beauty is the idea of having a thin body and a  beautiful face. But this is absolutely wrong. A beauty women is not about the appearance how she looks but the beauty is inside her spirit, her thoughts. Being beauty is not about the age how young an old  you are. A young person should not even say that I,m going to look like my mother. Because every age has its beauty not even the young age but also the old age. Even the wrinkles itself hat their beauty.
Also in the lecture I have marked one sentence '' ... women's bodies are always looked at and potentially objectified...''I totally agree with that because it is true but it shouldn't be.Women are treat like object by men. They see them as a toy on their hand.But why should they think so.Women and men shouldn't be as  objects.     

Assiggnment 2-Objectification Theory

Reading “The Beauty  Myth” reminded me again that the whole idea of  being beauty : you have to look to a certain way youngful ,thin ,without wrinkles  is completely wrong.I like the idea how the author Naomi Wolf describes the relationship between women and beauty relating it to examples, facts of our everyday life,so in a way we could understand better the main  porpuse of the article.

 In the first lecture was a sentence that made me rethought about it and I partially disagree it.”That is,women come to view and treat themselves as objects to be evaluated on the basis of their appereance-or to self-objectify.” I said partially because at some points I agree it.For example it is true that women’s body is treated as an object,not  by them,but by men.We also saw some amberrasing advertisements in the lecture of sexism where women were as some toys in the hand of men.Something that I don’t like is the way how the author think that women treat themselves as objects to be evaluated.According just to that part:women treat themselves as an object ,he means that she doesn’t love herself ,she doesn’t have feelings,thoughts or a reason to live.I disagree it because women are as much human beings as men and first of all they have respect for themselves. I think that a smart woman would never used her appereance to evaluate because she knows quite well that her beauty won’t last for long and what will happen  when her beauty get  lost that means that also her evaluation will end?

 After reading “The Beauty Myth” something that I didn’t like was the way how the author was expressed ,in  this sentence:Aging in women is “unbeautiful” since women grow more powerful with time, and since the links between generations of women must always be newly broken: Older women fear young ones, young women fear old. The idea about aging is “unbeautiful” is completely wrong.In this case it is like a division between the young girls with a fresh skin that can be determaind as beautiful and on the other hand there are the oldest one that can be called as “unbeautiful”.It doesn’t have sense.It is true that woman grow more powerful with time,because I think that are some lessons to learn that are just not available within the fullness of youth .Everyone has the stages of their life,as it is youth which is filled with its own important lessons and mistakes at the same time it is the againg stage that comes with wrinkles ,grey hair and as she said :more powerful with time,but this doesn’t mean that can be unbeautiful or that they fear each other and the links between them is broken.On the contrary the link between them is strong enough to understand each other,because the oldest once were young and the youngest women will be old.There is no escape.I believe that Mother Nature knows what she is doing.

Assignment 2 Objectification theory

I read the two materials and i found many information about objectification theory and beauty myth.
I found many sentence that i agree and disagree ,but the two  sentence that attract my attention are:

One phrase is in the lecture "The beauty myth "
"The beauty myth is always actually prescribing behaviour and not appearance"
 The appearance is the first part when men are looking for a woman not their  behaviour, and this is a wrong thing because we should not look the appearance of a person but their behaviour.I absolutely agree with this sentence  because we should not look their appearance  to someone but their behaviour, their  feelings,how they look inside and not outside.We should baisd in inner beauty not outer beauty,because the look of person can be easily changed  everyday. They think that outer beauty is everything for them, but they forget that the most important thing is inner beauty, is the soul that they have not the face that they have.
If we don't have an awesome look, it doesn't really matter just be good inside. People around you will appreciate you for what you are, and not for what you have or how you look.

Another passage that i found was about the SOQ(self-objectification questionnaire) which concluded that...   "This  difference score represent the relative emphasis  given  to these two dimensions: more positive scores indicte a greater emphasis on physical appearance (how the body look),whereas more negative scores indicate a greater emphasis on physical competence(how the body feels or what it can do)."   I disagree with this phrase because people should not appreciate the way how their body look,  but how their body feels. Every person should feel comfortable with their body to believe in their self and not what others says. In now days we see people that are more interested in the way how  their body  look and not how they feel.They are always  inclined to have a beautiful appearance, to have a perfect body ,but they forget that what is more important is  how they feel inside, they forget one thing, they  are humans and not objects of beauty.

Assignment:2  Objectification theory.

After reading the ‘’objectification theory ‘’and ‘’ beauty myth ‘’ I found two sentences in which I agree and in the other one  disagree. Starting with ‘’I often worry about  whether  the  clothes I am wearing   make make me look good’’. I disagree with this phrase because personally, i wear those clothes that really like me that make me feel good. Nowadays,is it spread the fact that women devote importance the way of the dress. Well, i think that here affects mentality and they think what the others are going to say about me and not what I really feel about myself. Today’s society mostly, of the people not say the all people  appropriate the outer look of the women and they forget the inside part is the most important than the first. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter what the others say about you just feel free about your choices.

‘’ Beauty is not universal or changeless’’ I agree with this phrase because it is a construction. Beauty means behavior in the beauty myth. Might there exist an universal beauty? Of course, that no. Of course that the  the ideals of female beauty comes from the platonic ideals of female.

Assignment 2 Objectification theory

 The Two materials that i read ,noticed  that they are a lot's  of theory about objectification and beauty myth.  It shows us how woman are objectified in the modern world, and how they feel about it.
At the beauty myth i noticed a frase which  grab  my attention:
"Thirty-three thousand  American woman told researchs that they would rather lose ten to fifteen pounds than achieve any other goal. "

Nowadays  we see woman and girls that wan to do cosmetic surgery only that they would be desirable to the men's  eyes. Thinking about one think to be beautiful and charming they forgot that the real beauty is inside  in our soul. Losing weight or doing cosmetic surgery for many women means finding a good job and be respected. But i totally disagree with this  because to become a better person doesn't mean that you have to lose weight or to do cosmetic surgery, you need to be educated and well prepared.  In my opinion doing cosmetic surgery or losing weight only to feel beauty is a waste of time because  everyone is beautiful inside.

In the lecture i found a frase  in which I am totally agree with it:
"In general, media portrayals  are considered sexually objectifying when the visual media spotlight woman's bodies and body parts,especially when depicting them as the target of a nonreciprocated male gaze."


About this frase i agree because nowadays we can see in television commercials, magazines, music videos that use women's body only to have more views in their music or more sale in their magazine. Woman body is used everywhere like their own property doing what they want with it  exposing parts that effect directly in our life. Doing this kind of things can make us feel ashamed  about our own body and life. In my opinion exposing women's bodies in daily life is wrong and we need to change it.

Assignment: 2/ Objectification theory.

Reading the lecture material and the pages of the book called "The Beauty Myth" i found two sentences, one at the lecture material about objectification theory, which I disagreed and one sentence from the book which I agreed.
     The sentence which I disagree on the objectification theory is: "Research that has investigated older samples of women suggests that age may be a protective factor against self-objectification and the associated consequences." Well, I think that the age doesn't represent a woman. Women, especially the old one, are discriminated when it comes to this point because, they are told that they are not beautiful because of their wrinkles on their faces and a lot of companies make a lot of money selling powders. Women, young or old, should be evaluated for their hearts and not for their wrinkled faces.
     The sentence which I completely agree from the book "The Beauty Myth" is: "The beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance". A lot of people, especially nowadays, when they firstly hear "the beauty myth" they think that all has to do with the appearance, but no. It has to do with the behavior, with the character. So, this is the reason why I liked so much this sentence given on the book, because it gives a real definition about "beauty". "Beauty" is not about the appearance, is about the behavior, the character, how we act, how our hearts truly are. There are a lot of women who have face or body disorders and might not look beautiful, but this doesn't mean that they are not beautiful. Their behavior which is reflected from their hearts, might be more beautiful than the people who are beautiful just outside and not inside.

Assignment 2

"The Beauty Myth"
 'The Beauty Myth' is a wonderful article because it describes how images of beauty are used against women and there is one expression that attracted my attention .
 "It is very little to me," said the suffragist Lucy Stone in 1885, " to have the right to vote, to own property etc , if I may not keep my body, and its uses, in my absolute right."
 I personally agree with Lucy because women are always seen to a lesser degree than man. In fact women are treated in different manners by different people. If a woman can not keep her body and its uses in her absolute rights than it is very little to her having the right to vote or to have her own property because the so-called 'beauty myth' in this case is her body and the way that it is treated. In much cases the body of a woman can be used to make money by working as a prostitute while sleeping with other men. Also, a womans body is used in advertising. This beauty myth is used against her by doing actions that she do not want to do.

 I also read the lecture and want to mention only one phrase:
 "Women come to view and treat themselves as objects to be evaluated on the basis of their appearance - or to self-objectify."
 I can say that I agree and disagree with this phrase because womens it is treated in the manner how she treats herself. I agree because womens let other people to treat them as objects and they are all right with this situation. They do not care what happens and only want to be in the center of attention but there are some other womens that are independent and do not let other people treats them as objects but do what they want to do. Womens want to be treated or evaluated on the basis of their appearance not what they feel inside on their spirit. Sometimes it is more important how you are inside not outside because the outside beauty is not universal or changeless because you can change but the only thing that can not change is your spirit. Women should evaluate themselves because no one else will.

Assignment 2

"The Beauty Myth"
After reading the lecture The Beauty Myth there are some points that i agree and some points i do not. In this lecture it is said that " The qualities that a given period calls beautiful in women are merely symbols of the female behavior that period considers  desirable : The beauty myth is always actually prescribing behavior and not appearance".  I personally agree with this statement mainly because beauty does not make or form someone as a human being, which means that the appearance is not always connected with the behaviour. More specifically, I believe this because what matters is the inner part of our souls.

On the othet hand, there is a statement that i do not agree. "During a century and a half of unprecedented feminist agitation, they effectively counteracted middle-class women's dangerous new leisure, literacy, and relative freedom from material constrants". I disagree with this, because I am against this attitude towards the female gender during those times. The women were not given their freedom to enjoy their free time and do things for their satisfaction.



In the second lecture, as regards Sexual Objectification it is said that " That is, women come to view and treat themselves as objects to be evaluated on the basis of their appearance- or to self-objectify. In particular, it is the subtle practice of sexualized gazing that women encounter as they move in and out of a variety of social contexts that coaxes girls and women into adopting this evaluative gaze as their own self-perspective".  I disagree with the feminist theories that women view and treat themselves as objects to be evaluated on the basis of their appearance or to self-objectify, because women are unique human beings and they should be treated with respect and understanding. Appearance does not play the major role for the evaluation of the female gender, but they should be treated with respect for their inner world and well-behaviour.


Moreover, as regards Objectification Theory and Sexual Dysfunctions it is said that "As with eating disorders and depression, women experience more sexual dissatisfaction and sexual dysfunction than do men. The subjective experiences associated with sexual and self-objectification, such as body shame, appearance anxiety, and inattention to internal body states, arguably interfere with achieving orgasm".  I agree with this statement, because all these factors affect the internal body states of a woman. All these disorders do lead to sexual dysfunctions as a result, women feel lower sex-esteem and satisfaction.

Assignment 2: Analysis of two objectification theories

Reading the two materials, I came upon several theories about all kinds of objectification and beauty concepts. The thing I like the most about these materials is the fact that they provide the reader with examples and researches in order to give better explanations about what is being presented to us.
There were a lot of theories that absolutely enchanted me at “The Beauty Myth”. Nothing that I didn’t knew before but seeing it so well presented and elaborated made me even more aware of the How’s and Why’s a society is the way it is. I would like to extract a passage from there that says: 

“After years of much struggle and little recognition, many older women feel burned out; after years of taking its light for granted, many younger women show little interest in touching new fire to the torch.”                                                                                   

While being well aware of all the fights women have done during centuries they still haven’t achieved the status of feeling free. It is pretty ironic actually but I do understand those who claim that there is no more inequality between men and women. The reason why that occurs is because they are either living in a box or they were taught since childhood that feminism isn’t an actual thing. Not accepting inequality and inequity among men and women is the first mistake that people make that leads them astray of the real situation.                                       

Back in the days the most difficult thing to fight against was the mentality. Women were trying so hard to change people’s perception and attitude towards biological causes as well as to implement the idea that natural behaviors were acceptable. They were trying to develop a society and they still are, but somehow still get all the shame and contradictions.  I don’t blame older women. They feel tired. I understand what it feels like to struggle your way up to the top and still not getting any kind of recognition because of situations such as sexual ignorance or encapsulation of ideas. It is funny how women who have fought their whole life for their rights, even in their old years they are attacked and defined with claims such as: “aging is unbeautiful”. It’s understandable how such a thing can make you lose hope and feel burned out.
 Many people may assume that younger women are considered luckier at some point, because they are not the one’s taking the initiative to make a revolution. That was done long ago from their ancestors and what young women should do now is to keep their position in society high, their moral intact, their motherhood on point and their appearances on ‘fleek’. This sentence has Stupidity written all over it. Wanting women to be perfect human beings according to a male driven society perspective just makes their freedom look optional. Cause if not, they are not perfect...than they are worthless. Young women today have it harder to prove they are capable of a lot of things. Even though many things are changing there are still young women who show little interest in touching new fire to the torch. Society is slowly colonizing female consciousness and the breaking relation between female liberation and female beauty is a more accurate thing as many people may think. 
Young women wanting to be more beautiful in order to be accepted by society is making them neglect on being soul free. While many others are trying to keep that old fighting flame still going on, are facing all kinds of prejudice. But they are respected and feared. That’s why I love them.  

It was hard to disagree on the theories presented at the lecture but I think one of them really caught my attention.

“One of the key assumptions of objectification theory is that women self-objectify in response to both attracting and managing the male gaze.”

While it is a good thing that this is considered just as an assumption and not as a fact it still isn’t acceptable. Claiming that women self objectify in order to have males attention is not something to be considered as a self objectification theory rather than just a vain mentality occurring by both parts because there are also men who self-objectify in order to attract women with materialistic objects or body figures. I do agree that there are people who do this but the feeling of attracting a male is not the main reason self-objectification.

The root of this problem is the lack of self esteem these individuals have. Psychologically speaking, in order for them to have a higher self esteem they have the urge and need to feel wanted by the other sex. Lacking confidence leads a person away from the richness of their soul and mentality. They focus only in the appearances and encapsulate the feeling of love and passion mainly in their outer world, forgetting that there is more that meets the eye.

This assumption does not qualify as real because having a mental disorder is not something you can explain by the attention one may have from men. There is an example on the text about the eating disorders among lesbian women which may qualify as inadequate according to the self-objectification assumption but I think that self-harming in order for women to attract other women is possible as well. So in my opinion, craving attention from other sexual partners is one of the many outcomes but not the root of this problem and I believe that you cannot address the thought of feeling wanted to other people rather than to your own perception and mental attitude.

Week VI: Objectification theory

Week VI

"Objectification Theory, Self-Objectification, and Body Image" by Rachel M. Calogero

https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10637634.pdf

"The Beauty Myth" by Naomi Wolf

http://www.alaalsayid.com/ebooks/The-Beauty-Myth-Naomi-Wolf.pdf 

Assignement 1 - Encounters with sexism on everyday life.

 

Sexism is a serious issue that is part of the advertisements produced by numerous big companies in "big screens" but it can even be shown in the smallest and simpliest of "self-promoting" ads that people make in order to offer a product , service etc. 

In the pictures shown above we can clearly see that these ads have some similarities. All three of them are promoting houses that can be rented but there is also another key-word in each one of them , which is of course that these people are offering their places for girls (presumably girl students). 

These pictures were taken quite near A.Xhuvani's University but if you could just have a walk around the city ,you would be able to find ads like these everywhere. Most of these ads offering houses for rents have the same requirement , which is that the person who is willing to rent the place must be a girl. The problem that stands here is that there is also a decent number of male students that are in a search for a place to stay when university begins , every single year. The search for these male students is quite more difficult in comparison to the other gender mostly because owners have created the idea that boys (young man) aren't grown enough in order to be serious and look after a whole house by themselves. Of course that there are no graphic images or even insulting words in these ads that may offend these young men but the fact that they may even end up becoming college commuters can have a huge impact on their education and performance.

In my opinion these ads clearly show the minds of stereotypical people that are limiting the availability of their offers when they could just leave them to the whole group of people (without specifying any genders).