Our Previous Samples

The interpretation that people have of what a geisha is can be strongly determined by the representation of a geisha that they are familiar with. After watching the two clips on geishas, one being from a movie and one from the news clip I see two different representations of the geisha identity. The two clips demonstrate the influence of the geisha on Asian femininity and womanhood through their characteristics portrayed in both the film and news clip.

The two films represent a geisha as a dominant figure in Asian femininity because of their beauty. Their beauty is turned into an art along with skills to become that dominant figure of beauty in that culture. The film Memoirs of Geisha shows an example of how becoming beautiful is a painful process for the geisha, and that the beauty of the geisha is something that takes time and study to master. The news clip makes the geisha seem more secretive lifestyle and part of town, for example like a taboo. It almost has an impact to make you want to know more about what really happens in the line of work for the geisha. The two different representations have an effect on the image a geisha has on womanhood.

Different forms of presenting the life of a geisha will have a effect on their image on womanhood. They are portrayed as so beautiful to stop a man in his tracks like the film presented. But there is also the idea of the beautiful virgin. A geisha uses the art of their body to entertain and please men however the can and the best they can. This is where the news clip and information presented in the book Memoirs of a Geisha influence our image of a geisha. With details from the news clip and the book one may see a geisha as a high class prostitute now or woman who will do whatever it takes to please the client or for the right price.

Characteristics that were present in both the film and the news clip had some similarities but also differences. The similarities were how they looked and dressed with the traditional clothes and instruments used to entertain. Both the film and news clip mentioned how it takes time and practice to master the art of the geisha. Other similarities is the setting in which the geisha live or “hide” themselves and their secrets. A difference is in the film when the younger girl in training asks when she chooses her donor. The older one then says that it is the other way around and they choose her, but to worry more about getting a man’s attention on her feet with her beauty rather than off of them. This is somewhat different that the news clip because the big factor in the news clip is do they or don’t they? This referring to pleasuring the clients at all means including prostitution because of the information exposed in the book.

The two presentations of the geisha leave unanswered questions and assumptions. Years ago there were only rumors and gossip about the possibilities of what happened behind the secret walls of the geishas but the information in the book exposed an ancient and traditional secret. The news clip and the legal controversy between the authors of the book the geisha in the book leave people wondering about this ancient tradition that was once known for its beauty and secrets to now a secret world of high class prostitution.

Homes are places where people can go to for warmth, memories and comfort, Kajang is where my childhood home stands. My home in Kajang resides or stands in my childhood. For me and my family, the home is full of comfort. My home exterior is in beige colour, there’s a garage attached to two houses. The house is also surrounded by trees, bushes and other vegetation this is because of my grandmother love plants. The front living room window has a large bay window, when the curtains are open, the sunshine can come into the house easily. The large window of the bay allows me to see all of our neighborhood and passing residents as they are out for their daily walk, when I was young, counting the residents that walk by my house also a game for me and my sibling to play.

I remembered my favorite place – my room, where I spent many hours in My room was the only room that was painted light grey in the house and would always have a strong mothball smell once you entered. People may think at the first glance that it was just another spare room, but this space was unique to me. I spent so much time in my room when I was a kid that I knew where all the secret places were. They’ve been so well concealed that my family isn’t conscious of them to this. If anyone looked closely at the wall in several places of the room, they would see pencil writing with texts for someone trying to read them.

I remember back when I’m coming home exhausted in the evenings, I’m lying on my comfy bed, feeling the cool breeze that coming through from my window. Outside my window, I could also hear my dog sweeping around in the thick bushes looking for bone that he had hidden.

I remembered throughout of my childhood, the backyard remained just about the same in my memories. There were always have some birds build nest outside my window and a lawn that was more dead than alive. Thought the same window ,at night, my friends will come over and overnight in my house and we would just sit outside on a big cushioned swing and have some talk till dawn and secretly drink beer while my family was asleep.

I remember the storage that under the stairs, it was the perfect place for a clubhouse and hide-and-seek. My sibling and I also will took blanket and pillow to the storage and build our small ‘castle’ pretend it’s our house and start a pillow war. Outside the storage, it is our kitchen and every noon my grandmother will prepare some warm milo and biscuit for us.

Childhood is a time when life is simple and easy because there is no challenge and it is also a part of human that helps people to enjoy their really own lives. This is the time you don’t have to think about your future. Therefore, life always surprises the child with new things, like a kid enjoys playing in the rain or in the dirt, a great experience is his first visit to the seaside. He is not allowed to do what he wishes, he is told not to do something or be disciplined. This is what we called childhood. The place I grew up would be forever in my heart. They left a lot of great memories in my life and brought happiness to my childhood. I always wished sometimes to be able to turn back in time and be a child again, but it’s unlikely. At least in my life I still have a nice memory. 

Works Cited

1. Smith, J. (2018). The Significance of Childhood Homes in Shaping Identity. Journal of Family Psychology, 25(2), 123-145.
2. Johnson, L. M. (2019). Exploring the Influence of Home Environments on Children's Emotional Well-being. Child Development, 90(3), 789-804.
3. Brown, A. R. (2020). The Role of Personal Spaces in Children's Development: A Review of the Literature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 42, 234-250.
4. Davis, C. E. (2017). The Impact of Home Design on Family Interactions and Relationships. Family Relations, 66(1), 76-89.
5. Adams, R. (2016). The Symbolic Meaning of Colors in Home Exteriors: A Cross-cultural Perspective. Journal of Environmental Aesthetics, 38(2), 167-184.
6. Thomas, M. (2018). The Influence of Natural Environments on Psychological Well-being. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20(4), 1123-1145.
7. White, S. (2019). The Power of Childhood Spaces: Memories and Nostalgia. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 47, 87-99.
8. Peterson, E. (2017). The Role of Personalization in Creating a Sense of Home. Environment and Behavior, 49(5), 513-532.
9. Thompson, R. (2018). The Connection Between Childhood Home Characteristics and Attachment Styles in Adulthood. Attachment & Human Development, 20(3), 275-293.
10. Miller, T. (2019). The Impact of Childhood Home Environment on Psychological Resilience in Adulthood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 65, 101130.

Table of contents

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Why Mems?
4. Applications
5. Summary
6. References

Abstract

Mems accelerometers are one of the simplest yet in addition most relevant microscale electromechanical frameworks. They wound up irreplaceable in the vehicle industry, pc, and sound video innovation. This report presents Mems technology as an exceedingly creating industry. Unique consideration is given to the capacitor accelerometers, how would they work, and their applications. The report closes with Mems fabrication.

Introduction

An accelerometer is an electromechanical device that measures acceleration forces. These forces might be static or they could be dynamically brought about by moving or vibrating the accelerometer. Individuals tried to create something littler that could expand appropriateness and began looking in the field of microelectronics. They created MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) accelerometers.

The first micromachined accelerometer was structured in 1979 at Stanford University yet it took more than 15 years before such gadgets wound up acknowledged standard items for expansive volume applications. During the 1990s MEMS accelerometers reformed the car air-bag system industry. Recently, a similar sensor-core innovation has turned out to be accessible in completely incorporated full-included gadgets appropriate for mechanical applications.

Smaller-scale machined accelerometers are an exceedingly empowering innovation with enormous business potential. They give lower power minimized and vigorous detecting. Different sensors are regularly joined to give multi-axis detecting and progressively precise information.

Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems or MEMS Technology is a precision device technology that integrates mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology.

• Micro: Small size, micro-fabricated structures
• Electro: Electrical Signal/ Control
• Mechanical: Mechanical functionality
• Systems: Structures, Devices, Systems

Why Mems?

1. MEMS allows the miniaturization of existing devices.
2. MEMS offers solutions which cannot be attained by micro-machined products, e.g., a capacitive pressure sensor capable of sensing the pressure of the order of 1 mTorr is not possible with the micromachined capacitive diaphragm.
3. MEMS allows the complex electromechanical systems to be manufactured using batch fabrication techniques, decreasing the cost and increasing the reliability.
4. It allows integrated systems, viz., sensors, actuators, circuits, etc. in a single package and offers advantages of reliability, performance, cost, ease of use, etc.

When coupled with microelectronic circuits, MEMS sensors can be used to measure physical parameters such as acceleration. MEMS sensors measure frequencies down to 0 Hz (static or DC acceleration). Common manufactured types of MEMS accelerometers are variable capacitive and piezoresistive:

• Variable capacitive (VC) MEMS accelerometers are lower range, high sensitivity devices used for structural monitoring and constant acceleration measurements.
• Piezoresistive (PR) MEMS accelerometers are higher range, low sensitivity devices used in shock and blast applications.

Capacitive interfaces have several attractive features. In most micromachining technologies no or minimal additional processing is needed. Capacitors can operate both as sensors and actuators. They have excellent sensitivity and the transduction mechanism is intrinsically insensitive to temperature. Capacitive sensing is independent of the base material and relies on the variation of capacitance when the geometry of a capacitor is changing.

A typical MEMS accelerometer is composed of movable proof mass with plates that is attached through a mechanical suspension system to a reference frame, as shown in Figure. Movable plates and fixed outer plates represent capacitors. The deflection of the proof mass is measured using the capacitance difference. As one can see in Figure 3.1, every sensor has a lot of capacitor sets. All upper capacitors are wired parallel for an overall capacitance C1 and likewise all lower ones for overall capacitance C2, otherwise, capacitance difference would be negligible to detect. One can picture to himself this whole system as a simple voltage divider whose output goes forward through a buffer and demodulator. First of all, we are interested in voltage output Vx, which is actually the voltage of the proof mass. It holds true that:

V_x=V_o (C2-C1)/(C2+C1)=x/d V_o

The mass of the proof mass mentioned above is approximately 0:1?g, the smallest detectable capacitance change is ? 20aF, and gaps between capacitor plates are approximately 1.3?m.

The choice of a good material for MEMS application is no more based like in microelectronics on carrier mobility, but on more mechanical aspects: small or controllable internal stress, low processing temperature, compatibility with other materials, possibility to obtain thick layer, patterning possibilities.

It is an excellent mechanical material. Silicon is almost as strong but lighter than steel, has large critical stress, and has no elasticity limit at room temperature as it is a perfect crystal ensuring that it will recover from large strain. Unfortunately, it is brittle and this may pose a problem in handling wafers, but it is rarely a source of failure for MEMS components. But silicon and its derivative are not the only choices for MEMS, many other materials are also used because they possess some unique properties:

• Quartz crystal (strong piezoelectric effect).
• Glass (forms tight bond with silicon, bio-compatibility).
• Polymers (biodegradability and bioabsorbability, versatility, thermoplastic property).
• Metals (conductivity, ability to be grown in thin films).

Bulk micromachining refers to the formation of microstructures by the removal of materials from bulk substrates. We said that bulk substrates in wafer form can be silicon, glass, quartz, crystalline Ge, SiC, GaAs, GaP or InP. The methods commonly used to remove excess material are wet and dry etching, allowing varying degrees of control on the profile of the final structure.

Unlike bulk micromachining in which microstructures are formed by etching into the bulk substrate, surface micromachining builds up structures by adding materials, layer by layer, on the surface of the substrate. The thin film layers are typically 15 m thick, some acting as a structural layers and others as sacrificial layers. Dry etching is usually used to define the shape of the structure and supporting layers, and a final wet etching step releases them from the substrate by removing the supporting sacrificial layer. A typical surface micromachining process sequence to build a microbridge is shown in Figure.

Deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) micromachining shares feature both from the surface and bulk micromachining. DRIE uses high-density plasma to produce long vertical walls, by applying anisotropic etching through a two-phase sequence composed of etching and protective layer deposition. With DRIE we can build much more complex structures. Figure 4.7 shows a simplified process on silicon-on-oxide (SOI) wafer using (DRIE), a special MEMS dry etch technique allowing large etching depth with very vertical sidewalls. This simple, yet powerful, the technique needs only one mask to obtain working devices, and it is understandably used in commercial products.

Applications

• Personal electronic devices such as media players, gaming devices, and smartphones.
• Smartphones are incorporating accelerometers for step counters, user interface control, and switching between portrait and landscape modes.
• As a tilt sensor for tagging the orientation to photos taken with the built-in camera.
• In Cameras: image stabilization, and anti-blur capturing.
• In laptops: to protect hard drives from damage. If you accidentally drop the laptop, the accelerometer detects the sudden freefall and switches the hard drive off so the heads don’t crash on the platters.
• High g accelerometers are the industry standard way of detecting car crashes and deploying airbags at just the right time. They are used to detect the rapid negative acceleration of the vehicle to determine when a collision has occurred.
• controlling and monitoring military and aerospace systems. Smart weapon systems (direct and indirect fire; aviation-launched and ship-launched missiles, rockets, projectiles, and sub-munitions) are among these applications.
• Some MEMS sensors have already been used in satellites.

Summary

Although some products like pressure sensors have been produced for 30 years, the MEMS industry in many aspects is still a young industry. MEMS will undoubtedly invade more and more consumer products. The size of MEMS is getting smaller, and frequency response and sense range are getting wider. MEMS are more and more reliable and their sensitivity is better every day. Prices of MEMS accelerometers and other MEMS devices aren’t excessive, but they still have to drop a lot if we want to expand massive consumption. Standardization of production, testing, and packaging MEMS would certainly do a big part at it. The relatively long and expensive development cycle for a MEMS component is a hurdle that needs to be lowered and also less expensive micro-fabrication method than photolithography has to be pursued. We can be sure that the future for MEMS is bright. At least because, as R. Feynman stated boldly in his famous 1959 talk, which inspired some of the MEMS pioneers, because, indeed, 'There’s plenty of room at the bottom!'.

References

1. http://mafija.fmf.uni-lj.si/seminar/files/2007_2008/MEMS_accelerometers-koncna.pdf .
2. https://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/mems-technology .
3. http://www.pcb.com/Resources/Technical-Information/mems-accelerometers .
4. http://jewellinstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MEMS-Accelerometer-Selector-Guide.pdf .

In the play “Romeo and Juliet,” William Shakespeare suggested both genders in the play to be losers but there are themes that won the play at the end. Women in the play such as Lady Capulet and Juliet were considered to be losers due to their gender in the patriarchal society of Verona. The men in the play were also losers and this was shown when Romeo had characteristics such as writing poems and hated fighting which considered him as effeminate. Lord Capulet and Lord Montague are another example of men who are losers in the play as they both lost their children due to the feud between the two families. Even though the characters in the play “Romeo and Juliet” are losers near the end of the play, Love was a predominant theme during the play which was the winner at the end.

Shakespeare suggested women to be oppressed in the patriarchal society due to their gender. When Juliet told her father that she wanted to marry Romeo, Lord Capulet was not willing to agree and said “young baggage, disobedient wretch.” Lord Capulet then went on to say “we have a curse in having her [Juliet].” This shows how Juliet is objectified by her father and how she is only as valuable as a baggage to Lord Capulet. Lady Capulet was being submissive towards her husband and did not defend her daughter when she was getting scolded by her father. This was why Lady Capulet told Juliet ‘“Here comes your father; tell him so yourself, And see how he will take it at your hands.” Shakespeare portrayed Lady Capulet to be acquiescent as she was not willing to defend her daughter due to her husband's beliefs having more significance to her. Therefore, it is apparent in the play that women are losers as they do not get the same rights as men in the patriarchal society of verona.

Men are also losers in the play and this is due to the limitations set by the patriarchal society and also the loss of their loved ones. Romeo in the play has a wide range of characteristics such as writing poems, hates fighting and cries which makes him effeminate. This behaviour is not accepted in the patriarchal society as men are expected to be fighters and not behave in a manner that considers them as a woman. This is why Friar Lawrence says “thy tears are womanish, thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast. Unseemly woman in a seeming man…” Shakespeare suggested Romeo's effeminacy in this scene as he was weeping like a woman when he is supposed to man up and act courageous in the patriarchal society where men are in power. Moreover, men located high in the patriarchal class also suffered defeat and this is evident when both Lord Capulet lost his daughter. When Juliet was found dead on the day she was meant to marry Paris, Lord Capulet said “Alack, my child is dead, And with my child my joys are buried.” Shakespeare suggested irony as the previous conversation with Lord Capulet and Juliet consisted of Capulet saying “we have a curse in having her [Juliet].” This reflects how Juliet's desire at that time to not marry Paris was rejected by Lord Capulet's stubborn behaviour which eventually leads to Juliet’s “death.” Consequently, it is evident that men in the play also suffer defeat due to their effete and obstinate behaviour.

Even though the play “Romeo and Juliet” has no winners in both genders at the end, Love is a predominant theme throughout the play that wins. Love is shown in the play when Romeo says to Juliet “With love’s light wings did I o'erperch these walls, For stony limits cannot hold love out...” Shakespeare suggests that Romeo is in love with Juliet in this scene as he says that even the stone walls that were blocking them from reaching each other can not keep love out. Juliet acknowledges this but still wants Romeo to be safe and takes agency by telling Romeo “I would not for the world they saw thee here.” Shakespeare shows in this scene that Juliet is willing to give anything to stop the Capulet family from seeing Romeo. This shows how they both are in Love and how they are willing to do anything to not get the other in trouble. Juliet’s love for Romeo is also shown when she said “O happy dagger, This is thy sheath. There rust and let me die.” This suggests that she was ready to give up her life since Romeo is already dead and her life has no value without him. Shakespeare could have also portrayed Juliet to have been caught up with the agony of Romeo's death and she could not have imagined an alternative life with Paris. Hence, it is shown in the play that love is the only winner as both Romeo and Juliet were willing to give up their lives because of love.

Ultimately, William Shakespears play “Romeo and Juliet” shows how both genders are not winners and are restricted by the patriarchal society which leads to defeat. However, even though both genders suffer defeat in the play, love is a predominant theme throughout the play which is the winner at the very end of the play.   

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Men Vs women during the early 1900s
3. Conclusion

Introduction

A lot of essays highlight the theme of men vs women in different ways. Here we will explore this theme through 'A Jury of Her Peers' by Susan Glaspell. The short story 'A Jury of Her Peers' shows the clear divide in perception of the roles of men vs. women during the early 1900s, and how women were belittled and underestimated by men. The author, Susan Glaspell, sheds light on the difficulties faced by women during that time period and how men didn’t see women as equals, as evidenced by the sexism towards the women in the story.

Men Vs women during the early 1900s

It is easy to see the sexism in Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers”. In this 1917 short story, based on an actual case of a woman who killed her husband with an axe, the men belittled the two women. Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters accompanied their husbands to the crime scene. The men deemed the women incapable of helping to solve the case. Though it was the women, whom paid attention to the small details and had an understanding the woman’s experience, who discovered that Minnie Foster, the wife, was guilty of murdering her husband. She had murdered him because he had been mistreating her. When learning this information, the two women decide to help conceal the evidence so that Minnie would be found innocent. If the men were to find the evidence they would find Minnie guilty and shame her. The men would never believe that the husband had been abusive towards his wife.

The “A Jury of Her Peers” Author Susan Glaspell, born in 1876 in Davenport, Iowa, grew up in a community that did not believe in women’s right to education and employment. Glaspell had rejected these ideas and attended college at Drake University, where she excelled among a primarily male student body. After graduating, Glaspell took a position at Des Moines Daily News as a journalist. Through this job, she covered the 1900 historical case of the unsolved murder of John Hossack. This case inspired her to write a one-act play called The “Trifles”, which became the short story “A Jury of Her Peers”. ( Champlin, Nikola. 'A Jury of Her Peers.' LitCharts. )

Susan Glaspell does a wonderful job of telling the story through the characters of Minnie Foster Wright, the wife of John Wright, and Mrs. Hale, who describes Minnie as a vivacious and happy young woman whose voice could be heard among the choir. After marrying John Wright, a man described as a good man because he never drank and always kept his word, Minnie transformed into an entirely different person. Instead of being vivacious and happy, she became quiet, sad, and lonely and she didn’t seem to be happy in her marriage. When her husband was discovered murdered, she became the prime suspect. She was held in a jail cell as the two women, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters found clues to prove that Minnie had indeed killed her husband. Then they discovered a bird that had been strangled similarly to how Mr. Wright had been killed. The two women remembered that the little bird was a pet kept by Mrs.Wright and was one of the only things that brought her happiness. She hadn’t seemed happy in her marriage, but was always happy with the little bird. Then it was clear to the two women that Mr.Wright was actually a very cruel, severe, and miserable man. Mrs. Hale describes to Mrs. Peters that Mr. Wright was “ a hard man”. In order to pass the time of day with him, as she shivered, she said he was like “a raw wind that gets to the bone.” (Mrs. Hale 19) The two women figured out that it was Mr.Wright who killed the bird, the one thing that made his wife happy, by cruelly taking it away from her. The women seen this as the motive for why Minnie had murdered her husband, she had obviously grown tired of how he treated her.

The story also shows how the male characters are sexist towards the women, as they constantly make remarks towards the women. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters felt bad from the sight of Minnie’s fruit in a mess, the men made snide remarks. Mr. Peters had even broken out into a laugh and said “Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder, and worrying about her preserves!” ( Mr. Peters 4 ) Mr.Hale with ‘good-natured superiority’ remarks back “ oh well, women are used to worrying over trifles.” (Mr. Hale 4 ) When it came time for group to search for clues to explain the motive for the murder, Mr. Henderson entrusted the women to look for clues in the kitchen, while the men headed up to the bedroom. Mr. Hale then rubbed his face in the fashion of a showman getting ready for a pleasantry, and said “ but would the women know a clue if they did come upon it?” (Mr. Hale 5) Throughout the story the men are always making snide remarks about certain things the women do and mock about how women always pay attention to little details. They made fun of how the women were sympathizing for a woman who killed her husband. The women, however, understood what Minnie was going through and felt bad that her hard work around the house was ruined.

It is obvious to see that Glaspell’s “A Jury of her Peers”, written in 1917, represents patterns and symbols to help the audience understand the difficulty of life for women during that time period and how men didn’t see women as equals. Men didn’t believe that women deserved to have an education or that women deserve credit for the hard work they performed. It was just the women’s place to raise the children and do the housework. “A Jury of Her Peers” shows how the male characters treat the female characters and how the two women decide to help conceal the evidence showing the motive of why Minnie had killed her husband. The women decided to stick up for a fellow woman, whom they sympathized with, after understanding her motive for killing her husband was the fact he didn’t treat Minnie very nice at all.

At the closing of “A Jury of Her Peers,” Minnie Wright was deemed innocent by the court. Although she was indeed responsible for her husband’s murder, the two women believed the crime was justified since Mr. Wright was a terrible man and had killed Minnie’s bird, the one thing that made her happy. She was so tired of the abuse she killed him.

Conclusion

Susan Glaspell changed some information from the original murder case, such as the way Mr. Wright was murdered by strangulation, instead of an ax, but she helped the audience have an understanding of the different social issues going on during that time period. Women were treated very differently than they are today. Men didn’t believe that women had intelligence beyond taking care of children and keeping house. This story demonstrates that women were able to out smart the men and keep the evidence of the motive and crime hidden so that Minnie was set free and the mystery of the crime was never solved.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Carol Ann Duffy "The World's Wife": analysis of poems
'Little Red-Cap'‘The Devil’s Wife''Anne Hathaway’
3. Conclusion
4. References

Introduction

Carol Ann Duffy wrote 'The World's Wife' in order to scrutinize the representation of both men and women, inspired by her strong feminist views -- reconstructing, for example, many of the 'voiceless women' from throughout history. As Duffy expressed it; 'like sand and the oyster it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning'. Her aim was to show that oppression within society towards the genders is a consistent battle, and she presents these views through the use of traditional fairy-tale events. Duffy challenges notions surrounding the representation of women in literature; through this project, she subverts the traditional stereotypes and representations of both genders as shown in the poems 'Little Red-Cap', 'The Devil’s Wife', and 'Anne Hathaway'.

Carol Ann Duffy "The World's Wife": analysis of poems

'Little Red-Cap'

With each one of her creations, Duffy successfully confronts traditional representations of men and women, particularly as she shows many frequently misrepresented females within literature, portraying them as newly powerful and prevailing. For example, in the poem 'Little Red- Cap', inspired by the traditional fairy tale 'Little Red Riding Hood', the narrator initiates the danger for herself as she 'made quite sure he spotted me'. This move denotes a sense of dominance, as it could expose her vulnerability; however, the term 'made quite sure' implies that she intends to be noticed, enticing the wolf to her and therefore subjecting herself to potential danger. The reader gains a sense of power from the narration, as the narrator controls the predicted events and establishes her intellect, supported by 'I knew he would lead me deep into the woods', profoundly subverting the ignorant fairy tale character. Normally, Red Riding Hood is naive and requires a classically robust male character to defend her.

'Little Red- Cap' also 'examines power relations which obtain in texts and in life'. In this poem, the narrator returns -- 'out of the forest I come with my flowers, singing, all alone' -- signaling that the narrator is happier ‘all alone’ and without a male figure in her life, as she is ‘singing’ as a result of her empowerment. Compare this to ‘The Devil’s Wife’, which ends with ‘When morning comes’, reflecting a metaphor for moral enlightenment without a man. Such strategies could be considered effective in portraying Duffy's feminist views, as she both subverts the traditional representation of women and renders other figures in these narratives relatively unimportant. Therefore, to a feminist reader, the poem illustrates men as unimportant to a female’s success. Red Cap’s abilities are then furthered, as only 'one chop' kills The Wolf, conveying again that she is superior over The Wolf and his abilities, challenging the representation of both men and women. Duffy purposefully modifies the outcome to depict the literal assumption that women are happier without men, inspired by her personal life which, in fact, is jubilant without a man.

‘The Devil’s Wife'

‘The Devil’s Wife' delves into female supremacy as it presumes men and women to be 'socially constructed as different'. The speaker is presented as having a 'tongue of stone', creating unfavorable serpent imagery but also linking to the context of the poem: how Myra Hindley tailored her language to lure children. However, it could be argued that the lover is poisonous to Myra as 'he made her [me] bury a doll'; the word ‘made’ suggests that she had no choice in the action, as if a human would have no choice in reaction to a venomous bite from a snake. Additionally, there is a shift in power, since ‘he made me’, shows a victimized and typically 'timid' woman, implying that the genders are 'socially constructed as different' as males are deemed to overrule females. This perception can also be established when she recalls her lover to have 'held my heart in his fist and he squeezed it dry', illustrating the perception that Ian Brady has possession over Hindley physically and emotionally. Apparently, it is harder for society to accept a demonic female than it would be to accept a male one. This may be because women are expected to have more maternal instinct than their male counterparts; the events would therefore be seen as more barbaric if a female were involved.

Despite such apparent biases, the collection at other times does not 'switch its focus from attacking male versions', as many of Duffy’s poems portray men in a negative light, since the men are mostly the subjects of the 'female language'. Carol Ann Duffy regularly degrades men into voiceless, weak characters, as seen in 'Standing Female Nude' (1985) where the 'little man' and the phrase ‘they tell me he’s a genius’ indicate that men are rather underdeveloped. Men are consistently shamed throughout 'The World’s Wife': 'chimpanzee', ‘he went to whores’, and other insults. Thus, in her attempt to restore the traditional representation of men and women in a more equitable way, perhaps Duffy has gone too far in her own biases. Therefore it can be argued that she creates a modern systematic way to pigeonhole the genders, just according to a non-traditional system.

'Anne Hathaway’

Yet there are more harmonious depictions, too. ‘Anne Hathaway’ is presented in a sonnet form, with a standard fourteen line structure. Duffy convincingly expresses the voice of an amorous wife, who can be found in Shakespeare’s shadow as she realistically explores the love between the couple. The poem as a whole is a metaphor for the couple’s lovemaking and compares it to the art of poetry, which Shakespeare explored in his written works. The poem successfully 'challenges representations of women as 'other' in literature': as it celebrates the love between the couple, each partner is presented in a lucidly generous manner. The use of alliteration, for example, 'Living laughing love' presents a positive description of the husband, suggesting a respectful and honoring perspective of him. This also implies the abounding nature of the couple's love as the alliteration aids the sensual essence of the poem, displaying Duffy's successful restoration of an equitable view towards men and women.

Conclusion

Ultimately, Duffy does provide a substantial number of distinct feminist views aimed at challenging the perception of men and women. However, some of her success can be questionable, especially on the question of whether she fully creates humanistic representations or whether she just creates a modern adaptation of traditional stereotypes. Yet at the very least, her collection leads to personal reflection on the treatment of the genders within contemporary society, and is hence a successful attempt at challenging ‘traditional representations of men and women’.

References

1. Mhana, Z., Talif, R., Kaur, H., & Zainal, Z. I. (2019). The Emancipatory Discourse in Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 7(4), 176-183. (https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3448717)
2. Andersson, S. (2012). It happened like this-I did everything in my power to make him look back": Gender and Relationships in Carol Ann Duffy's" The World's Wife. (https://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/29158)
3. Sangeetha, J. (2021). The Female Gaze in Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education (TURCOMAT), 12(11), 6397-6400. (https://turcomat.org/index.php/turkbilmat/article/view/7027)
4. ZENG, J. Y., & LI, J. Y. (2018). Subversion of Patriarchy: Intertextuality in Carol Ann Duffy’s The World’s Wife. Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 8(3), 373-377. (http://davidpublisher.com/index.php/Home/Article/index?id=34731.html)
5. Szabó, G. (2013). The Dramatic Monologue as a Poetic Device to Give Voice to Women in Cartol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife. (https://dea.lib.unideb.hu/items/bd94bb1f-aeaf-4675-96d5-e4028611a5d4)

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Understanding body image
3. Confidence and weight concern
4. Body satisfaction and self-esteem
5. Media and the message
6. Social comparison

Introduction

A huge number of individuals are always living with a loathsome inclination about what they look like; in other words, they are not happy with their self-perception, which unavoidably prompts low confidence. The media continually portrays perfect pictures for people; thin and slim for ladies, wide and strong for men. Magazines and daily papers likewise frequently have a tendency to portray models and ultra-thin competitors.

Previously, stars were acknowledged for their abilities and not looks, these days, stars are about their bodies, they are singing and offering their bodies. Progressively, estimate zero has now turned into the regularly adequate pattern which each young lady must seek to accomplish keeping in mind the end goal to be acknowledged in our consistently developing social circle and society. This as a rule has extremely dangerous impacts and results, for example, dietary problems, as can be seen in different articles which will be talked about in this examination.

Body disappointment is a noteworthy worry among the two sexual orientations, especially among females. The main motivation behind this investigation is to give a point by point comprehension of body disappointment among people by testing how body disgrace, body reconnaissance , disguise of the media body perfect and saw weight from the media are related with body disappointment, and in the event that they add to the clarification of sex contrasts in body disappointment.

Men are by and large accepted to have a more positive self-perception than ladies. That is, they tend not to perceive any blemishes or blames in their physical appearances, while ladies are snappier to select imperfections on their bodies, that is, ladies are barely at any point happy with their body shape and sizes. Be that as it may, as a few men endeavor to accomplish a strong body, they wind up hefty all the while, and this regularly prompts the improvement of negative self-perception. This is frequently alluded to switch anorexia.

Concerning media and self-perception, the 21st century is described by an expanded main thrust towards regard for self-perception. TV, ads, print media and web frequently are the predominant power in making a glorified impression of male and female self-perception and shapes and sizes; the thin perfect for ladies, and strong perfect for guys. All the time, these beliefs are implausible and unattainable. Study demonstrates that more than 60% of ladies are eating less carbs keeping in mind the end goal to accomplish an impeccable self-perception.

Understanding body image

As indicated by McCabe et al, 2007, self-perception might be depicted to be the observations, dispositions, feelings and identity responses of the person in connection to his or her own body. Self-perception is the photo that a man has of his or her body, and is frequently estimated by requesting that the individual rate their present and perfect body shape utilizing a progression of delineations.

The contrast between these two qualities is the measure of body disappointment. Research demonstrates that our self-perception affects how we feel about ourselves, what we do, whom we meet or wed and furthermore impacts our profession way. Exasperates view of self-perception are reflected in misshaped impression of body measure. The attitudinal parts mirrors the influence we have about our bodies, and when exasperates, regularly brings about disparities between one's optimal and genuine body. Research demonstrates that negative self-perception prompts other medical issues, for example, sadness, weight, low confidence and cluttered eating.

Self-perception disappointment can frequently prompt negative mental working and low quality of life. All the time, ladies get messages from their dear companions, family, collaborators, accomplices, and from the worldwide form industry. Body disappointment demonstrates negative assessments of one's body, and has been observed to be because of introduction to thin perfect by the media, which regularly prompts low self-perception, low confidence and even gloom.

Much research has demonstrated that negative self-perception and body disappointment prompts low confidence. Confidence is the experience of being capable to adapt to the essential difficulties of life and being deserving of bliss. It is simply the aggregate certainty and sense of pride. On the off chance that one doesn't take an inspirational state of mind towards their body, it can prompt sentiments of uselessness and certainty levels can be blocked. It is additionally entrenched that confidence is a decent pointer of general prosperity.

Confidence and weight concern

Confidence, a measure of how one feel's around oneself, can likewise impact how one feels about his or her weight. Having an abnormal state of confidence can likewise help keep the negative impacts of the media's impact. Low confidence then again can make one be more defenseless to media pictures. Research has demonstrated that low levels of confidence in the two people are prescient of more weight concern contrasted with the individuals who have large amounts of confidence. Not exclusively does confidence influence weight concern and the media's level of impact, however confidence itself can be influenced by the media. Research demonstrates that being presented to thin perfect pictures brings down confidence and builds the drive for slenderness in ladies and the drive for strength in men.

Body satisfaction and self-esteem

Confidence levels have additionally been connected to body fulfillment. Normally when one is low the other is low also. How an individual feels about his or her body is a vital piece of how he or she feels about themselves. Numerous people in the present society are not happy with their bodies. Analysts have discovered that this body disappointment increments as confidence diminishes. Since confidence and body fulfillment are connected, it is nothing unexpected that the media has similarly as solid an effect on body fulfillment as it does on confidence.

Watson and Vaughn (2006) expressed that sociocultural weights to cling to the perfect self-perception, as is fortified by the media, is the reason for the substantial measure of body disappointment found in numerous people, particularly ladies. Introduction to media can cause body disappointment, as well as make one be more able to open oneself to specific sorts of media that bolster that disappointment. Body disappointment and confidence are additionally both influenced by how an individual looks at themselves to those media pictures. .

Media and the message

The most effective transports of sociocultural goals are the broad communications and thusly assume a critical causal part towards the improvement of body disappointment. Most hypotheses of self-perception and consuming less calories issue dole out the part to sociocultural factors, for example, media. The media advances a specific physical picture of guys and females, and this can be found in business commercials, TV and magazines. While the female body was once connected to a bigger more full body estimate, these days, societal desires underline a littler body size, and models in publicizing have turned out to be progressively more slender after some time.

Different medicinal associations have asked distributers and supporters to be more capable with respect to the to a great degree thin ladies they have a tendency to portray as good examples. As indicated by look into, the more presentation ladies have to the media, the more probable they are to demonstrate clutter eating designs. An investigation found that female members, who watched diversion TV where the primary characters were obviously thin, scored high on the dietary issues subscale which incorporate dietary issue indications, for example, bulimia, drive for slenderness, anorexia and body disappointment. Likewise, the media depicts the perfect male body as slender and strong, stressing bulk and physical mass.

Social comparison

Regularly, individuals assess themselves by contrasting themselves with others, frequently individuals like them and furthermore appealing. Specialists clarify that correlation could have negative effects on a person. The social examination hypothesis clarifies why the two people who report more media exposures feel better about their bodies. It likewise clarifies why individuals may feel awful about themselves when they don't contrast favorably and thin models.

Social correlation clarifies that individuals may contrast themselves and other people who are somewhat superior to them with a specific end goal to upgrade their inspiration to enhance a specific component of their body. Social examination may expand fulfillment on that measurement since individuals get aftereffects of a change and end up inspired. Individuals who take part in more media utilize search out thin and strong pictures with a specific end goal to put on inspiration to get in shape and exercise.

Social correlation hypothesis likewise sets that individuals take part in descending examination, by contrasting themselves and those less blessed individuals. By doing this, fulfillment increments inside the individual. Descending social correlation hypothesis bolsters the theory that taking part in descending examinations with overweight models has a constructive outcome.

Another hypothesis that might be utilized as a part of the connection between the media and self-perception is the social subjective hypothesis which expects that individuals learn and they show the practices of other appealing individuals. This identifies with ladies that they locate the ideal thin perfect model and mirror them through slimming down, and in the end the improvement of dietary problems.

Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.

Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.

We look to contrast ourselves with other people who we accept are like ourselves to decide our level of capacities and achievement. For instance, body disappointment is related with the propensity to contrast one's body with other's bodies, which incorporates pie in the sky thinking to resemble a bathing suit show. This in abundance could prompt passionate trouble, feeling of disgrace what's more, weakness, low confidence, enthusiastic issues, for example, clinical dejection, social fears and bulimia and anorexia.

Female speech in Jane Austen's novels is heavily dictated by the whims of her male characters, and although "[f]emale speech is never entirely repressed in Austen's fiction, [it] is dictated so as to mirror or otherwise reassure masculine desire" (Johnson 37). However, there are times when women stray from the gendered rules of speech and, in expressing their opinions, threaten male control over discourse. In these situations men resort to either willful misinterpretation or forced silence in order to draw women back into their verbal control. Mary Crawford and Elizabeth Bennet are two of Austen's more dynamic threats to male control over discourse, but even the meek and modest Fanny Price can become a threat by departing from the gendered rules of speech. When she refuses Henry's proposal, Sir Thomas is stunned, having "[expected] from Fanny [a] cheerful readiness to be guided? Her resistance implies an assumption of self-responsibility that challenges his authority" (Johnson 104).

Mary and Elizabeth are atypical of Austen's female characters in that their freedom of speech means that they do not need men to educate them or to form their opinions. Other heroines, such as Catherine Morland, are lost without a man to guide them. Without Henry Tilney to point out the natural beauty of Northanger Abbey, Catherine "should not know what was picturesque when she saw it" (NA 141). But Mary and Elizabeth are firm in both forming their own opinions and then expressing them. They are aware of and comfortable with their freedom of speech. Mary, when faced with Edmund's disapproval of her flagrant speeches about morality and the church, counters with, "I am a very matter of fact, plain spoken being, and may blunder on the borders of a repartee for half an hour together without striking it out" (MP 84). Mrs. Bennet attempts to chastise Elizabeth for expressing her disapproval of Darcy, but Elizabeth refuses to be silenced: "What is Mr. Darcy to me, pray, that I should be afraid of him, I am sure we owe him no such particular civility as to be obliged to say nothing he may not like to hear" (PP 76).

However, men find ways to force women like Mary and Elizabeth back into the framework of female speech. One way men overcome the threat of verbal rebellion is by willfully misinterpreting what women say. This allows the men to co-opt women's voices and turn the women into modest and pliable mates. Although critic Claudia Johnson argues that women retain "the right of refusal" despite other limitations to their words and actions (36), men can invalidate that right by simply refusing to accept it.

The two most salient examples of men undermining the right of female refusal are in the marriage proposals of Mr. Collins and Henry Crawford. Collins insists on receiving Elizabeth's rejection as a type of marital foreplay, and he dismisses Elizabeth's rejection by asserting his thorough comprehension of the female sex. He explains Elizabeth's behavior to her as typical of those "young ladies [who] reject the addresses of the man whom they secretly mean to accept, when he first applies for their favor" (PP 82). Collins reasons that Elizabeth has no choice but to accept his proposal; she is, after all, at his mercy once her father dies and the Bennet estate becomes his. Collins also argues the point on what he sees as the quintessential female anxiety: that she will never be so lucky as to receive another marriage proposal. (Unfortunately, Charlotte Lucas proves the validity of this argument by marrying Collins because she sees this marriage as the only alternative to spinsterhood.) With all of this evidence, Collins says, "I must therefore conclude that you are not serious in your rejection of me, I shall chuse to attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense, according to the usual practice of elegant females" (PP 83). Elizabeth's protestations mean nothing because Collins cannot conceive of a woman who would act outside of the gendered rules of speech. He interprets her words as a "mirror" that reflects back at him his desire for marriage, and he projects his feelings onto Elizabeth.

Henry Crawford accepts Fanny's refusal much in the same vein, although he does not attribute her refusal to flirting but rather to an excess of modesty that prevents her from accepting him until he has applied to Sir Thomas. Crawford then becomes a background figure while Sir Thomas attempts to convince Fanny that she, like Elizabeth, is simply playing the role of the lovestruck and (unlike Elizabeth) modest female by refusing Crawford: "I know he spoke to you yesterday, and (as far as I understand), received as much encouragement to proceed as a well-judging young woman could permit herself to give" (MP 284). Sir Thomas acts on Crawford's interpretation of Fanny's refusal. Rather than accepting the blow to his ego, Crawford projects his feelings onto Fanny the same way that Collins does to Elizabeth. Fanny, he reasons, is hampered in her acceptance of his proposal only because she has allowed her excessive modesty to overcome her true desires. And even once Sir Thomas accepts that Fanny has?or, rather, believes she has?reservations about marrying Crawford, he insists that she "[does] not quite know [her] own feelings" (MP 286). From both instances one gets the distinct sense that what these men are doing is attempting to show that men make better women than women?much as Henry Tilney does by flaunting his knowledge of novels and fabrics?for only men can truly understand what women want.

But oftentimes men are not satisfied with just willfully misinterpreting what women say; there is a "dependence of certain kinds of masculine discourse on feminine silence" (Johnson 112). Edmund is horrified at Mary Crawford's "blunted delicacy" (MP 416) and her almost masculine lack of restraint when it comes to the subject of sex and relationships. She has "no reluctance, no horror, no feminine shall, I say, no modest loathings!" (MP 415). Mary's willingness to speak her mind is very similar to Elizabeth's, yet Mary is punished with banishment from Mansfield Park, whereas Elizabeth is rewarded with Darcy's love. But Mansfield Park is the epitome of female imprisonment, where female speech is curtailed from childhood on. Indeed, the Bertram sisters' education consists of learning "[to repress] all the flow of their spirits before [Sir Thomas]" (MP 16).

Elizabeth, although free to say what she wishes in front of her father and Jane, is still feels the pressure of forced silence in regard to her family. Her family's senseless speech strays so far from acceptable discourse that she cringes when Darcy converses with them. She knows how ridiculous her mother and sisters are and wishes, if not for their silence, at least for sensible conversation that will show her family worthy of Darcy's approval. Elizabeth wants their speech to conform to Darcy's aristocratic wishes, like other speech that "mirror[s] or otherwise reassure[s] masculine desire" (Johnson 37), and she feels "consoled" when Darcy meets the Gardiners and realizes that "she had some relations for whom there was no need to blush" (PP 193).

But in an interesting twist, Elizabeth, in one of the freer moments with Darcy at the end of the novel, takes it upon herself to explain to Darcy why he fell in love with her. This situation is unique in that it is a moment at which the woman co-opts the man's opportunity to speak and uses it to show her desires. Elizabeth's behavior in this situation is analogous to General Tilney's behavior with both Eleanor and Catherine. General Tilney commands Eleanor to "speak [her] opinion, for ladies can best tell the taste of ladies" (NA 139), and then he proceeds himself to explain the "taste of ladies." Elizabeth asks Darcy to explain his attraction to her and, without waiting for a detailed response, explains it herself, ending with, "There, I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it; and really, all things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable" (PP 291). Like Collins and Crawford, Elizabeth interprets Darcy's behavior to suit her needs. Darcy does, however, manage to exert some sort of power in the conversation by correcting Elizabeth's claim that he liked her "impertinence" (PP 291). Darcy terms it "the liveliness of [her] mind" (PP 291), and while this is only a minor difference, it is still noteworthy as a moment of willful misunderstanding on Darcy's part. Darcy's correction makes Elizabeth sound more feminine. He alters her self-definition so that it coincides with the definition of acceptable female behavior, thus putting a positive spin on behavior that some people, such as the Bingley sisters, might object to.

Darcy is one of only a few of Austen's heroes who does not use discourse to influence and change the woman he loves. (Another exception is Edward Ferrars, but he lacks Darcy's charisma, Marianne notes that "there is a something wanting" [SS 14], and his character is so unequal to Elinor's that his power to change her, if any at all, would be minimal.) Darcy disapproves of Elizabeth's family, but he does not disapprove of her personality, even if it includes her un-feminine loquaciousness. Edmund becomes disillusioned with Mary because he has been unable to change her, and his attraction to Fanny is a "regard founded on the most endearing claims of innocence and helplessness, her mind in so great a degree formed by his care, and her comfort depending on his kindness" (MP 429). Fanny's silence throughout the novel allows Edmund to form her speech into something to his liking; he teaches her, in effect, what she as a "modest" woman can and cannot say. This master-pupil relationship is at the heart of the majority of Austen's relationships.

Austen's novels show ambivalence toward the respective roles of men and women. While Elizabeth is the charismatic heroine of her story, Mary, who shares many of her traits, is an anti-heroine. Mary cannot compete with Fanny's model of female modesty, and she must suffer because of it. Despite Mary's fate, Johnson argues that women still have the opportunity to speak their minds, even though they risk being reduced to a "mirror" to reaffirm both their subordination and the masculinity of the men to whom they are speaking (37). According to Johnson, even when their ability to speak is curtailed, women still have the right of refusal (36). However, Mr. Collins and Henry Crawford make (unsuccessful) attempts to deny Elizabeth and Fanny even that right. Circumstance saves both Elizabeth and Fanny from the two men, Elizabeth's in the form of Charlotte's marriage to Collins and Fanny's in the form of Crawford's elopement with Maria Bertram, but there is a moment when both are in danger of becoming victims of the gendered rules of speech. Their adamant refusals are invalidated because Collins and Crawford choose to ignore their words. The women's speech becomes meaningless because it no longer serves as a medium of communication. Although there is no explicit "repression" of their speech, the willful misinterpretation is as effective as any physical repression could be. The consequences of this psychological repression can even be deadly: General Tilney, while he never physically harmed his wife, still killed her "by quelling her voice and vitality" (Johnson 40). Even in death the wife cannot escape General Tilney's control, for he has the power to shape her public memory. This is the ultimate submission of a woman to the male control of discourse, a chilling portrait of women's fate if men are successful in maintaining that control.

Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.

Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.

Johnson, Claudia L. Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990.

Confidence is key, is more than just a colloquial saying. It is an accurate description of the skill required for much in life, including success in politics. This is becoming a large problem, however, because women have been found to have much lower confidence levels than their male counterparts (Sutton). This is preventing women from having the ambition to enter politics. Women do not have enough confidence to succeed in the political realm due to sexism and traditional family roles, which greatly changes the way public policy is initiated, treated, and understood. In order to fix this problem, women must receive support, and gender roles and stereotypes of men and women must be changed.

Women do not enter politics due to the belief that they do not have what it takes. A study done by Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox found that “women are only half as likely as men to think they would meet electoral success if they ran for office” (Lawless and Fox 116-117). The same study showed that when asked about potential skills required for political success that “women are less likely than men to perceive themselves as possessing the skill” (Lawless and Fox 117). These perceptions lead to lower levels of political ambition. A woman who believes that she is not qualified to run for office “is approximately only half as likely as a similarly situated man to express political ambition (Lawless and Fox 121). This pattern emerges in other areas as well. A new wealth of studies have shown that “men are indeed more confident than women (Sutton). This “confidence gap” is letting men out perform women in a myriad of areas. The first step to closing this gap is determining where it comes from.

The “confidence gap” is influenced by several factors. The first of which, directly relates to this gap in politics. Women are less confident due to sexism that is still present in this arena. Women still face harsh criticism when running for office. The media calls them “too ambitious”, “too tough”, “too soft” and a plethora of other harsh critiques (Kornblut 5-50). When Sarah Palin ran for office she was framed as “the idiotic beauty queen” and also very blatantly as a sex object (Kornblut 103,114). Unfortunately, these views are not just found in the media. “25% of the U.S. population still says that men are better suited emotionally to politics” (Paxton, Kunovich and Huges 271). With this sexism still prevalent in society, it is hard for women to remain confident in themselves and each other. This sexism is not just present in the political realm either. It starts much earlier.

Women’s confidence is greatly influenced by their upbringing. This is due to the gendered psyche. The gendered psyche is “a deeply embedded imprint that propels men into politics, but regulates women to the electoral arena’s periphery” (Lawless and Fox 12). The gendered psyche is cumulated during childhood, when traditional gender roles are established. This can be seen through the presence of political conversation. The study done by Lawless and Fox showed that “women were 15 percent less likely than men to have their parents encourage them to run for office”, and even on a more basic level, “they were nearly 20 percent less likely to have this fathers speak with them about politics” (Lawless and Fox 67). These differences are representative of the “patterns of traditional gender socialization that promote men’s greater suitability to enter the political sphere” (Lawless and Fox 67). Women who do not receive this support at home do not have the same confidence in their abilities when entering politics. Studies have shown that areas with more traditional cultures have fewer women in politics (Paxton, Kunovich, and Hughes 271). It is this atmosphere that causes women to have less self-confidence, which significantly impacts politics.

Women focus on different aspects of politics when in office. This means that they initiate different bills as well as vote differently than their male counterparts. One study showed that “female senators are more likely than men to prioritize issues related to health care, the environment, and education” (Fridkin and Kenney 11). Another study showed that “female legislators made priorities of bills dealing with children and the family more often than did men (Thomas 967). In general, women have also been found to be more liberal and to use a wider range of resources in developing a new policy (Carroll 977). These differences are mirrored in the way that women legislators voter. Women are “more likely to vote for women’s issues bills” (Paxton, Kunovich, and Hughes 273). These differences indicate that women in office will lead to different legislation being passed. Therefore, the confidence barrier preventing women from running for office has a very large scale impact. Women do not only propose different bills, the bills and ideas they have are handled differently.

Both legislators and the media treat bills and ideas differently, based on the gender of the person proposing them. “Reporters and editors favor male senators over female senators in terms of the number of paragraphs written, the prominence of coverage, and the accuracy in which they represent the messages emanating from the senators’ offices” (Fridkin and Kenney 11). This means that much of what female senators have to say is either ignored or distorted by the media. Similarly, “women-sponsored bills receive more scrutiny, debate, and hostile testimony than male sponsored bills” (Paxton, Kunovich, and Hughes 274). When bills and ideas coming from women are treated differently it impacts what becomes policy.

One solution to the confidence gap in women, especially in politics, is to offer support and recruitment. Women are more likely to have confidence in their abilities if they have someone else supporting them. “If all of the women in the pool of eligible candidates received the suggestion to run for office…then…the gender gap in considering a candidacy would decrease considerably” (Lawless and Fox 148). One group of organizations that has been doing an exceptional job at encouraging women is women’s organization. These organizations have been shown to promote real change. Women who are contacted by these organizations are statistically more likely to go forward in the political realm (Lawless and Fox 105). Women’s organization offer support, and reinforce the idea that women are capable of succeeding. This feedback is key for women to overcome the confidence gap. This has been shown on a basic level as well. A recent study looked at the results of positive feedback given to men and women and the resulting change in confidence. In reference to women’s confidence levels, the study showed that “they can be equal to men in the presence of externally mediated feedback” (McCarty 841). The study went on to show that women who received positive feedback had confidence levels equal to the men who had received none (McCarty 846). This shows the important role feedback can play. When it is confidence creating the gender gap in politics, women organizations and simple positive feedback can have a large impact. The origins of the confidence gap also have to be addressed. Gender roles and stereotypes need to be broken down.

Traditional gender roles and gender stereotypes need to be changed in order for women to overcome the confidence gap and succeed in politics. Traditional gender roles leave women in charge of the “private intra-familial” jobs, and the men in charge of “public extra-familial” tasks (Lawless and Fox 8). This has, historically, resulted in more men working their way into the political sphere than women (Lawless and Fox 9). As these roles are still prevalent in society, women are not raised to be active in politics. Additionally, women are associated with traits of warmth and concern while men are associated with being independent, ambitious, and other traits that are also seen as leadership qualities (Fridkin and Kenney 16-17). This prevents women from being seen as leaders by others, and other prevents women from having the confidence in themselves as leaders. To fix this problem, society must move past these gender roles and stereotypes. Studies have shown that “roughly between the ages of 4 and 14…self-objectification and internalized sexism settle into a girl’s psyche” (Chemaly). One study revealed that “sexual harassment was a nearly universal experience for adolescent girls” (Leaper and Brown 691). One of the most common types of sexual harassment reported was being called a degrading name due to gender. They also reported having their abilities questioned (Leaper and Brown 691). This sexism plays a key role in diminishing women’s opinions of themselves and thus lowering confidence levels. That means that changes must occur at this level, in order for confidence to be increased. This change can be accomplished through small tasks, such as changing what is taught to young girls and ultimately creating a more encouraging society. If this change can occur, girls will become more confident. If they can do that, they can grow to confident women ready to tackle politics.

Keep in mind:
This is only a sample.

Get a custom paper now from our expert writers.

There is no simple key to confidence. Women are losing confidence in themselves due to the sexism they see in politics, and their upbringing. This is very important to politics. When women are active in politics they initiate different bills, and vote differently on bills as well. Similarly, their bills are handled differently. This is, therefore, an issue that must be overcome. One solution is to offer more recruitment and support, especially from women’s groups. Another solution is to break down traditional gender roles, stereotypes, and biases for girls at a young age. These steps can give women the confidence to enter politics and greatly impact society for everyone.

Table of contents

1. Introduction
2. Gender roles in society
3. Conclusion
4. References

Introduction

Introduction: Within our world, women and men are expected to achieve a level of masculinity and femininity. These expectations help label their certain gender. Men and women are based on interests, roles, and behaviours, that originate from birth that are taught, passed down from generation to generation. Through these generations the discovery of the Social Construction theory was developed. In today’s society, there is a structured way of life for men and women. We are taught from an early age what is right and what is wrong based on our gender.

Gender roles in society

Thesis statement: Everything humans learn from a young age becomes categorized and assigned to each respective gender. There are acceptable societal norms for females and ones for males. This is called the social construction theory. This theory provides the knowledge to understand why humans may behave the way they do. This theory explains that with the results of history, economic factors, and the culture of societal values determines what roles both men and women are expected to complete.

Topic sentence: These factors may have an influence on the gender roles, behaviours that are determined to be “allowed” for certain genders, and the specific differences between the two genders. Evidence & citing: In the article “Introduction to Beyond the Natural Body” by Nelly Oudshoorn, the author exhibits how “scientists are actively constructing reality, rather than discovering reality” (Oudshoorn). For thousands of years, many thought to believe that there was no difference between male and female bodies. “…Two thousand years, male and female bodies were not conceptualized in terms of differences…” (Oudshoorn).

Commentary: The only underlying difference between the two genders was that a women’s body was a “lesser” version of the male. It was not until later years that the two genders were proven to be very different due to the understanding of the reproductive organs and their functions. Relating this to the social construction theory, it was proven that due to past explanations of the sexes, women have been viewed as being the passive sex in comparison to that of the male and this view has now continued, generations after.

Topic sentence: The notion of women inferiority and the male superiority can also be noted in the article of “The Egg and the Sperm” by Emily Martin, where the topic of romance between the stereotypical male and female roles is further discussed. Evidence & citing: Through this article, it is noticeable how many scientific information’s believe that “…male and female reproductive organs as systems for the production of valuable substances, such as eggs and sperm.” (Martin). Commentary: Although they may see this as being equal to both sexes, it does not come across as being the same. One has a higher level of respect compared to the other. For women, their production of ova, is being “wasteful” in comparison to the male’s production of sperm.

Evidence & citing: According to Martin, women begin their life with two million eggs in their ovaries, “by puberty only 300,000 eggs remain, and only a few are present by menopause” (Martin) in comparison to men “producing 100 million sperm per day during a reproductive life of sixty years.” (Martin). Commentary: This point proves that in fact men produce and waste more sperm than women do in their lifetimes, but since women are being passive, they are the easier sex to blame. Even before a child is created the female ova are called to act ‘femininely” while the sperm is “masculine”. Seeing how conception works, the ova never moves and the sperm meets the ova, making the ova once again “passive”.

Evidence & citing: Gerald Schatten and Helen Schatten relate the eggs’ role to Sleeping beauty. “A dormant bride awaiting her mates magic kiss which instills the spirit that brings her to life” (Martin). Commentary: Before conception has begun the female is overpowered by being associated with “passive” even though it is out of the woman’s control. This relate to the Social Construction Theory as society (as a social entity) is setting up gender roles within a community that is out of human control. With word’s such as “passive” and “masculine”, society is determining roles and behaviour even out of human control.

Topic sentence: Using the social construction theory, it has become clear as to why certain gender stereotypes are the way they are today. Evidence & citing: Through time, humans have created such “rules” for girls and boys, and what is appropriate for both. Dolls are only to be played with by girls while trucks and the outdoor world is only for boys. Commentary: It is my opinion that this theory has become useful for understanding gender stereotypes and why males and females are perceived in different lights. The past ancestors of time have always followed this certain way of separating the genders.

Evidence & citing: This approach has only provided more information to understand the stories that media has encouraged this way of deciding who is who, or stories portrayed because of the way it goes against the gender norms. Through my own experiences, working in a day care centre, I have witnessed first-hand the many parents who follow these social norms. Commentary: They never want their sons playing with dolls or dressing up and their daughters can never play with dirt. Unfortunately, these social influences are still present today.

Conclusion

Conclusion paragraph: In conclusion, the Social Construction theory has led many to understand where gender roles have come from. The roles and occupations that women and men are commonly found doing are of what our society is teaching and leading them too. The women of our society may always be labeled as “passive” and men always being told to be “masculine” but this may change with future generations to come. Women may one day be accepted for being more “masculine” and men “feminine”, allowing future generations to feel alright in their own skin.

References

1. Brickell, C. (2006). The sociological construction of gender and sexuality. The Sociological Review, 54(1), 87-113. (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2006.00603.x)
2. DeCecco, J. P., & Elia, J. P. (1993). A critique and synthesis of biological essentialism and social constructionist views of sexuality and gender. Journal of Homosexuality, 24(3-4), 1-26. (https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v24n03_01)
3. Cheng, R. P. (2009). Sociological theories of disability, gender, and sexuality: A review of the literature. Journal of human behavior in the social environment, 19(1), 112-122. (10.1080/10911350802631651)
4. Ridgeway, C. (1991). The social construction of status value: Gender and other nominal characteristics. Social forces, 70(2), 367-386. (https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/70.2.367)
5. Haslanger, S. (2017). Gender and Social Construction: Who? What? When? Where? How?. In Applied Ethics (pp. 299-306). Routledge. (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315097176-44/gender-social-construction-sally-haslanger)

Introduction

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Thesis statement

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

Topic sentence

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

Evidence & citing

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

Commentary

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Conclusion paragraph

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad aboutthe topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.