WE ARE EQUALS
Today’s society is prevalent with feminist movements and female condescension. One hot topic of argument that always has been, and always will be, swirling throughout the discussion of gender equality is the unethical possession of women. Literature such as Henrik Ibsen’s The Dollhouse and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale excellently draw attention to these societal problems. These literary works display acts of belittling women through dialogue, actions of characters, and social norms. These authors are trying to expose the sexist power problem that is ever so present in our world today by writing stories depicting seemingly outrageous, but actually normal, treatment of women.
Having a pet you didn't purchase . . . Torvald Helmer
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In Ibsen’s The Dollhouse, the main character, Nora Helmer, is constantly treated as if she is owned by her husband, Torvald. Torvald manipulate Nora so far so she decimates her own ego by offering to “be [Torvald’s] elfmaid and dance for [him] in the moonlight,” (Ibsen, 1121), as if she is his slave or something as sick as that. This is a powerful example of the social norm that is male domination. Torvald also consistently refers to Nora by several patronizing, degrading nicknames that makes her seem as if she is Torvald’s pet. Torvald slowly deprives Nora of her personality, her purpose, her freedom, and her identity. Torvald essentially possesses Nora throughout the play until Nora gets a grip on her own self-worth and loss of identity. This play excellently depicts the toxicity of a controlling relationship.
How to stop accidentally beating my girl . . . Edward Cullen
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Another literary work that unintentionally capitalizes on domineering relationships is Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight. One of the book’s main characters is the epitome of a possessive male in a relationship; the article Edward Cullen is a possessive, woman beating stalker written by Hannah Crouch identifies Edward’s flaws and controlling mistakes. Crouch points out that “Edward physically harms Bella . . . Bella goes on to try and make Edward feel better about hurting her, showing even further how placid women should be when faced with physical abuse”. This quote is a direct show of how Meyers’ accidentally created an abusive male character.
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Along with being the dominant figure in the relationship Edward also, in a sense, owns Bella’s life. When Edward leaves her, Bella is distraught and dives into a deep depression. Bella even changes the type of specimen she is in order to become more like Edward. Bella and Edward’s relationship shows the exact type of interactions that our society is so diligently fighting against, when in reality the majority of our society adores the Twilight series, supports Edward and Bella, and dreams of a man who loves -- or perhaps owns -- them as Edward does.
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I'm catching feels for my sex slave . . . Commander Fred
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One of the most outright examples of female possession throughout literature exists in The Handmaid’s Tale. Once the new theocratic government is instilled throughout the dystopia, handmaid’s are literally referred to as property of their Commanders. The main character’s handmaid name, Offred, is derived from her Commander’s name, Fred. She is of-Fred. Offred is Fred’s property. Not only is this showing the true ownership between the Commander and handmaid, but to take away a woman’s name is to take away her identity. To take away a woman’s name is to take away her humanity.
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"I'm not cattle that needs to be branded with my owner's name,"
- Reflective Bride, Why I'm Not Changing My Last Name For Marriage |
Readers may be aghast at the name derivation idea in The Handmaid’s Tale, but perhaps this concept may not stray too far from those within our own society. Is it not assumed that a newlywed wife will take her new husband’s surname upon marriage? In an article on The Huffington Post titled Why I’m Not Changing My Last Name For Marriage written by an anonymous Reflective Bride, the wife doesn’t “believe in changing one’s identity for marriage”. The entire idea of changing one’s last name to their husband’s, or in the words of the Reflective Bride, “swapping their identity for their husband’s”, is nearly an exact conceptual match to The Handmaid’s Tale. Perhaps Margaret Atwood had this marital identity theft in mind whilst writing The Handmaid’s Tale; any way you look at it, however, changing names in marriage doesn’t reach the desired result of uniting equally. Taking a husband’s surname means becoming part of the husband’s identity. This entire debate is just another small portion of the consistent argument regarding male and female eminence. Society struggles to determine who is truly ‘in charge’ between the sexes, even though dominance is not a necessity. Many feminist-centered pieces of literature warp infamous aspects of our world in order to draw attention to them.
TIME TO MAKE CHANGE
Today's society is backed by the unspoken idea that men are generally in charge of women. These literary works, with the exception of Twilight, are written the way they are specifically in order to convey these ideas to the audience and to bring the problems in our society to the attention of readers. These stereotypes and ideas of women being on a lesser level than men is outrageous. The authors excellently work with ethos and pathos in order to construe these ideas. The feminists and egalitarians in our world today consistently work to achieve the perceived concept of gender equality; however, unless we rid ourselves of the preconception that men are raised on a platform, we will never reach a balanced world.
Works Cited
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Bride, Reflective. “Why I'm Not Changing My Last Name for Marriage.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Apr. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/reflective-bride/why-im-not-changing-my-la_b_5172581.html.
Atwood, Margaret, 1939-. The Handmaid's Tale. New York :Anchor Books, 1998. Print.
Ibsen, H. (1992). A doll's house (Dover Thrift Edition.). New York: Dover Publicatins. Ibsen, Henrik.
Crouch, Hannah. “Edward Cullen Is a Possessive, Woman Beating Stalker.” The OpinionPanel Community, 3 June 2013, www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2013/05/16/edward-cullen-is-a-possessive-woman-beating-stalker/.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2005. Print.
https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/the-handmaids-tale/images/a/a2/Janine-poster.png/revision/latest?cb=20170504195108
https://78.media.tumblr.com/030dc448bc25a287a8569d108114a2d3/tumblr_inline_ogyl7mBcAd1sgp03u_500.gif
http://www.snarksquad.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/watch-you-sleep.gif
https://78.media.tumblr.com/9171aea12a59dfe5e0b69280a9b23973/tumblr_nrfw6jXn6a1qj4315o1_500.gif
Bride, Reflective. “Why I'm Not Changing My Last Name for Marriage.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 18 Apr. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/reflective-bride/why-im-not-changing-my-la_b_5172581.html.
Atwood, Margaret, 1939-. The Handmaid's Tale. New York :Anchor Books, 1998. Print.
Ibsen, H. (1992). A doll's house (Dover Thrift Edition.). New York: Dover Publicatins. Ibsen, Henrik.
Crouch, Hannah. “Edward Cullen Is a Possessive, Woman Beating Stalker.” The OpinionPanel Community, 3 June 2013, www.opinionpanel.co.uk/2013/05/16/edward-cullen-is-a-possessive-woman-beating-stalker/.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2005. Print.