Emily Vahs
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
18 December 2015
Mrs. Rutan
AP Literature and Composition
18 December 2015
Degrading women isn't anything new to our world’s generally sexist society. Mainstream media tends to encourage such degrading ideals by selling misogynist clothing and other products to anyone with a spare 20 dollars. The "cool story babe, now go make me a sandwich" joke hasn't lost its touch, but we have come a long way. In the last century women have gained far more respect from our male peers, although not everyone has caught the drift, it is getting better and maybe we have literature to thank for reminding us how far we have come. Often times readers can relate to the subject at hand, and when doing this they find something about themselves that they want to change. When an author wants to show a power struggle between a group of people – specifically a man being more powerful than a woman– they use pet names, belittle, and verbally abuse them. An author's diction choice for characters dialogue is a tell-tale sign to how their relationship stands. Two poignant examples of verbal abuse in relationships are the play “A Doll House” and the short story “The Yellow Wallpaper.”
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“A Doll House” is written by Henrik Ibsen. The play illustrates how a woman named Nora deals with her mistake of forgery to save her husband's life. She believes that she did a good thing, even though she had to lie to her all powerful husband. Before the story's conflict actually comes to light, Torvald, Nora’s husband, uses demeaning pet names. He calls his wife a “little songbird” (Ibsen, 1094) and a “pouty squirrel.” (Ibsen, 1094) This represents the power struggle that the two of them are dealing with. By having Torvald call his wife such names he is showing his dominance over his wife. This corruption of the sanctity of a marriage is what encourages society that demeaning women is acceptable. When Torvald dishonors her this way he is not only endorsing such behavior, but also telling his wife that she is his play toy, something he can manipulate when he pleases, his doll.
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At the end of the play Nora realizes how short handed she is in this relationship. She would swim through oceans for Torvald, and he wouldn't even jump a puddle for her. Once Nora decides to leave Torvald, he still tries to manipulate her. He calls her reasoning “exaggerated and hysterical.” (Ibsen, 1149) This is his last effort to belittle her into being his trophy wife. He even tries to “forbid” (Ibsen, 1150) her from leaving as if she is his child, not his partner. Partners encourage each other to do the things that will better their life, and when Ibsen has Torvald dehumanize and forbade her from making her own decisions, the reader knows how disproportionate the power is in their relationship. The whole irony of this debacle is that Torvald is upset when Krogstad, a old friend he despises, calls him by his first name, but Torvald denies his wife even that commodity.
In the past many women have been overshadowed by their men counterparts. Whether it be in a professional setting or a domestic one, it seemed that men were always in control. “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins is no exception. This short story is written about a nameless woman struggling with some sort of mental disorder. Her husband, John, in an effort to help heal his wife locks her in an ugly room to sleep all hours of the day. The icing of this demented cake is that he too gives his wife pet names. He calls his own wife a “little girl,” (Perkins, 344) as if she is a child and not his wife. John being a doctor, denies her illness and calls her ideas and feelings “fancies.” (Perkins, 340) What if a person was to call the male president of the United States beliefs “fancies”? That would be absurd. That is in so many ways disrespectful to anyone. By doing that they are disregarding what makes them a person. John’s wife feels that she is a “burden” (Perkins,340) on her husband, as if she doesn't deserve a caring spouse. Her husband's misogynist ideals are what cause her to believe such things. Perkins choice to not give the wife a name also demonstrates the power struggle. By giving John a name and leaving the wife nameless Perkins shows how minuscule the wife is in the eyes of John and the world. The emotionally abusive husbands create unbalanced relationships, which helps fuel our sexist society.
These two pieces of literature paint the picture of female oppression to their audiences. Since women's suffrage in the early 1900’s we have come a long way. Although these scenarios that we read about in literature are less common today, they remind us of how far we have come. Understanding right from wrong, even when these situations don't come up in everyday life, will help us from repeating history.
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Being called a name given to an animal is obviously dehumanizing, and so is verbal abuse. This occurs more to the female population, past and present, and must be avoided in relationships of any kind. People everywhere deserve respect, the very least you could do is treat them the way you feel you should be treated. Aretha Franklin would most definitely agree. Having these reminders of oppression in literature will stand as a reminder to how far we have come as a gender, and how we should stand together as humans for the common good of the world.