Week of October 21: Gender Norms, Have They Really Changed?
This week we’ve gotten into the topic of gender norms and the push for equality for women. I find this topic very interesting as this is an issue women still face today. One of the documents that we read this week that I found really interesting was Sor Juana’s poem “A Philosophical Satire.” This poem called out men and their actions toward women. In the poem, she used lines such as “if they love, they are deceived, if they love not, hear you complain” and “though for a wife you want a Lucrece, in lovers you prefer Thais.” Using these antitheses, Juana is able to show a better picture of how men act towards women. Men viewed women as objects and “things” to control and wanted something they couldn’t have. They wanted a woman who was pure yet had experience and that was where their view was skewed.
Today, this ideality is not seen as much but it still doesn’t mean it’s not there. Women have to be vigilant and aware of what’s going on around them at all times. They have to dress a certain way to be safe but yet we are still cat-called and harassed when walking down the street. Yes, things have changed drastically for gender norms since the 17th century but women are still a long way from being able to feel safe.
Jayden, I agree that men viewed women as objects. They wanted women to be perfect for them, so the men, especially of that time, held women to unrealistic standards (such as having experience while still being a virgin, like you mentioned). I also found Sor Juana's poem to be a great source that describes the unattainable societal standards that women were expected to fall into. The line that struck out most to me was, "Ungrateful, she who does not love you, yet she who does, you judge unchaste." This antithesis is describing how if the woman loves the man, she isn't appreciative of the man, but on the other hand if she does love the man, she will be judged. How could those women ever win? They were set up to lose.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post, Jayden. I like how you connect Sor Juana's description of women's plight with the situation of women today. You write that the ideals of the seventeenth century are not as prevalent in our society yet women need to remain vigilant: "they have to dress a certain way to be safe." Does that mean that women are still under men's control? If this is the case, what has changed?
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