Abstract This paper presents a discussion of postpartum depression (PPD), the syndrome that some mothers experience after giving birth. The paper discusses detection of PPD, the barriers to detection of PPD and the value of early detection and risk intervention.
From the Paper "Postpartum depression (PPD) is a syndrome that includes multiple physical and emotional changes that a mother experiences after having a baby. This type of major depression affects around one in ten new mothers within the first year following childbirth and..."
Abstract This paper considers Bram Stoker's "Dracula" from a feminist perspective. The paper analyzes the novel's depiction of female sexuality and male dominance and incorporates Victorian ideals of womanhood.
From the Paper "While Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is often considered simply a thrilling Gothic tale of vampires and the eternal struggle between good and evil, there is much sub text underlying the novel that speaks to the social conventions of the period in which Stoker wrote the text. Indeed much can be gleaned about Victorian society from the narrative in "Dracula" as Stoker's characters all serve to embody various societal ideals or concerns."
An analysis of Voltaire's satirical critique of Europe as presented in the story of "Candide." This paper explores the exploitation of women through feminist criticism.
Abstract In Voltaire's "Candide", the accounts of three women serve to exemplify the questions of gender status in Voltaire's Europe. The stories of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman are discussed to highlight the suffering of women during this time period. Collectively, the three women and their tales are used to demonstrate that regardless of financial status, political roots, or physical appearance, women are destined to encounter hardships. A variety of contemporary examples are provided to loosely draw a connection between Voltaire's Europe and the state of affairs in our current society.
From the Paper "In Voltaire's "Candide", women are used to accentuate the exploitation of the female race in Voltaire's Europe. In the course of the story, we meet several different women, each of whom provides an account of intense suffering and hardship. Cunegonde, for example, was the daughter of a German baron. At the outset, she is described as a beautiful young woman. However, by the end of the story, her physical beauty has diminished as a result of the persecution and abuse she suffered. The old woman, as we know her, was the daughter of a Pope. She provides perhaps the most disturbing story, which includes the death of her spouse, rape, and cannibalism. Again, Voltaire's satire is evident as he demonstrates that not even strong political affiliation could save her from suffering. The third character, Paquette, was originally a chambermaid for Cunegonde's mother. Her story is filled with tales of forlorn prostitution and affliction. Each of these women highlights the oppression and sexual abuse endured by females in Voltaire's satiric critique of Europe. In essence, they act as submissive recipients of action who possess very little complexity or importance."
Abstract Using symbolic theory and identity theory, this paper describes the internalization of symbols portrayed in the sexual consumerist culture and looks how these unattainable standards make self-verification near impossible. Self-verification--a matching of self perception and perceived identity standards--is a crucial part of one's self-esteem. The inability to feel we've attained the society standards creates a disturbance in our cognition and makes us feel incompetent and unworthy. This paper looks behind the production of fashion magazines and what implications these consumerism-driven values have on today's young women's self-esteem.
Outline:
Sexuality & Consumerism
Symbolic Interaction with Identity
Behind the Production of Fashion Magazines
Internalization of Identity Standards in Magazines
Implications of Low Self-Esteem
Conclusion
From the Paper "Self-esteem plays an important role in both our cognition and behavior. As Cast & Burke (2002) suggest that self-esteem serves as a self-motive directing our behavior; to an extent where we could be creating opportunity structures or social contexts that allow self-verification. Young women are at their transition phase in entering womanhood. They are unattached to major life demands, still exploring in the field of romance and sex, finding their identity. This explorative stage leaves their self-esteem and identity particularly vulnerable especially when they are the targets of the consumerist market. Sexual consumerism projects certain values that symbolically interact with young women's identity; and in turn has an effect on their self esteem. There are two main values in the contemporary brand of "femininity": being sexually seductive and attainment of physical beauty."
From the Paper "The most essential element of a cautionary tale is self-recognition; we are only warned of what current trends may bring if we see a view of ourselves, though distorted, in the tale. The effect of self-recognition is absent from The Handmaid's Tale; Atwood does not credibly link current trends in the United States to a sequence of events which would lead to the establishment of theocracy. Intended as a "forecast" of events in the immediate future of the United States, The Handmaid's Tale fails to demonstrate how the dystopic future of Gilead is reached. Therefore, the reader does not precisely know about what to be concerned in contemporary America that might lead to an authoritarian theocracy. Even when the religious right is seriously considered, no recognition occurs because one can not logically see the intolerance of the religious right lead to a biblical Puritanism embodied in an all-powerful government that bans reading and mandates procreation. Similarly, American "excesses" of tolerance do not lead to authoritarian puritanical government. Although liberality toward pornography may make some anxious, such liberality would not lead to the installation of a Biblicist government; there are no signs of rejection of liberalism leading to authoritarianism. In any case, fear of a backlash should not deter one from seeking principle, for that would be a form of cowardice. The old, hard line feminism, as embodied in the narrator's mother is similarly unlikely to result in a dangerous backlash of Gilead proportions."
Tags: atwood, canada, feminism, fundamentalism, gilead, margaret
From the Paper "In American colonial society, women were generally considered as inferior to men. Not until the Jacksonian era did women begin to openly challenge in any consequential way their seemingly inferior position in society, and even then reform was slow to begin, as male stereotypes were virtually innate. The Jacksonian age saw the commencement of a significant rise in the status of women as activists continued to press for equality and reform movements pressed on, though the actual results of this reform were not seen until well after the Jacksonian era. "
From the Paper "In Sylvia Plath's autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, the main character's mother plays a controversial role in the story. When Esther Greenwood falls into a life-threatening depression, her mother is not the usual, supportive parent - causing the reader to wonder why the mother acts the way she does. But analyzing the justifications for Mrs. Greenwood's behavior is complex. The reader is torn between blunt criticism and subtle understanding of the mother's role. While on one hand it seems inappropriate that Mrs. Greenwood is so cold, it is also apparent there are some noteworthy explanations for her behavior. Realizing Mrs. Greenwood may be downplaying her daughter's illness in a desperate attempt to maintain a happy front is an integral part to analyzing the mother's role. Another valid justification for Mrs. Greenwood's curious attitude is simple ignorance. Given the time period The Bell Jar was written in, depression was not widely known as the serious and blameless disease we now know it as. Hence, Mrs. Greenwood plays a complex, controversial role; the reader easily realizes Esther's mother is cruelly withdrawn from her daughter, while at the same recognizing there are some factors to consider when analyzing the mother's role."
Abstract This paper addresses the politics of sexuality and gender in three specific works from ancient Greece. These works are dramas, and are the "Iliad", "Antigone", and "Lysistrata".
From the Paper "The roles of men and women in Greek society are of particular interest, and demonstrate that a type of "fued" seemed to exist between the genders in ancient Greece. "
Abstract This essay on "The Wide Sargasso Sea", (a prequel) to Bronte's Jane Eyre, explores the inter-dependence of madness and sexuality. The importance of the place of the "woman" as prone to madness and how feminism affects our interpretations of an individuals actions and desires is also explored.
Abstract This paper is about Emma Goldman and her various theories, political, societal and moral. It focuses on her forty years spent as an American, especially the years when she was an active member of the anarchist party. It details her involvement in the assassination of Henry Frick, and her accusal in the assassination of President McKinley. It also discusses how her divergent views involving feminism without suffrage, created isolation among politics that she lived with her entire life. Her involvement in the burgeoning sexual revolution and her persona as a figurehead of the atheists and a violent inciter is also expanded upon.
From the Paper "Emma Goldman put very little worth upon the idea of government as a protector of the greater society. Emma Goldman rejected the idea that philosophy could ever be political and she spent her time and energy trying to defeat all types of organized government that she so detested. Her radical and uncompromising views on the nature of government left her without a political forum to embrace, and shaped her reaction to and participation in American anarchism? "
A look at the book as a triumph of the human spirit, as well as a personal narration that offers an insider's view of the social, political, economic, religious, and cultural life of an entire group of people.
1,910 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 5 sources, 1999, $ 60.95
From the Paper ?I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala" is a human story. In 1982, when this story was recorded, Rigoberta was only twentythree years old and had already witnessed and experienced a lifetime of unbelievable physical, psychological, and spiritual persecution. Her story is a testament to the strength and endurance of the human spirit under the most de-humanizing conditions imaginable. At the same time, this personal narration offers an insiders view of the social, political, economic, religious, and cultural life of an entire group of people. Through Rigoberta, a contemporary Maya community comes alive bringing with it the struggles that began with the Spanish Conquest and continue in the Guatemala of the twentieth century. "
A review of Margaret Weitz's book, "Sisters in the Resistance," about women serving in the French resistance during the Second World War, emphasizing their struggles and sacrifices in the face of wartime hardship.
980 words (approx. 3.9 pages), 1 source, 1999, $ 34.95
From the Paper "Margaret Collins Weitz very poignantly illustrates these desires and actions that women in France experienced in her book Sisters in the Resistance. Not only does Weitz substantiate these women's decisions and lifestyles, but also, through a combination of literary narration, she paints the lives of these women for the reader. She, together with these women, illustrates their victories as well as their losses, which lead to their eventual shaping of French history."
An overview of polygamy, including its causes, the different types, an examination of societies in which it is practiced, and its history in the U.S. (especially within the Mormon sect in Utah).
1,050 words (approx. 4.2 pages), 10 sources, 2000, $ 36.95
From the Paper "More cultures accept monogamy than that accepts polygamy. Great majorities of people are monogamous, and the other forms of marriage are usually modified in a monogamous direction; that is, the people are more likely to be in a monogamous relationship in cultures where polygamy is practiced. Many times when in a polygamous relationship, there is an almost monogamous relationship between the spouse and the first or most favored mate."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the Julia Barnes' somewhat cynical view of reality as a human construction in her novel "England, England". The paper focuses on the characters' attempts to cope with reality and their desire to look past the constructions in their own and others' lives.
From the Paper "In "England, England", Julian Barnes theorizes that what people perceive to be reality is merely a construction. He argues that people create this construction for themselves because of a desire to simplify their lives. What people consider to be true memories and actual history are distortions, no more real than stories, except in that people believe these memories and histories to be real."
Abstract This paper examines the myths about women by men in a patriarchal society as portrayed in Glaspell's short story, "A Jury of Her Peers".
From the Paper "Glaspell demonstrates how the cultural norms and myths about women in "A Jury of Her Peers" affect the women characters? sense of self by creating an incident where the women are forced to reckon with the myths that have been created about them in their patriarchal society, and to come to terms with the reality of their feminine self-definition. Through the unfolding of events in the story, we readers see the women characters? sense of self evolve. Their realization is important not only to the outcome of the story, but also, to the women readers who may see themselves in the roles of those characters. "A Jury of Her Peers? supports this thesis. "
