Rachel Lamb
10/9/11
James Ross
ENGL 1020-005
The Definition of a Woman
For many years the definition of a woman has been argued over through the many women rights movements. People could not decide if women could vote, work, or be treated as an equal to men. One could say a woman is nurturing and motherly. Another could say a woman is independent and equal to a man. However, based upon the way society treats and speaks about women in every day life, a woman is a female human being that is a man’s property and object for a man’s sexual fulfillment.
This is a very controversial definition of what a woman is because many people, especially women, would argue against it. However, reasons and examples as to why this is a valid definition can be seen in every day life such as examples in literature, the connotation of the word “woman”, objects being referred to in a feminine context and women being referred to as property, women’s rights being given by men, as well as prostitutes and advertisements. All of these examples are all very much prevalent and visible in every day life. They are small gestures and points that women are property of men and objects for a man’s sexual fulfillment. Many people would argue that this is not how they define a woman but this definition can be seen and proven in how women are treated in every day life.
A person throughout their life will own things. A man will own a woman. A woman is a man’s property. There are many examples of women belonging to men. One, in fact, can be seen in a piece of literature, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. In this book, women’s rights are slowly taken away from them until they have no rights at all and eventually, they are reduced to nothing more than a way to reproduce. In this society, the women belonged to the men and did whatever the men asked of them; they slept with the man of the house to bear him a child, they were prostitutes if the men said they were unfit to bear them children, they were servants if the men assigned them that job, and they were wives for the men to have political standing. Each woman in this book has a purpose and is used by a man is some sort of way that the man decides upon.
The word “woman” can be seen as another example of women belonging to men. The word “man” is in the word “woman”. This suggests that a woman is part of a man, or belongs to a man. A man is independent, but a woman is a part of a man, making her dependent on a man, which makes her the property of a man. Based upon the connotation of these words, man does not need woman, but woman needs man to complete her, which makes man have something over a woman. In the dictionary a woman is defined as an adult female person who is very nurturing, motherly, sensitive, and feminine. (Webster’s New World Dictionary of the American Language) The dictionary does not mention anything else about a woman. So the more deep definition of a woman is up to interpretation by people in every day life based upon how women are treated, talked about, and referred to. Connotation of words can very much show definition of words, so the connotation the word “woman” can show a definition as well. This ownership concept can be seen very prevalent through connotation and context of words.
Many objects that are owned are referred to in a feminine context. Our country, The United States of America, is called “she”. Many other countries refer to their land in a feminine way as well and the leader of a country has a certain ownership over that country. In America, leaders are mainly men; there has never been a woman president. So since America is a “female” based on the way people talk, man has ownership over women based on how the leader has certain ownership over a country. Another example of an object referred to in a female context is a ship. Ships, such as the Titanic, are referred to as a “she” as well. A ship is not independent; a person owns it. Most of the time, a man is the captain. This shows that a man owns a woman because women are on the same level as a ship. Both these examples show women as property, objects, or something to be owned by putting women down on that same level. Since men are the owners of these two examples, men are the owners of women, making a woman property of a man.
One could argue that women have rights so therefore they do not belong to a man. It is true that women are equal to men and independent enough to have rights. (Women’s History in America) However, the history of how these rights originated is quite interesting. Slavery was outlawed before women were given rights. (Women’s History in America) This shows how wary people were about women having rights. Eventually, women did receive rights, but, since women were not allowed in politics and men were, men gave rights to women. This can be seen as another example of men owning women.
When a man is in a relationship with a woman it is common for him to refer to her as “my girl”. This also shows that a man owns a woman. In this phrase, the man is making the woman his possession; she is something that belongs to him. Even though this phrase is something that is so innocent and very widely used, it hints at women belonging to men, just like winking an eye hints at sexual innuendo.
A woman is an object for a man’s sexual fulfillment. Many women like to say they are not a “sex toy” for a man. However, many examples of this go completely against that idea. In The Handmaid’s Tale, women who were not fit to be wives or handmaids were either “unwomen” or prostitutes. The prostitutes were there for the men to receive pleasure. This example, in a book of literature, also shows that women are used for sexual fulfillments of men.
Prostitution and strippers, in today’s world can be seen as a part of this concept as well. Prostitutes are supposed to do whatever a person wants as longs they get paid. Strippers are supposed to dance and take off their clothes in order to sexually arouse people, also for money. Basically, they are supposed to please someone for money. This is completely a woman being used for a man’s sexual fulfillment. That is practically the job title of a prostitute or stripper.
An example that is prevalent in today’s world is an advertisement. An advertisement is meant to get people interested in what is being advertised and want it. Advertisement’s featuring women are meant to attract men to whatever is being advertised, just like an advertisement featuring men will get women interested, but advertisement’s featuring women are seen much more then advertisement’s featuring men. In order to get men interested, the women in the advertisement are presented in a way that will affect the man’s sex appeal. The men obviously like what they see and enjoy themselves. This shows women being used for men’s sexual fulfillment.
Women are not going to see themselves as being defined as a man’s property or object of a man’s sexual fulfillment, but based upon books, speech, words, and phrases, legal points, and advertisements and prostitution, a woman is just that. Men own women because the word man is included in the word woman, men gave rights to women and women are seen as the same as objects, which are owned by men. Women are objects of sexual fulfillment for men because of advertisements featuring women, as well as prostitutes and strippers. The Handmaids Tale is an excellent example of these ideas, just blown out of proportion. In every day life, these ideas are much more subtle, but they are prevalent enough to define women in this way.
Works Cited
WOW. Thanks for that first picture. The pictures really show what you are getting at. Your topic is so wrong to so many people, which is good for this essay. I do not agree with it at all. And women are just as equal and great as men.
ReplyDeleteYou brought to light a very important issue in todays world. This is a very controversial topic to tackle, way to stick to your guns.
ReplyDelete