Themes Of Sexuality And Marriage Essay - 1155 Words

In the interwar period, concepts of sexuality and marriage were beginning to transform from union practises to marriages based on the idea of love and happiness. Notably, the happiness of a marriage was dependent on how fulfilling their sexual relationship is. The eroticization of marriage, as Angus McLaren describes the budding shift in the definition of marriage, created a subversive concept that both constrains heterosexual and homosexual practising men and women in middle-class society through the creation of prescribed gender traits. Which white middle-class men and women should participate in and adhere to to avoid being seen as an ‘abnormal’ sexual deviant as opposed to the budding normalisation of heterosexual practices as biologically ‘natural’. PARA 1: - Biological to Psychological Sexual Deviancies After World War I, gender roles were beginning to shift as women were allowed to work through the war years giving them independence they did have before; and men were coming back from the war obviously effected by war trauma but perceived by popular society as weakened men. Much like the tropes of hard-boiled men in Noir films after WWII, women were experiencing sexual liberation through flapper culture and moving away from domesticity and patriarchal society, and men, grew a series of anxieties of female power. The reestablishment of gender roles needed to be enforced as a way to gain control, once again, of women’s bodies. Marriage had to become more than a union,Show MoreRelatedElements Of Literature : The Handmaid s Tale1159 Words   |  5 PagesElements of Literature: Theme When thinking about an important element of literature like theme, I always see it as what lesson I can learn from the reading. The theme of a piece of literature is not always clear and easy to find because it is about how the reader interprets what he or she has just read. Theme is understood differently from person to person because everyone has different thoughts, beliefs, and values. Finding the theme requires one to dig deep into the reading to find the messageRead More Nature Themes in Hurston’s Novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee508 Words   |  3 PagesNature Themes in Hurston’s Novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee Nature themes resound throughout Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Seraph on the Suwanee. Perhaps two of the most notable instances where the lush Florida scenery augments the novels’ plot lines are the â€Å"tree scenes†, in which Janie kisses Johnny Taylor beneath the pear tree in Their Eyes Were Watching God (p. 10-12) and Arvey loses her virginity to Jim beneath the mulberry tree in Seraph on theRead MoreReview Of The Quilt 1097 Words   |  5 PagesTA: 15 February 2015 Role of Sexuality in â€Å"The Quilt† In my opinion, we are all born with natural sex. But gender is a socio-cultural and man-made classification. Symons that is coined with the gender â€Å"male† is â€Å"strength†, â€Å"power† and â€Å"domination†. Words that are representative of the gender â€Å"female† are â€Å"pretty†, â€Å"delicate† and â€Å"submissive†. Gender divides human beings based on sex. Gender creates restrictions on women in a socio-cultural manner, for example, in marriage. These gender restrictionsRead MoreThe Role Of Cultural Expectations On Sexual Orientation And Gender Identification924 Words   |  4 Pages(Croteau Hoynes, 2013). In addition, this documentary emphasizes the impact of cultural expectations on sexual orientation and gender identification. The theme of prejudice and fear experienced by transgender and intersexual people can be observed all throughout Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She. At the very beginning of the documentary, this theme is illustrated through the murder of Gwen, a transsexual teenager. She had had sexual relations with two of her murderers who exclaimed, â€Å"I can’t be gayRead MoreFemale Humanists in Renaissance Italy Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesFemale Humanists in Renaissance Italy Arcangela Tarabotti like many young girls in Renaissance Italy had parents who could not afford a sufficient dowry to purchase their daughter a good marriage. In order to protect their honor and her virginity they sent Tarabotti away to a convent against her will. Here she lived out the rest of her unhappy life as a nun. What sets her apart from other girls of similar circumstance is that she became one of the few female humanist writers#. The story of TarabottiRead MoreFeminism And The Advocacy For Equal Rights1563 Words   |  7 Pagesimportant feminist author (â€Å"Kate Chopin†). Chopin implicated many themes relating to the realities and veracity of being a woman into her stories, which gave a realistic insight onto both her feelings and experiences. Themes including women’s rights, injustice, marriage and relationships, female sexuality, and other feministic themes (Skaggs). For instance, Chopin’s short story â€Å"A Shameful Affair† has the main themes of female sexuality and social conventions. In this story, Mildred Orme, a young, seeminglyRead MoreFairy Tales Speak Trough Symbols936 Words   |  4 PagesDwarfs† gathered by the Brothers Grimm are two of these famous fairy tales. The central theme of both of these fairytales is the process of transition from a girl to a woman. They also convey a very similar set of concepts including initiation of puberty and maturation and its dangers, exploring the body and sexuality, and protection of heroine from sexual desires after puberty and keeping her pure for marriage. In both stories heroine experiences great dangers as she reaches the age of puberty andRead MoreThe Theme of Love Presented in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet1630 Words   |  7 PagesThe Theme of Love Presented in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet Love, or a lack of it, is a very central theme in Romeo and Juliet and often is the root of many arguments in the play. It is very difficult to group love as just one thing as there are many versions of it. A love which the capulets particularly, seem to possess is a love of material possessions and power. For example, the Capulet ball (and subsequent plans for the marriage) is an indication of wealthRead MoreThe Freedom Of The Free Love Movement Essay1582 Words   |  7 Pagesnecessary. Cities emerged and reproduction slowed. This period was a major turning point for the dominant meaning of sexuality; thus it has great significance. D’Emilio writes about this changing sexual ideology when he states â€Å"especially within the middle class, sexual desires had become increasingly fused with a romantic quest for emotional intimacy and even spiritual union† (84). Sexuality no longer held strong ties to procreation and soon sex became more for pleasure. Furthermore, women now had someRead MoreEssay about Themes in Hedda Gabler1653 Words   |  7 Pagesno social theme (333). He asserts this argument with evidence that the themes that are presented in the play are of no importance with relevance to the time period it was written. Although John R. Shipley might have a prevalent argument, the social topics that are presented in Hedda Gabler are timeless and are present even in today’s world as they were long before the time of Hedda Gabler. Therefore, Mr. John T. Shipley is mistaken when stating that there is a lack of social themes in Hedda Gabler