Women's Freedom of Expression

As time progresses, society's attitude toward the differences in gender capabilities and characteristics is becoming more egalitarian and fairer. Women today are doctors, lawyers, and multi-millionaire entertainers and generally feel more a part of human society than they did in the past. In Victorian England, however, and in the early days of America, the role of women in traditional society cramped their ability to express themselves freely by exploring their interests and attaining independence. Women were largely confined to keeping up the domicile. Such a creativity-stifling phenomenon still lingers in some forms to this day. This paper will examine the ways in which the legacy of male dominance of women has impeded and to some extent still impedes women from expressing themselves through their interests.

In her speech, "Professions for Women," Virginia Woolf outlines from her perspective as a writer how the legacy of female submissiveness hampered her work when she was beginning to write for a newspaper. For instance, when Woolf was first reviewing books written by male authors, she felt tempted by the past zeitgeist of passive women to "be tender; flatter; deceive" (Woolf 235). Woolf describes the force compelling her to use softer, less direct language as the Angel in the House. She imagines that this spirit was created by years of women working as the selfless, caring, and pure housewives of the nineteenth century (234). Woolf disdains how the Angel inhibited h

Related Essays

Women's Rights and Empowerment .... through championing greater communication and expression between the .... N. "The Bitter Lot of Women." Freedom Review, 25 .... Treasures." In Geok-lin Lim, S. and Spencer .... (2105 8 )

Freedom of Speech .... Miller v. California 413 US 15, 93 S.Ct .... pictorial advertising brochures depicting men and women in a .... Robert Cohen v. State of California, freedom of expression .... (1732 7 )

Statutory Interpretation case .... harder to obtain, the greater good of women may be .... The net result of s.1 litigation will therefore be .... rights of an individual to personal freedom of expression .... (2875 12 )

Mexico & Human Rights .... Mexicans appear to be enjoying greater freedom from human rights abuses .... References Falcon, S. (2001 .... as a weapon of war: Advancing human rights for women at the .... (1703 7 )

Spirit of the Rococo Style .... asymmetrical and makes extensive use of "sinuous S- and C .... the time a sense of greater freedom of expression .... into vogue in a milieu where women were developing .... (2043 8 )

op and employ her physical and mental faculties. She chooses an occupation that is suited to her wishes, inclinations and abilities..." (Bebel 503). Bebel also includes sexual expression in her utopian worldview. She envisages a world in which women will be able to have a more natural and healthy relationship with men, doing away with "prudery" (503). Whereas Bebel took a revolutionary approach to help women express themselves more equally in the world aside from simply taking care of the family, Simone de Beauvoir takes a philosophical approach to the problem. In "The Second Sex," she writes that women are prohibited from pursuing their interests because they are labeled as inferior by the a priori judgments of men. De Beauvoir gives the example of men relegating blacks to the profession of shoe shining and then thinking that shining shoes is the only job they can perform (De Beauvoir 683). De Beauvoir, like Woolf, finds that women are often thought of as Angels, but de Beauvoir thinks that these Angels are commonly expected to perform public goods. Women, she believes, are expected by men to benefit society with their domestic charms, morality, and child-rearing roles (687). De Beauvoir rejects such ideas, writing that only

Category: History - W