Throughout history, the struggle of women to gain and sustain power in society has proven to be difficult, and has coexisted with a rivalry against the opposite sex. Women have been denied many throughout the course of history. They have been discriminated against, lost jobs, lost privileges. Women's suffrage had not developed in the United States until the Nineteenth Amendment, which became effective in time to allow the voting by women nationally in the Presidential election of August 18, 1920. Stereotypical views of the ideal features of women are femininity, maternity, gentility, care, nurture, and dependency. Not matriarchy, independence, nor strength. Women are not generally associated with these traits, and society generally expects women to posses the assumed feminine characteristics.
This is not the case in the novel One Flew Over the CuckooÃÂs Nest, in which Ken Kesey shows a woman can hold a dominating, powerful role in society and be contrary to the stereotypical woman figure to depict the validity of the society's views about women and their roles using the failure of the matriarchal female character to succeed at her role assumed by her occupation.
English: Ken Kesey, Miami Book Fair International,...
A statue of Ken Kesey in Eugene, Oregon
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film.The matriarchal female, Mildred ÃÂBig NurseÃÂ Ratched, gains control over her realm in the mental hospital, but fails to fulfill her duties as a nurse of healing or helping her patients. The sexist description of her physical appearance provided by her patients are those typically associated with women, however, she completely contradicts the typical female. She is a matriarchal figure, not maternal. She is powerful, not dependent. And she manipulates complete power over the staff and patients of the hospital. However, her matriarchy does not fulfill her duties assumed by her occupation; to heal and help the patients. Instead, she worsens the situation by diminishing their strengths and exposing their weaknesses; which she...
Feminism
Interesting topic, one has to be cautious when responding to this topic for fear of retribution from the dark side so to speak. But a well written essay for high school.
Feminists are mostly after something, they usually want political power and once they get it abuse it. The opposite sex these days are going the other way and railroading many issues especially in family areas. Feminism is the quickest way to ruin families, most hardcore feminists are invariably divorced from bad marriages and or relationships and brand everyone with the same stick.
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