Passage: Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam.
Response: Rachel Speght is an incredible woman for her time. She lived in a time and society where women were seen and not heard. Women were not supposed to have thoughts or much intelligence at all in her time. Yet, here she is writing to speak out against the injustices of the male sex against the female. She is just another example of a modern mind in the classic world. She was a very brave woman to have written the words that she did. Today people wouldn’t think anything of her writings because women today can speak out. Women have rights now so we cannot really appreciate the writings of Rachel Speght. However, if things weren’t like they are today for women we might think more of her and other women like her; women who stood up and spoke out against the men of her time. She lived in a world where the men ruled everything; and for her to write what she did could have meant that after her last supporting male family member died she could have been living on the streets or worse. She makes me think what would I have done if I were in her situation? Would I have written the words that she did? Would I have questioned the male authority of which ruled my very existence? Would you? Rachel Speght and the other women who fought to speak out make me thankful for what I have now. They also make me wonder what speaking out did to their lives.
“For you, being greedy to botch up your mingle mangle invective against women, have not therein observed, in many places, so much as a grammar sense. But the emptiest barrel makes the loudest sound, and so we will account of you.”
The battle between men and women is one of the longest standing rivalries known to civilized mankind. It dates back to the bible, when different interpretations of equality and superiority caused a rift between man and wife. One side believed that a man was the lord of his house and his woman should do as she is told, and the other side fought diligently for female equality. In those days, men ruled the world and so it was that women did not have rights, had no education, and were subject to arranged marriage and a life of servitude. This was not limited to just christianity though; many religions and cultures believed in arranged marriage and similar ways of treating women. Many hundreds of years have past since these beliefs were instituted and yet today women are still not treated as equals in many parts of the world. For example, women just received rights in our society in the past hundred or so years. We are talking a span of almost a thousand years for things to change! In other cultures around the world today, women are still faced with similar issues. In africa, poverty and uncivilized folk keep women in more traditional roles as taking care of family and preparing meals. In the middle east and muslim culture, women are made to cover their bodies and faces and are not allowed to pursue many dreams or jobs. These problems have gone on for hundreds and hundreds of years. When will things change?
Emily Alford Basic Passage “Yet in her giving of the fruit to eat she had no malicious intent toward him, but did therein show a desire to make her husband partaker of that happiness which she thought by their eating they should both have enjoyed.” -Rachel Speght on Adam and Eve.
Reading this in class today made me think of how much times of changed. In a Home Economics high school text book printed in 1954 titled “How to Be a Good Wife”, the main goal of a wife was to try to make their home a place of peace and order where her husband could renew himself in body and spirit. She was not to greet her husband with problems or complaints and to make the evening his when he came home from work. The wife was to have dinner ready while having her self fresh-looking and interesting unlike his boring work day. The children were to be washed and noise was to be minimized.
In the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” starring Julia Roberts, she plays a young professor who takes a job at Wellesley College, and all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. The professor learns that although these girls receive such an education they are raised to more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. The professor challenges her students to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success. The girls in the movie were like most girls in that time and were taught to be that “cookie-cutter” wife and put her husband’s needs and happiness before her own.
I believe that the wife and the husband should put each others needs and happiness before their own thus creating that peace and order where they both can renew themselves in body and spirit. They were created equal so why not treat each other as equals and take care of one another. When I cook, my husband takes care of the dishes and vise-versa. We are a team… a happy one.
"So husbands should not account their wiues as their vassals, but as those that are heires together of the grace of life, and with all lenitie and milde perswasions set their feete in the right way, if they happen to tread awry, bearing with their infirmities, as Elkanah did."
Rachel Speght was a self proclaimed polmicist, who defended the worth of womankind through her rhetoric from a biblical approach.She was able to use sharp satire as a weapon to wage war on those who belittled females and blamed the original sin solely on Eve. The Bible makes it plainfully clear that Eve was not alone in her sin, but Adam brought just as much shame to the table when he too, ate of the forbidden fruit. I believe that Eve was tempted before her husband not because satan thought she was unintellegent, but because he knew she was more intellegent and the temptation of even more knowledge would be unresistable. Eve did disobey and talked her husband into joining her for what she believed would be for his benefit. If Adam was truly more intellegent or not to blame for the sin, he would of refused her and told her to ask for immediate forgiveness. In my opinion, if someone infers from this story that all woman are ignorant and must be their husbands master, not only have they not tryly looked at the scripture passages, but they themselves are very ignorant to the nature of who God is. When Jesus came he said that the woman is supposed to respect her huband in (Ephesians 5:23)"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. . . " but the next verse goes on to say the husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the Church. Jesus loved the church so much that he endured a tortuous death on a cross to save people that did not even want him. If a man wants to use this scriptuer to defend abusing his wife, and forcing her submission he must also look at his role in the marriage.
Title: Women are Equal!!! Passage: “The male and female are all one in Christ Jesus”
Response: In Ephesians 5 it talks about this very subject. It says “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become ONE FLESH. In my opinion Rachel Speght hit the nail on the head. She obviously studied scripture. Men and women are equal in every sense. Our society has taught us over time that men and women are not equal. All through history men have more rights than women. It must of taken a lot of courage to write what she wrote. Back in the 1500 and 1600’s women had no rights. I applaud her for that. Today in America, women have the same rights as men do, but still in some circles women are still viewed as second class citizens. I love how she pulled the scripture card on this Joseph Swetnam character. He obviously wrote something talking about Adam and Eve, and how it was Eve’s fault that she was deceived and ate from the tree of life, and she made Adam eat from it. We are all born with free will, so Adam didn’t have to eat from the tree. It seems to me that Adam is as much to blame as Eve. Speght went on to say,”yet in her giving of the fruit to eat she had no malicious intent toward him.” She goes on to say she was just giving to her husband. Speght had an answer for all of Swetnam’s inconsiderate comments. Her use of scripture was all the answer I needed….
Many people today hold strongly to speaking out what they believe, but there are some who just like to shy away from potential conflicts because they may lose something important in their life. But Ben Jonson describes himself as being sharp and sultry. He doesn’t worry about what others think of him and says what he believes should be said. He may have taken “speaking your mind out” too much toward the extreme, but the subject arises concerning when should speak out our mind, and when we should shut our mouth and keep our “always right” beliefs to ourselves. Yes, live in a country that allows and encourages "freedom of speech" but speaking out easily creates foes and unnecessary problems. It is wonderful that as Americans are able to share our values with others and eventually teach them to our children. But there’s a fine line between sharing your beliefs and outright offending others. Granted, there are times when people need to be offended to realize something, but that should only happen in extreme cases (such as Rachel Speght when she cleverly responded to Joseph Swetnam's views concerning women). But someone is not going to change what they have been taught their entire lives in the two minutes that you talk to them. It's okay to inform someone about a different point of view, but it is not okay to bash them over the head with opposing information. People should take more consideration of the backgrounds of others before trying to completely alter their current views.
“ You appear herein not unlike that painter who, seriously endeavoring to portray Cupid’s bow, forget the string. For you, being greedy to botch up your mingle mangle invective against women, have not therein observed, in may places, so much as a grammar sense. But the emptiest barrel makes the loudest sound, and so we will account of you.
Response:
The sharpness of a tongue can often be the best indicator of ones intellect. If this be so, I would think that Rachel Speght was one of the more intelligent people of her day. She defends the feminine sex with such wit and stinging, playful banter. After reading such lines as the ones above, it’s difficult to not applause and laugh aloud. She uses such perfect analogies, such as a careless painter and an empty barrel. She uses them so perfectly to describe Joseph Scetnam, if one were not listening carefully you might in fact miss the insults. I can imagine her saying such cutting remarks with a coy smile and with the utmost outer politeness. Her wit brings to mind the writing style of such masterminds as Jane Austen. It could be said that perhaps Austen even read Speght’s works and drew inspiration from them. There is absolutely no evidence to back this up, but it’s interesting to think about. Both women were such vocal and intelligent women writers. Austen always had strong willed, quick-witted heroines. These characters did not uphold the expected, typical women persona. Likewise, Speght was not a typical woman of her era. She went beyond the expected.
"Yet was she not produced from Adam's foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal."
When it comes to salary, women are still making about 33% less than men. This gap is especially large between whites and asians, where men make approximately $11,000 more. Even though men and women may hold different jobs this is no excuse because employers have used job evaluations for nearly a century to set pay and rank for different occupations within a company or organization. Part of the gap results from differences in education, experience or time in the workforce but a significant portion cannot be explained by any of those factors; it’s just discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were enacted to change this but the gap has only closed by 15% in the past 23 years because the laws are poorly enforced. A recent study found that nearly 40 percent of poor working women could leave welfare programs if they were to receive pay equity wage increases. In Minnesota, where pay equity legislation meant raises for 30,000 state employees, the cost was only 3.7 percent of the state's payroll budget over a four-year period--less than one percent of the budget each year. Voluntary implementation of pay equity is cost effective, while court-ordered pay for discrimination is costly. Court cases and legal settlements, Department of Labor investigations, surveys of men and women on the job, and salary surveys that control for age, experience and time in the workforce provide evidence that discrimination persists. Women need to realize this and fight for what they deserve!
Alex Newton The Never Ending War Basic Passage: “Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam.”
Response: Rachel Speght was an intelligent young woman. She was only 19 years old and had so much wit and insults for men. She had to have been well educated because when she writes she uses references to the bible to make her argument more believable. It gets me that still today that some men believe that a woman is supposed to sit at home, cook, and clean all day. If they have kids it is also her responsability to take care of them. Where I am from there is a local church that believes all of these things. They teach that a woman is supposed to be submissive to the man for everything. They preach that a woman cannot teach and that she is not as wise as a man. This is so demeaning to me; I think that everyone if given the chance can be just as smart as everyone else. When Rachel is presenting her argument I find it very amusing and true. Even though people do not really see it, some men are still down grading women just because that was the way they were raised. Even on the radio these days there are songs going back and forth from man to women. Beyonce Knowles has a song called If I were a Boy, then right after that a guy came back and sang a song back at her. Its in to our culture these days to fight back when we get insulted. Whether this is right or wrong people fell that they need to fight back to help their dignity.
The Masque of Blackness Reference to Mardi Gras Main Passage: “For the first decade the queen took an active role in planning and performing court masques, which were usually performed only once-most often on Twelfth Night…” In the introduction of The Masque of Blackness it describes the celebrations of royalty in Ben Johnson’s time. Though the festivities back then have many striking resemblances to the carnival of Mardi Gras today. Such as the party on Twelfth Night, Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday as it is also known, is also held at the end of twelve days of celebration. Also mentioned the fact that the queen is in charge and runs all of the events which is exactly like today’s Mardi Gras organizations. A queen is crowned every year and is in charge of the events and looked upon as royalty throughout the year and runs the association’s Mardi Gras ball. The Mardi Gras balls also have a strong resemblance to the queens parties such as everyone gathering together for large dinners and the all night dancing. In the introduction the dancing was known as “the revels” which is also what many organizations are named after, for example the famous Knights of Revelry. Of course the events in Johnson’s times were also known for the sexual liaisons not unlike the original celebration of Mardi Gras whose original beginning called Carnival meaning farewell to the flesh in Latin. They also, of course, shared the likeness of masks and costumes. This comes to show people then and now both still know how to have a good time.
Ben Johnson's life and his book of Epigrams.... pg. 1324-1450
correlation: Ben Johnson was the son of a London clergyman, he was educated at Westminster School under the antiquarian scholar William Camden. Ben found a love for classical learning, but he lacked the resources to continue his education; Ben was forced to turn to his stepfather's trade of brick laying. He later escaed by joining the English forces in Flanders where he later killed a man in single combat before the eyes of teo armies. Later, back in London Ben's attempt to make a living as an actor and playwright almost ended abruptly in a diaster. He was imprisoned in 1957 for collaborating with Thomas Nashe on the scandalous play, The Isle of Dogs, and then shortly after his release from prison he killed one of his fellow actors in duel. Johnson escaped so he would not get the dath penalty. In spite of his antagonistic nature, Johnson had a great capacity for friendship. His friends included Shakespeare, Donne, Francis Bacon, and John Seldon Ben Johnson published his Works, to the derision of those astounded to see mere plays and poems collected under the same title the king gave to his political treaties. Many of his contemporaries shied away from the publication, either because they were written for theater companies that preferred not to let go of the scripts. Johnson admired both Shakespeare and Donne, but in publishing his Works he laid claim to an altogether higher litrary status. If he was not consideredthe first professional author in England, he was the first to invest that role with dignity and respectability. Johnson published his Works, over which he labored with painstaking care, testify to an extraordinary feat to self-transformation. He dedicated his epigrams to his book...in the sight as he viewed himself. "on something, that walks somewhere..."
In Rachel Speght’s Muzzle for Melostomus, notions of gender equality are explored, especially the idea of some males believing themselves to be superior to women. I really like the way Speght uses a kind of poetic alliteration at times within her prose work to really drive her point home. Examples of this are “metamorphosed Misogunes”, “hodgepodge of heathenish sentences”, and “promiscuous mingle mangle”. One image in particular she uses metaphorically stuck out to me though.
Basic Passage “You appear herein not unlike that painter who, seriously endeavoring to portray Cupid’s bow, forgot the string.”
This image to me really exemplifies what someone who is sexist against women misses out on. Despite being nineteen at the time she wrote Muzzle, it is fairly obvious that Speght had a very deep understanding of the relationships between men and women. She is pointing out that by overlooking women, sexist men were excluding themselves from the experience of a really deep relationship with a woman. By mentioning cupid, she is likening (in my mind) ideas of romantic love. Men like the author of this work was addressed to, Joseph Swetnam, may have been heterosexual, but they were missing out on the extra side of relationships: the part that doesn’t involve actual sex. In a sense, this to me is like a bow without a string; it is only half of the whole that is a full relationship with a woman.
Title: Discussing the Feminist Refutation of Joseph Swetnam's misogynistic text "Arraignment of lewd, idle, forward, and Unconstant Women" by Rachel Speght
Basic Passage: "A[n]swer a foole according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his owne conceit." - proverb quoted by Speght on "Mouzelle..."
Correlation: Speght was a 19 year old female, self-proclaimed polemicist (one who disputes commonly accepted paradigms), and feminist. She is best known for her poetic work "A Mouzell for Melastomus" which was a witty and scathing reproach to the wildly popular anti-feminine article by Swetnam. Speght's writing was effective as an attack of the belief that women were inferior to men because it did not only use shallow argument forms such as debasing Swetnam's grammar and character but also used sophisticated forms of engagement such as satire. Her arguments also presented new, logical interpretations of the scriptures that Swetnam used in his argument, to her favor. I believe that Speght was able to pass her boundaries as an unmarried, young woman in a time of gender inquality to become published and recognized because she was so sure of herself and her wit. She realized that in answering a popular article of a man she would have to answer the "foole according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own conceit." (i.e. her rebuttal was based on showing his arguments and logic to be false in his own terms). In choosing such a direct method of debunking his claims, (in addition to putting her real name on her publication...a rare act even for men at the time), and not shallowly attacking his character or other vague things like moral code, she made a more concrete assault which is why her writing was highly regarded.
Galatians 3:28…so that the male and female are all one in Christ Jesus.
I don’t think the Apostle Paul could have envisioned the place of Galatians 3:28 in contemporary literature. The issues of sexual equality and societal roles in modern society, however, have done what Paul could not have imagined. In fact, the text has taken on a large and, for some, a crucial place in the discussion of the roles of the sexes in the church. In a book that was written by George Knight, a long-time defender of the historic orthodox interpretation of the text, nevertheless refers to Paul's statement as containing "momentous words." It has long time been a “sore” subject among the generations. Such as Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great German Reformer, in his important commentary on Galatians, devotes three pages to Galatians 3:28. He reminds the woman to "obey her husband," and warns that, "if the woman would be the man," that would be nothing but "confusion." All the faithful have "the same Christ" that all the saints had. Clearly, Luther sees the text as meaning that all believers have the same status in Christ, but in other spheres, such as the family, a submission within the equality all have in Christ is Biblical. And I believe that in this century it is still looked at in this manner that Luther is speaking of. Some believe to be the little submissive wife and do and say what her husband tells her then there are the feminists who think otherwise. I guess I am in between when it comes to those markers. I believe in being one as far as being married but I also believe to be yourself and have your own opinions and such that make you who you are.
Basic Passage: "Moses describes a woman thus: at the beginning (says he) a woman was made to be a helper unto man." -From The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Forward and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them, Choose You Whether by Joseph Swetnam
"Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam." -From A Muzzle for Melastomus by Rachel Speight
Correlation: Is it the women's job to wait on every hand and foot for her man? Is she supposed to be the housewife while the husband is the breadwinner of the family? For as long as I can think back it seems as though this topic has been debated over and over again. The passage I included above is Joseph Swetnam's opinion of the role that a woman should have. In the story, The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Forward and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them, Choose You Whether, he say's that they should basically be the slave to a man. Saying that the only good thing for them to do is to be the housewife and be there for the man of the house whenever he needs her. The quote above is a good example. He even goes on to insult the intelligence of women by saying give her good counsel, but she will not take it. Basically he's saying that if a man gives a women good advice she won't accept it. The other quote I mentioned above is Rachel Speight's disgust of Joseph Swetnam. She disagrees very strongly with what he has stated and she believes the opposite. She says that Swetnam's propostions our flat against the race of men. She is concluding that women have bigger and better roles than just being a bored and ordered around wife. The title comes from the conflicting views of the both of them. Certain men may side with Joseph Swetnam whereas others may side with Rachel Speight's point of view. In my opinion, I would have to agree with Rachel Speight. Women are just as intelligent as men and should be not be subjected to constant cleaning. They are wives not maids. In conclusion, all people, men and women alike, are created equal and that is the way it should always be.
Exploitation of Woman in Hip-Hop Culture Hip hop is a cultural movement built largely around the music genre of hip hop music, which developed in New York City during the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latino Americans. Hip hop's four main elements are rapping, DJing, graffiti writing, and b-boying. Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and hip hop slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx and Harlem, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world. Hip hop’s most popular and most influential element is rap. During the early years of hip hop, lyrical content of rap songs concentrated on social issues such as racism and sexism. In recent years, rap music has developed a reputation of being bluntly honest, violent, and misogynistic. Much of the music and music videos portray provocative negative images of woman. A great example of this is rapper Nelly’s infamous “Tip Drill” video. This video featured the artist swiping a credit card through a stripper’s buttocks. Hilarious as that may sound, why are women in this demeaning position? Why has obvious social “No No’s” become accepted in the hip hop culture today? One cause may be that a large percentage of male artists within the hip hop culture grew up around woman being mistreated and viewed as objects of lust. Many of these same artists’ explicit lyrics contain name calling, suggesting that woman are not worth anything more than money. Women are also depicted as only being good for sexual relations in many rappers songs who describe their life as being that of a pimp. But the real question is why do the women in hip hop culture accept this ideal? Throughout history women have been treated as side-kicks of men, is this the reason why women in hip hop culture assume the role dancing half naked along side of men? Or is it that since hip hop is now a global music genre, sex is used as a marketing ploy? Whatever the reason may be, only through education can women find equality in this male dominated culture.
Title: Same sex attraction then and now Basic Passage: For they shall yet belie thy happy years That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip Is not more smooth and rubious;thy small pipe Is as the maiden’s organ. shrill and sound, And all is semblative a woman’s part
Response: Viola dressed as Cesario (a male servant), likes Orsino, who is the governor of Illyria. Orsino doesn’t realize that Cesario is actually a female and that she is crazy for him. Not knowing the reality, Orsino tells Viola to do him a favor and go talk to Olivia and express his love for her. After meeting to Olivia, instead of expressing Orsino’s love, awakes Olivia to keep a distance from Orsino. To make matter worse Olivia is carried way by Viola (dressed as Cesario) and wants her to be her lover. The passage is Orsino’s description of his love for Olivia. He describes her as having tender and smooth lips. How he adores her and wants to marry her for even more prosperity to achieve and so on. What intrigues me here is the witty description of same sex attraction in Shakespeare’s play. Though we may think all the issue of same sex marriage and everything that comes along with it is not religious and against Christianity, it seems that these issues were there five hundred years ago also. The attraction Olivia shows towards Cesario is arguable itself whereas Orsino seems to have a strong relationship to the male servant Cesario (actually Viola). These duel confusion might be a clue for us to realize that same sex marriage was not accepted then also. What we can do now is keep the value of marriage between man and woman only and make sure same sex attraction exists only in comedy like Twelfth night.
Rachel Speght: "Secondly, the material cause, or matter whereof woman was made, was of a refined mold, if I may so speak. For man was created of the dust of the earth, but woman was made of a part of man, after that he was a living soul. Yet was she not produced from Adam's foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal."
Response: I agree with Rachel Speght's in this passage. God is a a complicated being and we can never fully understand his glory, but one thing we do know is he is all knowing. Therefore God knew what he was doing when he not only made man, but when he made woman. Woman was not a mistake made from Adam, but a gift to Adam. God saw that man could not live without woman. He made woman from the likeness of man, not because man is superior to woman, but because man is equal to woman. If anything, God gave woman a greater gift than man. He gave woman the ability to bare children, his children. Without woman how would man procreate? He knew to truly live out the gift of earthly love man needed a partner. A man and a woman may differ emotionally and physically, but fundamentally they are equal. God did not make a certain race superior to another so why would be make a certain gender superior? The idea that one gender is superior to the other is made up by humans. We interpret the story of Adam and Eve as the downfall of man caused by woman. The downfall of man was caused by man himself. Eve was made from his flesh, so whether she took the first bite from the forbidden fruit or whether Adam would have, man is man no matter what form he was in. Sin is sin, no sin is greater than another sin, they both sinned as equal and were punished as equals
Passage: Yet was she not produced from Adam’s foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal. That where he is lord she may be lady: and therefore said God concerning man and woman jointly “Let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven, and over every beast that moves upon the earth.” By which words he makes their authority equal, and all creatures to be in subjection unto them both…. –Rachel Speght
Response: Joseph Swetnam wrote against women and blamed women for the fall of man, Speght wrote in response to Swetnam. In this passage, Speght is saying that God created man and woman to be equal, God didn’t make women to be any better or less than man. All through history men have been portrayed as being superior to women. Society has stereotyped women into traditional roles. It has been thought that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Over the last several decades, women have been fighting for equal rights. Due to this fight, women are more educated, able to vote, join the military, and hold government position. Hilary Clinton ran for president, this would not have even been considered a possibility 70 years ago. Women now have a more active role in today’s society but yet still are housewives and mothers. Although women have more rights and are able to obtain any type of job in today’s society, there are still instances that women are not treated equally to men in the same position.
Men are physically stronger and more aggressive than women but women are more subtle, have the ideal of inner dignity. Subtlety is stronger that the most aggressive physical force imaginable and true human dignity is a strong, steady voice that speaks from within. Everyone was created equal but different. Every person is their own individual self and has their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, you can have equal rights but can you truly be considered equals?
"Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women."
One can say that the most affected by the liberal mind-shift of the 60s were women. Before the dazed age, the family unit was a strong bond in which each member had an important and key role to follow in order to create success. In the years that followed, that unit began to deteriorate into single-parents, divorcees, co-habitants, and a few married couples with spoiled kids. As the family structure self-destructs, the role of women is redefined.
With women’s rights came equal opportunity in the work-place. As women were seen more and more laboring beside men, they began to be held equal in responsibility as men. The old ways of men as the breadwinners and women as the housekeepers is all but gone. No longer do men need to solely support the household, women can do anything men can.
This explains why respect for women isn’t very important today. This generation shows very little consideration for the mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives of today’s society. Not long ago, it was extremely bad manners to curse in front of a lady. Older generations might still feel the same, but our age bracket doesn’t seem to care. Treating women like whores and punching bags in rap songs seems to be setting the bar for pop culture. I guess it’s okay to hit a girl if she’s really asking for it. Young ladies are no longer shielded from the filth of this world, rather they are thrown in it and commanded to roll around. Thus the female matures quickly, or she is labeled a mutation. Unless…
On “A Muzzle for Melastomus” from a Modern Perspective
“Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam”
Throughout both of my Composition classes and speechwriting class, we have been told of the importance of a strong opening. This first sentence, as well as the next six, at least, is all devoted to the fact and severity to which Rachel Speight dislikes Joseph Swetnam and his opinions. Talk about a thesis statement. As I read and heard the text, I began to wonder when, and if, she was ever going to make a point. By the third paragraph in, she began to actually form her rebuttal. Like much scholarly talk of those ages, her counter arguments were completely pulled from biblical text and formed in such a way so as to make her opponent seem like a heretic. Were it not for the inciting first few paragraphs overloaded with jeers, this piece might have fallen in with every other debating essay of the time. Speight then continues her argument citing the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Her point, basically, is that Eve was deceived into thinking that the forbidden fruit was fair, and then wanted to share this goodness with her husband. Adam, however, knew all along that the fruit was wrong, but ate it anyway. Eve was, at worst, misinformed. I have heard before that either men or women are intrinsically evil because of this story, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Adam and Eve were just two people. It’s like saying all men or women are evil because of Adolf Hitler or Elizabeth Bathory.
Quote: “women did not preform on the english public during shakespear's lifetime; all the greatest women roles were written and to be performed by trained adolescent boys.”
response: In most of history women have always taken the “back seat” in most anything from joining the armed ranks to even playing their own sex in plays and theaters. How did things become this way? In the past men thought themselves to be superior to women thinking all they were good for was raising a family. The logic to this claim is that they are human just like any other man so why deny them of what men have? Even the Spartans, One of the most military based people known in history, considered women only to be useful raising a family.
In an argument, in some ways this could have been necessary to protect their society and families. For if the women were killed then that would mean an end to their race or society and with the end of their society comes the end of their believes and ideals. This, however, does not make up for the lack of rights given to them in the past. Its just recently that women have been given a right to vote for who governs their nation. So to those who consider this response please think has it been a battle of the sexes? Or a one way fight?
Jessica Kiser
ReplyDeleteTitle: Rachel Speght Speaks Out!
Passage: Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam.
Response: Rachel Speght is an incredible woman for her time. She lived in a time and society where women were seen and not heard. Women were not supposed to have thoughts or much intelligence at all in her time. Yet, here she is writing to speak out against the injustices of the male sex against the female. She is just another example of a modern mind in the classic world. She was a very brave woman to have written the words that she did. Today people wouldn’t think anything of her writings because women today can speak out. Women have rights now so we cannot really appreciate the writings of Rachel Speght. However, if things weren’t like they are today for women we might think more of her and other women like her; women who stood up and spoke out against the men of her time. She lived in a world where the men ruled everything; and for her to write what she did could have meant that after her last supporting male family member died she could have been living on the streets or worse. She makes me think what would I have done if I were in her situation? Would I have written the words that she did? Would I have questioned the male authority of which ruled my very existence? Would you? Rachel Speght and the other women who fought to speak out make me thankful for what I have now. They also make me wonder what speaking out did to their lives.
“The Battle of the Sexes”
ReplyDelete“For you, being greedy to botch up your mingle mangle invective against women, have not therein observed, in many places, so much as a grammar sense. But the emptiest barrel makes the loudest sound, and so we will account of you.”
The battle between men and women is one of the longest standing rivalries known to civilized mankind. It dates back to the bible, when different interpretations of equality and superiority caused a rift between man and wife. One side believed that a man was the lord of his house and his woman should do as she is told, and the other side fought diligently for female equality. In those days, men ruled the world and so it was that women did not have rights, had no education, and were subject to arranged marriage and a life of servitude. This was not limited to just christianity though; many religions and cultures believed in arranged marriage and similar ways of treating women. Many hundreds of years have past since these beliefs were instituted and yet today women are still not treated as equals in many parts of the world. For example, women just received rights in our society in the past hundred or so years. We are talking a span of almost a thousand years for things to change! In other cultures around the world today, women are still faced with similar issues. In africa, poverty and uncivilized folk keep women in more traditional roles as taking care of family and preparing meals. In the middle east and muslim culture, women are made to cover their bodies and faces and are not allowed to pursue many dreams or jobs. These problems have gone on for hundreds and hundreds of years. When will things change?
Emily Alford
ReplyDeleteBasic Passage
“Yet in her giving of the fruit to eat she had no malicious intent toward him, but did therein show a desire to make her husband partaker of that happiness which she thought by their eating they should both have enjoyed.” -Rachel Speght on Adam and Eve.
Reading this in class today made me think of how much times of changed. In a Home Economics high school text book printed in 1954 titled “How to Be a Good Wife”, the main goal of a wife was to try to make their home a place of peace and order where her husband could renew himself in body and spirit. She was not to greet her husband with problems or complaints and to make the evening his when he came home from work. The wife was to have dinner ready while having her self fresh-looking and interesting unlike his boring work day. The children were to be washed and noise was to be minimized.
In the movie “Mona Lisa Smile” starring Julia Roberts, she plays a young professor who takes a job at Wellesley College, and all-female campus with a prestigious reputation for academic excellence. The professor learns that although these girls receive such an education they are raised to more interested in nabbing a good husband than achieving scholastic and intellectual growth. The professor challenges her students to think outside of the current mores of the community and redefine what it means to be a success. The girls in the movie were like most girls in that time and were taught to be that “cookie-cutter” wife and put her husband’s needs and happiness before her own.
I believe that the wife and the husband should put each others needs and happiness before their own thus creating that peace and order where they both can renew themselves in body and spirit. They were created equal so why not treat each other as equals and take care of one another. When I cook, my husband takes care of the dishes and vise-versa. We are a team… a happy one.
Rachel Speght's Fight for Equality
ReplyDelete"So husbands should not account their wiues as their vassals, but as those that are heires together of the grace of life, and with all lenitie and milde perswasions set their feete in the right way, if they happen to tread awry, bearing with their infirmities, as Elkanah did."
Rachel Speght was a self proclaimed polmicist, who defended the worth of womankind through her rhetoric from a biblical approach.She was able to use sharp satire as a weapon to wage war on those who belittled females and blamed the original sin solely on Eve. The Bible makes it plainfully clear that Eve was not alone in her sin, but Adam brought just as much shame to the table when he too, ate of the forbidden fruit. I believe that Eve was tempted before her husband not because satan thought she was unintellegent, but because he knew she was more intellegent and the temptation of even more knowledge would be unresistable. Eve did disobey and talked her husband into joining her for what she believed would be for his benefit. If Adam was truly more intellegent or not to blame for the sin, he would of refused her and told her to ask for immediate forgiveness. In my opinion, if someone infers from this story that all woman are ignorant and must be their husbands master, not only have they not tryly looked at the scripture passages, but they themselves are very ignorant to the nature of who God is. When Jesus came he said that the woman is supposed to respect her huband in (Ephesians 5:23)"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. . . " but the next verse goes on to say the husband is to love his wife like Christ loved the Church. Jesus loved the church so much that he endured a tortuous death on a cross to save people that did not even want him. If a man wants to use this scriptuer to defend abusing his wife, and forcing her submission he must also look at his role in the marriage.
Title: Women are Equal!!!
ReplyDeletePassage: “The male and female are all one in Christ Jesus”
Response: In Ephesians 5 it talks about this very subject. It says “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become ONE FLESH. In my opinion Rachel Speght hit the nail on the head. She obviously studied scripture. Men and women are equal in every sense. Our society has taught us over time that men and women are not equal. All through history men have more rights than women. It must of taken a lot of courage to write what she wrote. Back in the 1500 and 1600’s women had no rights. I applaud her for that. Today in America, women have the same rights as men do, but still in some circles women are still viewed as second class citizens. I love how she pulled the scripture card on this Joseph Swetnam character. He obviously wrote something talking about Adam and Eve, and how it was Eve’s fault that she was deceived and ate from the tree of life, and she made Adam eat from it. We are all born with free will, so Adam didn’t have to eat from the tree. It seems to me that Adam is as much to blame as Eve. Speght went on to say,”yet in her giving of the fruit to eat she had no malicious intent toward him.” She goes on to say she was just giving to her husband. Speght had an answer for all of Swetnam’s inconsiderate comments. Her use of scripture was all the answer I needed….
Main Passage:
ReplyDeleteThe bio of Ben Jonson on pages 1324-1326.
Correlation:
Many people today hold strongly to speaking out what they believe, but there are some who just like to shy away from potential conflicts because they may lose something important in their life. But Ben Jonson describes himself as being sharp and sultry. He doesn’t worry about what others think of him and says what he believes should be said. He may have taken “speaking your mind out” too much toward the extreme, but the subject arises concerning when should speak out our mind, and when we should shut our mouth and keep our “always right” beliefs to ourselves. Yes, live in a country that allows and encourages "freedom of speech" but speaking out easily creates foes and unnecessary problems. It is wonderful that as Americans are able to share our values with others and eventually teach them to our children. But there’s a fine line between sharing your beliefs and outright offending others. Granted, there are times when people need to be offended to realize something, but that should only happen in extreme cases (such as Rachel Speght when she cleverly responded to Joseph Swetnam's views concerning women). But someone is not going to change what they have been taught their entire lives in the two minutes that you talk to them. It's okay to inform someone about a different point of view, but it is not okay to bash them over the head with opposing information. People should take more consideration of the backgrounds of others before trying to completely alter their current views.
“ You appear herein not unlike that painter who, seriously endeavoring to portray Cupid’s bow, forget the string. For you, being greedy to botch up your mingle mangle invective against women, have not therein observed, in may places, so much as a grammar sense. But the emptiest barrel makes the loudest sound, and so we will account of you.
ReplyDeleteResponse:
The sharpness of a tongue can often be the best indicator of ones intellect. If this be so, I would think that Rachel Speght was one of the more intelligent people of her day. She defends the feminine sex with such wit and stinging, playful banter. After reading such lines as the ones above, it’s difficult to not applause and laugh aloud. She uses such perfect analogies, such as a careless painter and an empty barrel. She uses them so perfectly to describe Joseph Scetnam, if one were not listening carefully you might in fact miss the insults. I can imagine her saying such cutting remarks with a coy smile and with the utmost outer politeness. Her wit brings to mind the writing style of such masterminds as Jane Austen. It could be said that perhaps Austen even read Speght’s works and drew inspiration from them. There is absolutely no evidence to back this up, but it’s interesting to think about. Both women were such vocal and intelligent women writers. Austen always had strong willed, quick-witted heroines. These characters did not uphold the expected, typical women persona. Likewise, Speght was not a typical woman of her era. She went beyond the expected.
Women are still being discriminated against!
ReplyDelete"Yet was she not produced from Adam's foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal."
When it comes to salary, women are still making about 33% less than men. This gap is especially large between whites and asians, where men make approximately $11,000 more. Even though men and women may hold different jobs this is no excuse because employers have used job evaluations for nearly a century to set pay and rank for different occupations within a company or organization. Part of the gap results from differences in education, experience or time in the workforce but a significant portion cannot be explained by any of those factors; it’s just discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 were enacted to change this but the gap has only closed by 15% in the past 23 years because the laws are poorly enforced. A recent study found that nearly 40 percent of poor working women could leave welfare programs if they were to receive pay equity wage increases. In Minnesota, where pay equity legislation meant raises for 30,000 state employees, the cost was only 3.7 percent of the state's payroll budget over a four-year period--less than one percent of the budget each year. Voluntary implementation of pay equity is cost effective, while court-ordered pay for discrimination is costly. Court cases and legal settlements, Department of Labor investigations, surveys of men and women on the job, and salary surveys that control for age, experience and time in the workforce provide evidence that discrimination persists. Women need to realize this and fight for what they deserve!
Alex Newton
ReplyDeleteThe Never Ending War
Basic Passage: “Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam.”
Response: Rachel Speght was an intelligent young woman. She was only 19 years old and had so much wit and insults for men. She had to have been well educated because when she writes she uses references to the bible to make her argument more believable. It gets me that still today that some men believe that a woman is supposed to sit at home, cook, and clean all day. If they have kids it is also her responsability to take care of them. Where I am from there is a local church that believes all of these things. They teach that a woman is supposed to be submissive to the man for everything. They preach that a woman cannot teach and that she is not as wise as a man. This is so demeaning to me; I think that everyone if given the chance can be just as smart as everyone else. When Rachel is presenting her argument I find it very amusing and true. Even though people do not really see it, some men are still down grading women just because that was the way they were raised. Even on the radio these days there are songs going back and forth from man to women. Beyonce Knowles has a song called If I were a Boy, then right after that a guy came back and sang a song back at her. Its in to our culture these days to fight back when we get insulted. Whether this is right or wrong people fell that they need to fight back to help their dignity.
The Masque of Blackness Reference to Mardi Gras
ReplyDeleteMain Passage:
“For the first decade the queen took an active role in planning and performing court masques, which were usually performed only once-most often on Twelfth Night…”
In the introduction of The Masque of Blackness it describes the celebrations of royalty in Ben Johnson’s time. Though the festivities back then have many striking resemblances to the carnival of Mardi Gras today. Such as the party on Twelfth Night, Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday as it is also known, is also held at the end of twelve days of celebration. Also mentioned the fact that the queen is in charge and runs all of the events which is exactly like today’s Mardi Gras organizations. A queen is crowned every year and is in charge of the events and looked upon as royalty throughout the year and runs the association’s Mardi Gras ball. The Mardi Gras balls also have a strong resemblance to the queens parties such as everyone gathering together for large dinners and the all night dancing. In the introduction the dancing was known as “the revels” which is also what many organizations are named after, for example the famous Knights of Revelry. Of course the events in Johnson’s times were also known for the sexual liaisons not unlike the original celebration of Mardi Gras whose original beginning called Carnival meaning farewell to the flesh in Latin. They also, of course, shared the likeness of masks and costumes. This comes to show people then and now both still know how to have a good time.
Ben Johnson's life and his book of Epigrams....
ReplyDeletepg. 1324-1450
correlation: Ben Johnson was the son of a London clergyman, he was educated at Westminster School under the antiquarian scholar William Camden. Ben found a love for classical learning, but he lacked the resources to continue his education; Ben was forced to turn to his stepfather's trade of brick laying. He later escaed by joining the English forces in Flanders where he later killed a man in single combat before the eyes of teo armies.
Later, back in London Ben's attempt to make a living as an actor and playwright almost ended abruptly in a diaster. He was imprisoned in 1957 for collaborating with Thomas Nashe on the scandalous play, The Isle of Dogs, and then shortly after his release from prison he killed one of his fellow actors in duel. Johnson escaped so he would not get the dath penalty.
In spite of his antagonistic nature, Johnson had a great capacity for friendship. His friends included Shakespeare, Donne, Francis Bacon, and John Seldon
Ben Johnson published his Works, to the derision of those astounded to see mere plays and poems collected under the same title the king gave to his political treaties. Many of his contemporaries shied away from the publication, either because they were written for theater companies that preferred not to let go of the scripts. Johnson admired both Shakespeare and Donne, but in publishing his Works he laid claim to an altogether higher litrary status. If he was not consideredthe first professional author in England, he was the first to invest that role with dignity and respectability. Johnson published his Works, over which he labored with painstaking care, testify to an extraordinary feat to self-transformation. He dedicated his epigrams to his book...in the sight as he viewed himself.
"on something, that walks somewhere..."
A.W. Faris
ReplyDeleteSpeght and Listen
In Rachel Speght’s Muzzle for Melostomus, notions of gender equality are explored, especially the idea of some males believing themselves to be superior to women. I really like the way Speght uses a kind of poetic alliteration at times within her prose work to really drive her point home. Examples of this are “metamorphosed Misogunes”, “hodgepodge of heathenish sentences”, and “promiscuous mingle mangle”. One image in particular she uses metaphorically stuck out to me though.
Basic Passage
“You appear herein not unlike that painter who, seriously endeavoring to portray Cupid’s bow, forgot the string.”
This image to me really exemplifies what someone who is sexist against women misses out on. Despite being nineteen at the time she wrote Muzzle, it is fairly obvious that Speght had a very deep understanding of the relationships between men and women. She is pointing out that by overlooking women, sexist men were excluding themselves from the experience of a really deep relationship with a woman. By mentioning cupid, she is likening (in my mind) ideas of romantic love. Men like the author of this work was addressed to, Joseph Swetnam, may have been heterosexual, but they were missing out on the extra side of relationships: the part that doesn’t involve actual sex. In a sense, this to me is like a bow without a string; it is only half of the whole that is a full relationship with a woman.
Title: Discussing the Feminist Refutation of Joseph Swetnam's misogynistic text "Arraignment of lewd, idle, forward, and Unconstant Women" by Rachel Speght
ReplyDeleteBasic Passage: "A[n]swer a foole according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in
his owne conceit." - proverb quoted by Speght on "Mouzelle..."
Correlation:
Speght was a 19 year old female, self-proclaimed polemicist (one who disputes commonly accepted paradigms), and feminist. She is best known for her poetic work "A Mouzell for Melastomus" which was a witty and scathing reproach to the wildly popular anti-feminine article by Swetnam. Speght's writing was effective as an attack of the belief that women were inferior to men because it did not only use shallow argument forms such as debasing Swetnam's grammar and character but also used sophisticated forms of engagement such as satire. Her arguments also presented new, logical interpretations of the scriptures that Swetnam used in his argument, to her favor.
I believe that Speght was able to pass her boundaries as an unmarried, young woman in a time of gender inquality to become published and recognized because she was so sure of herself and her wit. She realized that in answering a popular article of a man she would have to answer the "foole according to his foolishness, lest he be wise in his own conceit." (i.e. her rebuttal was based on showing his arguments and logic to be false in his own terms). In choosing such a direct method of debunking his claims, (in addition to putting her real name on her publication...a rare act even for men at the time), and not shallowly attacking his character or other vague things like moral code, she made a more concrete assault which is why her writing was highly regarded.
Galatians 3:28…so that the male and female are all one in Christ Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the Apostle Paul could have envisioned the place of Galatians 3:28 in contemporary literature. The issues of sexual equality and societal roles in modern society, however, have done what Paul could not have imagined. In fact, the text has taken on a large and, for some, a crucial place in the discussion of the roles of the sexes in the church. In a book that was written by George Knight, a long-time defender of the historic orthodox interpretation of the text, nevertheless refers to Paul's statement as containing "momentous words." It has long time been a “sore” subject among the generations. Such as Martin Luther (1483-1546), the great German Reformer, in his important commentary on Galatians, devotes three pages to Galatians 3:28. He reminds the woman to "obey her husband," and warns that, "if the woman would be the man," that would be nothing but "confusion." All the faithful have "the same Christ" that all the saints had. Clearly, Luther sees the text as meaning that all believers have the same status in Christ, but in other spheres, such as the family, a submission within the equality all have in Christ is Biblical. And I believe that in this century it is still looked at in this manner that Luther is speaking of. Some believe to be the little submissive wife and do and say what her husband tells her then there are the feminists who think otherwise. I guess I am in between when it comes to those markers. I believe in being one as far as being married but I also believe to be yourself and have your own opinions and such that make you who you are.
Battle of the Sexes
ReplyDeleteBasic Passage: "Moses describes a woman thus: at the beginning (says he) a woman was made to be a helper unto man."
-From The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Forward and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them, Choose You Whether by Joseph Swetnam
"Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam."
-From A Muzzle for Melastomus by Rachel Speight
Correlation: Is it the women's job to wait on every hand and foot for her man? Is she supposed to be the housewife while the husband is the breadwinner of the family? For as long as I can think back it seems as though this topic has been debated over and over again. The passage I included above is Joseph Swetnam's opinion of the role that a woman should have. In the story, The Arraignment of Lewd, Idle, Forward and Unconstant Women: Or the Vanity of Them, Choose You Whether, he say's that they should basically be the slave to a man. Saying that the only good thing for them to do is to be the housewife and be there for the man of the house whenever he needs her. The quote above is a good example. He even goes on to insult the intelligence of women by saying give her good counsel, but she will not take it. Basically he's saying that if a man gives a women good advice she won't accept it. The other quote I mentioned above is Rachel Speight's disgust of Joseph Swetnam. She disagrees very strongly with what he has stated and she believes the opposite. She says that Swetnam's propostions our flat against the race of men. She is concluding that women have bigger and better roles than just being a bored and ordered around wife. The title comes from the conflicting views of the both of them. Certain men may side with Joseph Swetnam whereas others may side with Rachel Speight's point of view. In my opinion, I would have to agree with Rachel Speight. Women are just as intelligent as men and should be not be subjected to constant cleaning. They are wives not maids. In conclusion, all people, men and women alike, are created equal and that is the way it should always be.
Exploitation of Woman in Hip-Hop Culture
ReplyDeleteHip hop is a cultural movement built largely around the music genre of hip hop music, which developed in New York City during the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latino Americans. Hip hop's four main elements are rapping, DJing, graffiti writing, and b-boying. Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and hip hop slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx and Harlem, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world.
Hip hop’s most popular and most influential element is rap. During the early years of hip hop, lyrical content of rap songs concentrated on social issues such as racism and sexism. In recent years, rap music has developed a reputation of being bluntly honest, violent, and misogynistic. Much of the music and music videos portray provocative negative images of woman. A great example of this is rapper Nelly’s infamous “Tip Drill” video. This video featured the artist swiping a credit card through a stripper’s buttocks. Hilarious as that may sound, why are women in this demeaning position? Why has obvious social “No No’s” become accepted in the hip hop culture today? One cause may be that a large percentage of male artists within the hip hop culture grew up around woman being mistreated and viewed as objects of lust. Many of these same artists’ explicit lyrics contain name calling, suggesting that woman are not worth anything more than money. Women are also depicted as only being good for sexual relations in many rappers songs who describe their life as being that of a pimp. But the real question is why do the women in hip hop culture accept this ideal? Throughout history women have been treated as side-kicks of men, is this the reason why women in hip hop culture assume the role dancing half naked along side of men? Or is it that since hip hop is now a global music genre, sex is used as a marketing ploy? Whatever the reason may be, only through education can women find equality in this male dominated culture.
Title: Same sex attraction then and now
ReplyDeleteBasic Passage:
For they shall yet belie thy happy years
That say thou art a man. Diana’s lip
Is not more smooth and rubious;thy small pipe
Is as the maiden’s organ. shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a woman’s part
Response:
Viola dressed as Cesario (a male servant), likes Orsino, who is the governor of Illyria. Orsino doesn’t realize that Cesario is actually a female and that she is crazy for him. Not knowing the reality, Orsino tells Viola to do him a favor and go talk to Olivia and express his love for her. After meeting to Olivia, instead of expressing Orsino’s love, awakes Olivia to keep a distance from Orsino. To make matter worse Olivia is carried way by Viola (dressed as Cesario) and wants her to be her lover. The passage is Orsino’s description of his love for Olivia. He describes her as having tender and smooth lips. How he adores her and wants to marry her for even more prosperity to achieve and so on.
What intrigues me here is the witty description of same sex attraction in Shakespeare’s play. Though we may think all the issue of same sex marriage and everything that comes along with it is not religious and against Christianity, it seems that these issues were there five hundred years ago also. The attraction Olivia shows towards Cesario is arguable itself whereas Orsino seems to have a strong relationship to the male servant Cesario (actually Viola). These duel confusion might be a clue for us to realize that same sex marriage was not accepted then also. What we can do now is keep the value of marriage between man and woman only and make sure same sex attraction exists only in comedy like Twelfth night.
Gender in the Eyes of God
ReplyDeleteBasic Passage:
Rachel Speght:
"Secondly, the material cause, or matter whereof woman was made, was of a refined mold, if I may so speak. For man was created of the dust of the earth, but woman was made of a part of man, after that he was a living soul. Yet was she not produced from Adam's foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal."
Response:
I agree with Rachel Speght's in this passage. God is a a complicated being and we can never fully understand his glory, but one thing we do know is he is all knowing. Therefore God knew what he was doing when he not only made man, but when he made woman. Woman was not a mistake made from Adam, but a gift to Adam. God saw that man could not live without woman. He made woman from the likeness of man, not because man is superior to woman, but because man is equal to woman. If anything, God gave woman a greater gift than man. He gave woman the ability to bare children, his children. Without woman how would man procreate? He knew to truly live out the gift of earthly love man needed a partner. A man and a woman may differ emotionally and physically, but fundamentally they are equal. God did not make a certain race superior to another so why would be make a certain gender superior? The idea that one gender is superior to the other is made up by humans. We interpret the story of Adam and Eve as the downfall of man caused by woman. The downfall of man was caused by man himself. Eve was made from his flesh, so whether she took the first bite from the forbidden fruit or whether Adam would have, man is man no matter what form he was in. Sin is sin, no sin is greater than another sin, they both sinned as equal and were punished as equals
Can men and women be equal?
ReplyDeletePassage:
Yet was she not produced from Adam’s foot, to be his too low inferior, nor from his head to be his superior, but from his side, near his heart, to be his equal. That where he is lord she may be lady: and therefore said God concerning man and woman jointly “Let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven, and over every beast that moves upon the earth.” By which words he makes their authority equal, and all creatures to be in subjection unto them both…. –Rachel Speght
Response:
Joseph Swetnam wrote against women and blamed women for the fall of man, Speght wrote in response to Swetnam. In this passage, Speght is saying that God created man and woman to be equal, God didn’t make women to be any better or less than man. All through history men have been portrayed as being superior to women. Society has stereotyped women into traditional roles. It has been thought that “a woman’s place is in the home.” Over the last several decades, women have been fighting for equal rights. Due to this fight, women are more educated, able to vote, join the military, and hold government position. Hilary Clinton ran for president, this would not have even been considered a possibility 70 years ago. Women now have a more active role in today’s society but yet still are housewives and mothers. Although women have more rights and are able to obtain any type of job in today’s society, there are still instances that women are not treated equally to men in the same position.
Men are physically stronger and more aggressive than women but women are more subtle, have the ideal of inner dignity. Subtlety is stronger that the most aggressive physical force imaginable and true human dignity is a strong, steady voice that speaks from within. Everyone was created equal but different. Every person is their own individual self and has their own personality, strengths, and weaknesses. Therefore, you can have equal rights but can you truly be considered equals?
Women Have Lost All Respect
ReplyDelete"Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women."
One can say that the most affected by the liberal mind-shift of the 60s were women. Before the dazed age, the family unit was a strong bond in which each member had an important and key role to follow in order to create success. In the years that followed, that unit began to deteriorate into single-parents, divorcees, co-habitants, and a few married couples with spoiled kids. As the family structure self-destructs, the role of women is redefined.
With women’s rights came equal opportunity in the work-place. As women were seen more and more laboring beside men, they began to be held equal in responsibility as men. The old ways of men as the breadwinners and women as the housekeepers is all but gone. No longer do men need to solely support the household, women can do anything men can.
This explains why respect for women isn’t very important today. This generation shows very little consideration for the mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives of today’s society. Not long ago, it was extremely bad manners to curse in front of a lady. Older generations might still feel the same, but our age bracket doesn’t seem to care. Treating women like whores and punching bags in rap songs seems to be setting the bar for pop culture. I guess it’s okay to hit a girl if she’s really asking for it. Young ladies are no longer shielded from the filth of this world, rather they are thrown in it and commanded to roll around. Thus the female matures quickly, or she is labeled a mutation. Unless…
On “A Muzzle for Melastomus” from a Modern Perspective
ReplyDelete“Not unto the veriest idiot that ever set pen to paper, but to the cynical baiter of women, or metamorphosed Misogunes, Joseph Swetnam”
Throughout both of my Composition classes and speechwriting class, we have been told of the importance of a strong opening. This first sentence, as well as the next six, at least, is all devoted to the fact and severity to which Rachel Speight dislikes Joseph Swetnam and his opinions. Talk about a thesis statement. As I read and heard the text, I began to wonder when, and if, she was ever going to make a point. By the third paragraph in, she began to actually form her rebuttal. Like much scholarly talk of those ages, her counter arguments were completely pulled from biblical text and formed in such a way so as to make her opponent seem like a heretic. Were it not for the inciting first few paragraphs overloaded with jeers, this piece might have fallen in with every other debating essay of the time. Speight then continues her argument citing the biblical story of Adam and Eve. Her point, basically, is that Eve was deceived into thinking that the forbidden fruit was fair, and then wanted to share this goodness with her husband. Adam, however, knew all along that the fruit was wrong, but ate it anyway. Eve was, at worst, misinformed. I have heard before that either men or women are intrinsically evil because of this story, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Adam and Eve were just two people. It’s like saying all men or women are evil because of Adolf Hitler or Elizabeth Bathory.
Battle of the sexes or one way fight?
ReplyDeleteQuote: “women did not preform on the english public during shakespear's lifetime; all the greatest women roles were written and to be performed by trained adolescent boys.”
response: In most of history women have always taken the “back seat” in most anything from joining the armed ranks to even playing their own sex in plays and theaters. How did things become this way? In the past men thought themselves to be superior to women thinking all they were good for was raising a family. The logic to this claim is that they are human just like any other man so why deny them of what men have? Even the Spartans, One of the most military based people known in history, considered women only to be useful raising a family.
In an argument, in some ways this could have been necessary to protect their society and families. For if the women were killed then that would mean an end to their race or society and with the end of their society comes the end of their believes and ideals. This, however, does not make up for the lack of rights given to them in the past. Its just recently that women have been given a right to vote for who governs their nation. So to those who consider this response please think has it been a battle of the sexes? Or a one way fight?