"A Man ain't Nothing but a Man"

Paul D and a Woman in Bed

This analysis will be taken from page 24-26 of Beloved.

Paul D and Sethe have just had sex, and they lay in Sethe's bed. As they lay there, judgments of themselves and each other float the room. Paul D disputes his prior infatuation with Sethe, mentally using harsh words to convey the 'real' appearance of Sethe's body. She is no longer the beautiful, out-of-reach woman, but instead someone 'that he could definitely live without' (p. 25). Sethe realizes this change of heart, and it is displayed in her body language. She is shyly turned away from him, as she traces back their actions in her head. 

After years of yearning, Paul D has finally become Sethe's lover. Toni Morrison has depicted Sethe as a strong woman (she has withstood tremendous pain and tragedy - her lost children, absent love, brutal treatment, and becoming a run-away), whose strength is not to be defined by having a man. Sethe recalls Baby Suggs statement that 'a man ain't nothing but a man', insinuating that men do nothing but leave (giving reasoning for the fact that her 8 children were from 6 fathers) (p.26). However, Sethe is weak to desire and affection. She recognizes the absence of desire in the haunted house: she misses the touch of another man, and craves the comfort that comes with sex (whether it be during a slither of time, or longer). She wants to re-grasp that moment of 'helplessness' and 'blindness' that came with desire (p. 24). I found this to be a great signifier of how a woman can depend on a man. Sethe is vulnerable to a man's touch and is unable to ignore Paul D's advances. After the sex, she feels like she was a victim of a man's desires: that he "encouraged her to put some weight in his hands and... when he saw her scars after getting what he wanted", he would flee (p. 26). 

Women

The Why

The Feminist Lens appeals to me because of my previous experience researching gender inequality and the current / past status of women globally. I recently wrote a 25-page research paper on gender inequality and was able to fully analyze the major gaps between countries’ outlooks on women and men. I got to read about the women whose voices have been silenced or amplified, and was deeply fascinated to discover women that have overcome the prejudice and sexism of their time period / country.

Throughout history, men and women have been subject to gender roles. It is hard to believe that only around 100 years ago women were first given the right to vote in the United States. I believe we still have many more hurdles to overcome, some regarding political action (ex. equal pay, and equal representation), and others regarding psychological improvements (ex. distancing ourselves from the judgmental labels often attached to women and men) in the US. Globally, there are places where it seems that they are still stuck in the Middle Ages; polygamy, domestic violence, under-age marriage, etc. are openly tolerated (this may have to do with the state of government and the people in power, part of the Marxist Lens). I believe that men and women should be treated equally and be judged based on their talents, ideas, and experiences instead of their sex. No matter where a woman lives, she should be treated with the same respect and dignity as her male peers.

I almost went with the New Historical Lens, as you can analyze various topics. You could incorporate the status of women and look at the economic background of a novel under this lens. However, I wanted to focus more on the feminist lens because of my prior knowledge on the subject. I look forward to reading Beloved and finding out how my personal lens differs from the lens I chose. Since it is a novel following an African American woman in the 1870s whose past is riddled with despair, turmoil, and injustice, I believe I will find lots of passages to explore and draw connections from.

Welcome to my Blog! Reading through the Feminist Lens!

Based off on my previous knowledge on Beloved, it is about the period of slavery and how a family that were once former slaves welcome an unusual girl into their family. For this reading, I decided to analyze the story through the Feminist Lens. The way women are portrayed whether they are empowering, weak, or hard working is particularly interesting. It is intriguing to see how women are seen by other characters especially male figures and how the context in which the book was written or takes place, affects the treatment of women and their rights. I was torn between choosing either the Marxist Lens or Feminist Lens as the book was revolved around slavery and the distinction between social classes was very clear. However, gender roles play a key role in the book, especially women. Even though both male and female slaves were treated with disrespect, the way slave owners treated the female slaves were a lot different. Women back then were used as “toys”, and for white men were nothing but used for lust and pleasure.

I have never really read a book through the Feminist Lens before. Ever since I gave a small presentation of Emma Watson’s speech at the United Nations on Feminism, I have been more aware of equal rights for all genders and have noticed, especially in the Latino culture, the sight of “Machismo”. Machismo is referred to the masculine pride in men. It is not something I think about regularly, but it is something I see and hear consistently. I did not take too much interest in Feminism, until I finally learned that the distribution of equality within genders was unfair. Reading the book through the Feminists Lens will help me better understand the women in the story and how their characters' are developed from their past experiences. In this case it is not only about focusing on how slave women are portrayed but how others act/react around them such as the white slave owners and their families. I have skimmed through the first page of Beloved, and have already noticed the superiority of men in the story. A family had been abandoned and now the mother, and her daughter are on their own. This already serves to show the distribution of power with males and females since the presence of male figures are missing.

Eyes through the lens of a Historian

For a project I will be writing blogs revolving around a novel called Beloved. This is no ordinary blog with reactions and criticism and all, but I will be taking a historical perspective of this book. I chose to view this book through a historical lens because history can create a variety of connections even with a simple word or phrase that could be said in the novel. History has always fascinated me as a child. I always thought it was a story telling class where we learn about the struggles of everyday people doing the impossible to change the world for the better. History has and always will play a huge influence on literature because history shapes peoples perspectives and opinions of the world. Another lens I was debating about was the Marxist lens, because it was also somewhat related to history but more of the social status and hierarchy of the world. It felt weird analyzing a novel on social structure because it is so narrow and precise that it did not offer any variety or interpretation. I hope to be more educated on historical events of certain time periods by the time I finish this project, because I have learned only the surface of history but I want to dive deeper into history and learn the finer and smaller details.