Feminism And Gender Roles By Margaret Atwood - 1518 Words

In Surfacing by Margaret Atwood, there are numerous portrayals of feminism and gender roles. There are underlying hints of distaste towards the female sex role and the predatory, aggressive behaviour of men towards women. The suppression of women is portrayed and analyzed, and Surfacing manages to tackle the theme of gender roles by exploring through the perspective of the female narrator how women are marginalized in many aspects of their lives. . Surfacing makes a case for strong women that defy stereotypical gender roles and portrays how men are continually pushing the boundaries of their roles and going to the extreme with them. When this book was written in the late 60’s/70’s, gender role was an extremely important theme. Women†¦show more content†¦Later on the mother says she’d been scared to death, but the narrator couldn’t believe that because her mother had been so positive and assured, â€Å"as if she knew a foolproof magic formula: ges ture and word. She was wearing her leather jacket† (78). This passage clearly sets an appreciation that the narrator has for her mother, and likely all women that are strong and defiant in the face of demeaning stereotypes. In the context of the book, the narrator plainly states her distaste for the typical sex role of the female. This appreciation for strong women is made visible throughout the book. Another example of the book’s support for women that defy the stereotypical gender role is when the narrator questions why David forced Anna to strip naked just for his film, or when she denies David the opportunity to service her: â€Å"â€Å"Please don’t,† I said†¦ He reached his arm around me, invading, and pulled me over toward him; his neck was creased and freckled, soon he would have jowls, he smelled like scalp. His moustache whisked my face. I twisted away and stood up. â€Å"Why are you doing this?† I said. â€Å"You’re interfering.† I wiped at my arm where he had touched it† (152). David then continues to try to coerce her and she also blocks that attempt: â€Å"You’re putting me on,† he said, â€Å"this is the twentieth century.†... â€Å"No it isn’t,† I said. â€Å"Not here† (152). Clearly, the narrator here is strongly avoiding the attempts from David toShow MoreRelatedComp atison of Spotty Handed Villainesses and Keynote Address at the Beijing World Conference on Women.879 Words   |  4 Pagesof rhetoric to support its main ideas.’ Discuss this statement, making detailed reference to at least two speeches. Great speeches are those which timelessly captivate audiences through their integrity and rhetoric treatment. This is relevant to Margaret Atwood’s speech in 1994, Spotty Handed Villainesses (hereafter referred to as Villainesses), and Aung San Suu Kyi’s speech in 1995, Keynote Address at the Beijing World Conference on Women (hereafter referred to as Keynote). 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