Gender And Relationships Essay, Research Paper

How Men View Women

Men view women as objects of their imagination come to life. They have their own belief on what women should look at act like. From Scott Russell Sanders? essay, ?Looking at Women?, the character Tom thought he knew how the women would act towards him before he even met her. Every night Tom would imagine being with her. ?Last night she had him into her flat: it was big and had fitted white carpets and a bed with a padded white leather headboard. She wore a black filmy neglig?e and her kindness to Tom thickened his throat as he remembered it.? (187)

In the early 1900s, the role of a woman was much different compared to their role today. Women were viewed as housewives, which means, maids that cook and clean, caretakers of their children, and servants to fulfill every man?s needs. Men fulfill active roles and are seen as ambitious and powerful. Women, however, satisfy passive roles and are cognizant human beings; they must necessarily take a back seat to the dominant male in their lives in order to routinely accommodate his wants and desires. Men view woman as na?ve playthings that are only good for making babies and for pleasuring. In Claire Kemp?s essay, ?Keeping Company?, William?s wife Nora is a fitting image of a typical woman of the early 1900s. William views himself as the man of the house and would not allow his wife to work. Nora?s daily activities are to cook, clean and tend to the garden. She is married to a husband that doesn?t really see or know her. He just sees what he wants to see in her and expects her to be what he wants her to be. William doesn?t approve of Nora?s relationship with their neighbor because they are a gay couple living together. William believes that he is Nora?s ??good company. The only company you?ll ever need.? (203) Nora?s constant visits to James and Dennis may have finally woken her on how she could be treated respectfully by other men. She feels sorrowful and angry at her husband but at the same time she also feels helpless. Too helpless to stand up for herself and make things different for herself because society already has a biased view on the woman?s role.

Today in the twentieth century, much has changed for the modern woman. A woman?s place in the workforce is more equal and they are treated with more respect. Or are they? Are modern women today really treated differently from the early nineteenth century women? Women may be more equal to men in society but do men still view women the same way as in the nineteenth century. Some women today are still treated like housewives: cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. But do women play that role because of men or do they want to be housewives? Society has changed dramatically in the past century but some things may never change. Men still think and treat women as native playthings and women are still responding to men?s beliefs. For example, Howard Stern degrades women by only judging them by their looks. Women line up at his studio to be mentally abused by him for a free breast implant.

Works Cited

Lessing, Doris. ?A Woman on a Roof?. Reading and Writing from

Literature. 1977: pp. 183-190.

Kemp, Claire. ?Keeping Company?. Reading and Writing from Literature.

1977: pp. 201-205.