In both "Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights? ... Althaus also explains that as the scar tissue heals, " an opening that may be as small as a matchstick for the passage of urine and menstrual blood " (224) causes these two normal female bodily functions to be agonizing. ... Men know that woman will not question a tradition that is widely accepted and crucial to a girl's acceptance. ... These women are reassured in many ways, including " in ceremonies the girls are feted and showered with presents and their families are honored " (Althaus 246). ... The Chinese girls...

• Word Count: 894
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

I will argue why, and discuss how, Little Women and Peter Pan fall into this category of educating their respective readers. ... Because Alcott is teaching her young readers what it means to grow up, she must face the question of Jo's fate in the novel: will she remain independent and romantic, or will she conform to custom and marry? Of course we know the answer to this question is the latter, but some critics are displeased with Alcott's decision. ... In this passage, it seems that Barrie is attempting to strike a bit of fear into the reader, with the sudden declaration that Nev...

• Word Count: 1473
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Though conventional patriarchal beliefs seem to perpetuate the dominance of men and subordination of women, Shakespeare and Sophocles seem to question the validity of those beliefs in their plays, Macbeth and Antigone, with their radically heterodox female characters-they neither conform with the loving tenderness nor the acquiescence and tendency to submit to authority commonly associated with women. ... Stop up th' access and passage to remorse, That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purposeCome to my woman's breasts And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring mi...

• Word Count: 1748
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The notion of femininity, along with the idea of the female gender role, has substantially changed in the last century. ... (Lady Lazarus, 61-75) In this passage, Plath explains how she is merely an object to her male oppressor; he attempts to create a spectacle of her suicide attempts to the "peanut-crunching crowd" by picking and prodding at her until there is nothing left for him to take from her, as if because of him, she is unable to obtain death and this means that he takes the one thing she longs for the most ("Lady Lazarus 26). By writing this poem, Plath points out ho...

• Word Count: 2160
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate