Essay 4

Home: Sanctuary or Box of Fear?


--In the past few months, the idea that I will be going off to college soon has become more and more real. I have always felt safe when I am at home because it is where my family is and it is what I know. The thought of leaving for college has began to shatter that sense of security I get from being at home. So now I pose the question, what is home? In very simple terms, the home is simply a shelter from the elements made from many different materials. Going deeper than that, the home is a place where families congregate and live together. Finally, the home is a place where one can feel safe and secure. It is a place of sanctuary where one can escape from the world and in most cases, be happy. In the mission statement for Habitat for Humanity, it is stated that, “Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with God and people everywhere to develop communities with God's people in need by building and renovating houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which people can live and grow into all that God intended.” This also means that the home is a place where people and families can develop in a safe, secure environment. To better understand the home however, it is helpful to know the history of the home and how it has changed and developed over the decades.
--It was during the 1950’s that this idea of home first started to see some change. During the early years of the 50’s many soldiers were still returning home from World War Two. After the GI bill was passed, there was a large influx of veterans into college. Many of these student veterans spent the majority of their time on studying for the field they wanted to go into. (See The American Promise Volume C P. 966-967) With such, women had to start taking on a more active role. Not only were they still expected to take care of the home and the children, but many also had to get jobs to support their families as well as their husbands while they attended college. The typical housewife of the time being one that took care of the household chores and children but also may have held a job if needed. As such, the home became the place of family congregation where all members could live and talk with each other. During this time of change the home was still very family oriented in a sense that everyone in a family living in one house had their specific roles. Not all women of course had to juggle a job as well as housekeeping. There were many women of this time that still only had to deal with being a housewife and making a clean, comfortable home along with raising the children right. There is of course one room of the home in particular which was typically associated with women of the time.
--The kitchen was a major part of the home during this time period. The kitchen was the main area of family congregation in the 50’s. Women during this time were expected to prepare meals and as such spent a lot of time in the kitchen. Considering how the kitchen is also the one room of a home that has the most traffic, it can also be considered the heart of the house. Knowing this, it can be assumed that the kitchen was one of the most vital aspects of a home during the 50’s. This can be seen clearly in the novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Early in the second chapter it is said, “Jonas and I were expected to stay in our corner, out of the way, while Constance worked in the kitchen, and it was a joy to watch her, moving beautifully in the sunlight, touching foods so softly.” P. 21 Later in the book, early in chapter nine to be specific, there is a part that reads, “My kitchen,”” Constance said. “My kitchen.” P. 114 During the course of the book, almost every time that all the characters were together was when they were in the kitchen. These two points show that not only was the kitchen the main room where families congregate but also that it was the most common place for women to spend their time, whether it was for cooking or otherwise.
--By the 1960’s, there was more change happening in regards to the home. It was during this decade that feminism was really starting to gain some steam. With the release of “The Feminine Mystique” the concept of feminism began to take a greater hold in society. As such, it seems that during this decade, the home had less of an importance. Feminism of course related to this idea of home because feminists were trying to get away from their traditional roles in the home. The 60’s appears to have been more of a transition period between what home was in the 50’s and what it was in the 70’s. Along with feminism being on the rise, rebellion in teenagers and young adults was also becoming prominent. These two combined made home a less important factor of life in the 60’s. Rebellious teenagers wanted to spend as much time away from home and not be like their parents. Feminists started to push away from their typical roles as housewives so home began to change in relation to those terms as well. In most cases, home was simply a place for families to gather. Even then this was not always the case. This can be seen in The Crying of Lot 49. The main character Oedipa throughout the entirety of the novel is never at home or in one place for very long. As such, like many feminists of the time, she was throwing away the normal female role, mainly by not being at home and cooking for her husband. At the beginning of the second chapter there is a line that reads, “She left Kinneret, then, with no idea she was moving toward anything new.” P. 13 This quote is significant because like Oedipa, many women of the time were in a sense running away from their typical household duties and trying to change those standards of women as nothing more than housewives.
--There is also the role of the home in the 1970’s. A time when feminism was riding high, drugs were popular, and the role of the home had gone through some major changes. For the most part, the home had gone back to being a place for families to congregate but also a place where the member of a family could find sanctuary from the world and be safe. Much of this can be attributed to that fact that the roles of people in the household had, for the most part, changed. For the most part men and women were now more equal to men in and outside the home than ever before. The household duties were split up and more women now held jobs too. This can be seen in the novel The Stepford Wives. Early on in the first chapter, there is a short passage that reads, “It was Walter’s turn to do the dishes, and Pete and Kim were playing quietly in Pete’s room, so she took a quick cool shower and put on shorts and a shirt and sneakers and brushed her hair.” P. 4 When we examine the first part of that quote two things are discovered. First, it shows that there actually is more equal distribution among household duties between men and women. Second, it shows that times really have changed. In the 50’s and even the 60’s, something like this would never have been heard of, or if it was it was extremely rare. When compared to the 50’s and 60’s, the concept of home and its function in the 70’s was very different from what it had been.
--Finally, there is the role of home from the 1980’s to the present. From what I have read and observed, it appears as though the role of home from the 1980’s to the present has stayed pretty consistent with only some minor differences between now and the 70’s. Feminism is of course has been and is still riding strong and has had a fairly large impact on the concept of home and more importantly, how the home is run. More so than ever, the role of the home was to be a place of safety, security, and comfort. A short time ago I spent a few hours volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and my experience there reinforced this idea of home meaning a sense of security. A well built and tidy home, inside and out, I found can give one a sense of security whether an illusion or not. There are some greatly noticeable changes to how the home is run. These changes have become more common since the 80’s. The change I am referring to is the role of both men and women in and outside the home. Not only is it now normal for the household chores to be split up among the man and women as it was in the 70’s, but it has also become common for the man to stay and take care of the home while the woman goes out and earns a living. Even more commonly is the dual income system where both the man and woman have jobs and still take care of what needs to be done at home.
--It seems that no matter how the home changed, the idea of security was always important. In each decade, the level of that sense of security fluctuated but it was always an important aspect of home. I have always felt this sense of security when I am home. The thought of leaving in the next few months to go to college has begun to undermine that sense of security. When I finally arrive at college that sense of security will be completely gone and I will have to rebuild that sense of security by realizing that where I am is my home. I know that it is a little cliché but I will have to learn and accept that home is where the heart is no matter how much I hate it. It is this idea that I would assume helped many to get through those few decades when change was common and just as scary because the security of the home was compromised. This thinking must have worked seeing as how these changes in the home are now very commonplace and not nearly as frightening as they may have been fifty to sixty years ago.


Bibliography

1.Jackson, Shirley. We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Penguin Books, 2006.

2. Thomas., Pynchon,. Crying of lot 49. New York: Perennial Library, 1986.

3. Ira., Levin,. Stepford wives. New York: Perennial, 2002.

4. Roark, James L., Michael P. Johnson, Patricia Cline Cohen, Sarah Stage, Alan Lawson, and Susan M. Hartmann. The American Promise: A History of the United States, Volume C From 1900. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008.

Essay 3 Final

Womens Role in Film


--When watching multiple films it is common to want to compare them. In this case specifically, the role of women. The three movies: Splendor in the Grass, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, and Rear Window all show the role of women in very distinct ways. Regardless of these distinct ways that women’s roles are portrayed, these three films also share some similarities in the portrayed roles of certain women from each film. These three films were made during the 1950’s and early 1960’s which may be the reason for the roles of women being portrayed as they were. To start, I will summarize the three films to help get a better understanding of the types of women shown in the films. From there we can then begin to understand these women and their roles within the film as well as how those roles compare to each other.
--The first of these three movies is Splendor in the Grass, which was made in 1961. The story of this movie focuses primarily on a young girl named Deanie Loomis and her boyfriend Bud Stamper. This movie is set to take place during the late 1920’s just before the stock market crash. Deanie wants to be able to go to the next level with Bud but caught between her feelings and wants as well as those of her mother who tells her that “women don’t enjoy those sorts of things” as well as how she and her husband never touched each other before they were married. This tension as well as the expectations of their two families end up causing Bud to informally break up with Deanie which causes her to lose it. While being in a mentally and emotionally unstable state, she starts dressing and acting more like the typical Flapper of the time sp as to try and win back Bud. In the end however, nothing was ever the same between Deanie and Bud again.
--The second movie is Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which was made in 1958. At the start of the movie Mrs. Archer or Nancy if you will, has a run in with an alien spacecraft which contains what is later revealed to be a 30-foot man. She runs to find her husband Harry Archer, who is only interested in her large fortune, but instead only found the sheriff. Nancy seems to know that Harry has a relationship with Honey Parker but doesn’t seem to care as long as he denies any such relationship with Honey. The two later go to find the monster which they do. Harry abandons Nancy and returns to town hoping to leave before anyone can find out however he is stopped by the sheriff. When Nancy is later found it is discovered that she has some form of radiation and in time begins to grow to astounding proportions, specifically of the 30-foot variety. At this point she goes on a rampage which ends in her killing Harry and Honey. Shortly after, she dies or is killed, however it is not very clear which.
--The third movie is Rear Window, which was made in 1954. The story focuses around two main points. The first being the suspected murder of Mrs. Thorwald by Mr. Thorwald. The second point being the relationship between Lisa and Jeff. Jeff was a photographer who was injured during an assignment which got his leg broke which now keeps him confined to his apartment where the only thing he can to is spy on his neighbors which causes him to suspect the murder. In terms of the relationship, Jeff does not seem as committed because of the lifestyle he has as a photographer which he believes Lisa would not be able to adjust to seeing as she is used to a “higher class” lifestyle. This difference causes a rift to grow between them up until both become highly interested in the suspected murder case which ironically brings them closer together.
--So now we ask ourselves, what is the common role between these three women? All three of them had to give up something for their boyfriend or husband. Deanie from Splendor in the Grass gave up her good girl lifestyle and maybe even part of her sanity for Bud so that he would take her back. Nancy in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman in a sense, unwillingly gave up her life for Harry so that she could have him all to herself. Lisa in Rear Window gave up her higher end lifestyle so that she could be with Jeff and be happy with him. Going back to Deanie, in giving this up for Bud she ended up having to spend time in a mental institution. Nancy was not getting what she wanted from Harry because he did not care for her which in the end caused her to go on her rampage. Lisa was not getting what she hoped to from Jeff which caused her to willingly give up the lifestyle she was used to. One interesting observation in relation to the situation of these three women on not their roles was that all three were having relationship troubles in some form or another which is why these three women ended up giving something up for the man in their life.
--During and after the 1920’s, women’s role in society began to change. They changed from solely being housewives to being working women and women who could have lives outside of the home. Evidence of this can be seen in the lives of the three women in each film. Deanie even though it was only because of her mental state after the breakup with Bud, became a sort of Flapper. Since Nancy was quite rich she did not have to do any work so her only role was just being a loyal wife. Lisa had her own career which she enjoyed even though she was willing to give it up. Up into the 1950’s and 1960’s women’s role began to change even more. Going back to my point about how Deanie, Nancy, and Lisa all had to give up something, it was fairly common for women of the time to give up certain things for their husbands. Specifically since WWII had recently finished and many veterans returned home, many women began to work more so that their husbands could go to college and get and education. Many gave up the lifestyle they wanted or their education so that their husbands could. This was not always the case but it was still fairly common.
--When looking at all three films, sacrifice can be seen as a common action for women. It seems as if sacrifice was common for women of the general time period for when these movies were made. It is this reason that such a concept is represented in these three movies. This concept shows us that women’s place in society and their role had continued to change even in such a short thirty to forty year period and would continue to do so in the coming years after.

Essay 3 Draft

--During the past week, we watched three movies in our Literature class which dealt with the role of women. These three films: Splendor in the Grass, Attack of the 50ft Woman, and Rear Window each portrayed the women in the film differently. The ways in which they are portrayed could be attributed to when they were made. All three were made during the 1950’s and early 60’s. Splendor in the Grass was made in 1961, Attack of the 50ft Woman was made in 1959, and Rear Window was made in 1954. It was in 1919 and 1920 that woman finally got the right to vote. From that point on, women’s role in society has grown as they have become more involved in all aspects of society and began to change their role in life. Before the 1950’s, suburbia was on the rise and many women reveled in this change and began to change their roles even more in society. Specifically that they had to give up certain things so their husbands could succeed. This can be shown in their portrayal and roles in the three films. So what is common between the three women in each film? They all had to, in some way shape or form, had to give up something or another for their boyfriend or husband.
--In Splendor in the Grass the main woman portrayed was Deanie. However it could be argued that Juanita could be the main woman in the film because this film was set during 1928 and she portrayed the Flappers. However it will be easier to just stick with Deanie as the main woman of the film. Deanie started out as not wanting to fool around with her boyfriend Bud and later her mother began to explain how her and her husband had not touched each other once until they were married. Deanie kept refusing to give into Buds advances for such until Bud ended up leaving her although not directly. Because of the sadness and misery she felt she ended up becoming more and more like Bud’s sister Juanita in terms of the way she dressed and acted. More specifically like a Flapper. It was then that she continually tried to get Bud to take her even though he wouldn’t stating that she was a “good girl.” She ended up giving up her original good girl lifestyle for the more Flapper oriented lifestyle just so that Bud would take her back and keep her.
--In Attack of the 50ft Woman, Mrs. Archer or Nancy was the main woman in the story. This one is a little more difficult to tie into how the woman ended up giving up something for her husband. When the movie started Nancy was not actually giving anything up for her husband, she just wanted him to stay loyal to her.

Synthesis Week 5

When comparing the play and movie of “The Children’s Hour” there are still quite a few similarities in terms of story and plot points yet there were quite a few differences. The main similarity is that the main story was still intact i.e. Mary lied to her grandmother, Rosalie lied about Karen and Martha as well because of the necklace, Martha committed suicide, and Mrs. Tilford trying to apologize. Regardless of these similarities there many differences in the movie adaptations that were not in the original play. The first main change is that it showed Mary reading a book that obviously was about lesbianism which explains why she chose that specific lie. The next major difference was that the movie showed a scene where the necklace was found and Mrs. Tilford getting angry with Mary about it. The next major difference was that Martha did not commit suicide by shooting herself before Mrs. Tilford arrived. The biggest difference however was that Martha instead hung herself when Karen went out and committed suicide that way. The final difference was the extension of the play when the last scene was of Martha’s funeral and of Karen walking down the road and smiling. I’m not entirely sure why it was these changes are made. I could guess that they were trying to make the movie a little more family friendly but when looking back, at the changes that does not seem likely. That and there’s that possibility that the producers wanted to try and extend the film to longer than an hour and a half. That would explain all the additions and plot changes that all contributed to the movie being long.

The Great Depression Video

Song: Darkness

Artist: Disturbed

For this video, I was originally planning on using the song “Land of Confusion” to show the problems and struggles of the Bonus Marchers. In my head I saw certain pictures matching to parts of the song so I made it accordingly. A short ways in I decided that pictures of the Bonus Marchers alone were not going to be enough so I started adding more pictures of the Depression in general to give the video some depth. However, after I was mostly finished with the video, I started to think that perhaps the song was almost too upbeat for the time so I found another song by the same artist which was more quiet and sullen. When I added the new song, it seemed to fit really well with the pictures that I had already placed so I decided to call it good there. In the end, my purpose in this was to show the struggles of not only the Bonus Marchers but also the struggles of all Americans during this time.

How and Why We Remember

--Memorializing and remembrance are activities that should be carried out often and with the highest regards as well as respect. Remembering the fallen, the deceased, and the lost has always been important for mankind. It is a way to show that we care or cared for that person and to show that they were important in some way or another.
--Today in the 21st Century, we remember and memorialize others and ourselves in a very different fashion than the people of centuries past did. In centuries past, people were remembered through obituaries articles in newspapers and large memorials. With technology today, the way we remember people is a little bit different. Remembrance is done through news articles on the internet, sites dedicated to certain people, and of course there are still obituaries and monuments. However, technology seems to be taking over more of the obituaries actually published in newspapers. Technology is slowly taking over and changing the way that we memorialize and identify ourselves.
--An example of the above could be the Seattle PI. In the event of the PI closing, the employees took to the internet and blogging to try and remember it and even keep it from closing. In the end the Seattle PI closed anyway so in a sense, it could be considered a failure. The employees tried to remember the PI in their own, different way even if it was not the most effective way of doing so. Another example of remembrance is the site called MyDeathSpace.com. Because it contains online obituaries and news articles, it could be considered successful. Since it is keeping up with modern times and has all these things on the internet, it could be thought of as successful.
--There are some important things to think about on the topic of remembrance, specifically with the Seattle PI. As I said before, the employees of the Seattle PI took up blogging to memorialize the closing of the newspaper. The problem was that this “strategy” did not work. Considering how the paper was going to close no matter what the employees said or did the whole idea of blogging was just a sentimental movement to ease the pain and sorrow of the employees as well as regular readers. However, the employees telling their stories had meaning to it because it showed how committed the employees had been to the newspaper while it was still in business.
--Remembrance is not just secluded to remembering the dead or fallen. It can also be used to remember a time and a way of life. A large way that this is done is though literature. The remembrance of an era can be done through books, short stories, and poems. An example of such could be the era of the flappers. Books such as Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” memorialize the flapper era by having a big emphasis on Brett who seems to be the embodiment of the Flappers. Shorter pieces such as “What Became of the Flappers?” and “Eulogy on the Flapper” by Zelda Fitzgerald memorialize the Flappers by describing what the Flapper was and what she stood for. Therefore remembrances are literature depending on what form they are in. As long as it is in some form of writing it could be remembrance and literature. But again, that is all up to personal opinion.
--With the whole idea, sometimes, issue of remembrance and memorialization, certain problems can arise. The main issue being what happens when there is no agreed upon form of memorialization for a nation. The issue is that if there is no agreed upon form, then there is no cohesion among the nation. Everybody has their own idea of how we should memorialize and not everyone agrees. If there is no agreed on form, then everyone begins to fight. An example being from Ben’s presentation about how soldiers should be remembered in England after they were brought back from the war. Some wanted to do it in their own special way, some wanted it to be very uniform to show that all the soldiers fought and died as equals. Without an agreed upon form of memorialization, there can be no real national identity. Here in the United States, we have funerals and articles as a national form of memorialization but we also simply remember the lost.
--A good example of national identity and cohesion in terms of memorialization is the remains of the twin towers. The destruction of the two towers and all the live's lost, for a short time, brought cohesion to the people of the United States. The site of the destruction is a national memorial to everyone that was lost. Seeing the pictures of the destruction has ensured that I never forget about it and will therefore remember all those that died.
--This all can relate back to what we learned about memorialization in relation to World War 1. All the graves of soldiers were uniform to show that they fought and died as equals. In a way, these uniform graves helped make sense of the death toll of war. Having them all look the same helps people see the enormity of death from the war. If the graves had all been different, then it would have been harder to see or picture the total amount of lives lost. Therefore the memorialization of World War 1 could be seen as successful.
--Memorialization is one of the most important activities that man can do. The remembrance of people or events is a natural necessity of all people. Memorialization and remembrance can be done in all sorts of forms from written materials to videos to websites. Remembrance of a past event can help us to make corrections for the future. Memorialization of people can help us see or understand parts of ourselves and help make ourselves better. Without remembrance or memorialization, we are nothing. To remember is to be human. Memorialization is relevant to life and being alive. If we cannot or choose to not remember, then perhaps we are not really human.

Synthesis Week 3

--This week, all of the readings seemed to connect better than last week’s readings. The readings themselves were “The Sun Also Rises, Letters to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eulogy on the Flappers, What Became of the Flappers, The Big Blonde, and Poems by Dorothy Parker.” The main theme for the readings this week seemed to be the lives and issues of the Flappers in the 1920’s and early 1930’s. On Monday we discussed the “Sun Also Rises” which covered the daily life of a typical Flapper. It was all about drinking, dancing, and dating multiple men. The “Letters to F. Scott Fitzgerald” and the pieces on the Flappers were all about who the Flappers were and what they stood for and believed. Finally there was “The Big Blonde” that covered the issue of alcoholism among Flappers. Some of this was covered in history on Monday when we discussed the sexual revolution in the 1920’s. We talked about how women were now allowed or better yet chose to engage in their sexual desires. Finally women were starting to be able to live their lives as they saw fit and not as men believed they should.