Dorothy Allisons Creation of the Post-Modern Appalachian Woman - Literature Essay Samples

Dorothy Allison’s novel Bastard Out of Carolina tells the story of ‘white-trash’ girl Bone Boatwright and her â€Å"no-good, lazy, shiftless† family (3). The novel explores some of the most common myths and realities plaguing the Appalachian region such as poverty, incest, and domestic abuse. Specifically, Allison confronts the institutional system of gender relations through all the characters she portrays within the novel. Bone’s mother, Anney, her aunts Alma and Ruth, her step-father Glen, and the other Boatwright aunts and uncles consistently address and live up to traditional gender expectations. With that being said, Bone and her Aunt Raylene are the only characters to break free from these gender roles and create a better future for themselves. Throughout Bastard Out of Carolina, Allison uses the aforementioned strong and independent female characters to challenge patriarchal gender relations and ultimately, she creates a new standard for Appa lachian women in the post-modern era. Agreeably, most of the characters in the novel fulfill traditional gender expectations. As a whole, the women are there to tend to the home and children while the men are expected to provide and protect. Yet, Allison uses these characters to expose the physical, psychological, and economic domination women must endure under a patriarchal system. For example after Anney marries Daddy Glen, she begins to deny her own self-agency and expects her new husband to tend to problems that would otherwise be her own: â€Å"Glen needs to take care of this†¦ He needs to do it, and I’ve got to let him† (57). After all, Anney needs Daddy Glen â€Å"like a starving woman needs meat between her teeth† (41). Within the general gender expectations, Allison goes further to create a distinction between Boatwright men and Boatwright women. The Boatwright men exacerbate male gender roles through their drunkenness, rowdiness, and their inability to provide for their families despit e it being their sole responsibility. Furthermore, regardless of their love towards their spouses, Boatwright men will not â€Å"stay away from other women† and they have no respect for situations that â€Å"could not be handled with a shotgun or a two-by-four† (24, 10). With that being said, the women succumb to their husbands behavior and accept it as â€Å"what men did was just what men did,† even when it leaves them tending to the house and children alone while the men are stuck in jail (23). In this way, Allison sets up a cyclical pattern of female-male dependency in the novel that is only eventually destroyed by Bone herself. Even Bone notices â€Å"[her] aunts treated [her] uncles like over-grown boys—rambunctious teenagers whose antics were more to be joked about than worried over† (23). Similarly, after Aunt Alma is cheated on by her husband, she tries but fails to survive independently from Wade and eventually goes back to him, justifying it with â€Å"I guess he ain’t no worse than any other man† (91). Ultimately, the Boatwright women carry the family’s burdens and do a better majority of the work while the Boatwright men do as they wish: â€Å"Men could do anything, and everything they did, no matter how violent or mistaken, was viewed with humor and understanding† (23). With that being said, by incorporating well-established gender constructs into her characters, Allison manages to both reinforce and resist standards associated with gender roles and expectations. However, Allison’s reinforcement of these stereotypes does not suggest her agreement or compliance. Instead, this portrayal allows Allison to juxtapose the ‘standard’ Appalachian woman with her own alternative: a new role for women in post-modern Appalachia. Indeed, Allison’s ‘weak’ female characters are prisoners to the idea nothing in their lives or families can ever change. For example when Anney’s first husband, Lyle Parsons, dies, Aunt Ruth refers to Anney’s newly permanent look of hopelessness and despondency as finally â€Å"looking like a Boatwright,† but to Anney, â€Å"it didn’t matter†¦anymore what she looked like† (8). Similarly, both Aunt Ruth and Anney resign themselves to the same inevitable roles and future experienced by the majority of women in Appalachia. Aunt Ruth reminds the reader of the only goal for the women in the family: â€Å"Being pregnant was proof that some man thought you were pretty†¦ the more babies she got, the more she knew she was worth something† (230-31). Likewise, the Boatwright women base their entire worth off something only a man can give them. However, as previously mentioned, Dorothy Allison’s reinforcement of the s tereotypical roles of Appalachian women does not imply her endorsement of these values. Instead, she creates a standard through these characters to expose the effects of a patriarchal system and similarly, she uses Aunt Raylene and Bone to demonstrate the potential women have once they are able to discard traditional views of what it means to be feminine. Before Bone begins spending time with Aunt Raylene, she is unable to see past the system of patriarchy. Feeling as though she is doomed to follow in her mother and aunt’s footsteps, Bone even wishes â€Å"[she] had been born a boy† so she could enjoy the seemingly endless freedoms the men around her take for granted (23). However, Aunt Raylene’s strong, independent, and self-assured disposition encourage Bone to transcend the stereotypical role of women in Appalachia. Aunt Raylene lives on the outskirts of town, separately from the close-knit community of her sisters, explaining to Bone â€Å"out here where no one can mess with it†¦trash rises† (180). Ultimately, this phrase becomes a metaphor for Bone’s eventual ‘rise’ above standardized roles for Appalachian women. Aunt Raylene is the only character in the story â€Å"completely satisfied with her own company,† an attribute she teaches Bone over the course of the novel (17 9). Similarly, Aunt Raylene’s relentless self-agency is what allows her to escape the patriarchal system her sisters perpetuate: â€Å"I made my life†¦out of pride and stubbornness and too much anger† (263). In fact, Raylene embodies the exact opposite values of her sisters. She smokes, loosely uses profanity, has short hair, and wears â€Å"trousers as often as skirts† (179). By isolating herself from her family and their strictly defined roles for men and women, Aunt Raylene becomes the â€Å"something magical† Bone has fervently searched for (207). She tells Bone of her younger years working at a carnival, defending herself against a man who made unwarranted sexual advances towards her, and her romantic relationship with another woman. To Bone, these instances represent a realm she had never before considered: the ability to live life as an independent woman in Appalachia, free from the confines of gender roles and expectations. Similarly, Aunt Ra ylene encourages Bone’s own independence by allowing her to help can fruit and vegetables and collect trash from the river to exchange for money. Eventually, Bone comes to the conclusion she and Aunt Raylene â€Å"ain’t like nobody else in the world† (258). But perhaps the most important contribution Aunt Raylene makes to Bone is her newfound confidence. It is during her stay with Raylene that Bone decides to never live in the same house with Daddy Glen again. Although Aunt Raylene is defenseless in preventing Daddy Glen’s final and most vicious sexual assault, Bone has gained enough self-agency and confidence to at least attempt to defend herself from the wrath of her abusive step-father. Albeit unsuccessful, this instance hints at the future Bone that will survive long after the novel’s conclusion. On that note, Linda Nicholson’s â€Å"Feminism and the Politics of Postmodernism† poses the question, â€Å"What is a postmodern approach†¦that avoids the essentialist arrogance of much modernist, and some feminist, discourse but that also does not reduce feminism to silences or to a purely negative stance?† (80). She answers herself by saying such an approach â€Å"is a discourse that recognizes itself as historically situated, as motivated by values and, thus, political interests, and as a human practice without transcendent justification† (Nicholson 80-81). Indeed, Dorothy Allison’s portrayal of Aunt Raylene presents the dismantling of patriarchy as a simple â€Å"human practice.† While not explicitly criticizing patriarchal institutions or purposefully directing Bone, Aunt Raylene becomes a model for Appalachian women, especially her niece, in the post-modern era. Although the novel ends far removed from any ‘happy’ endi ng, since Bone is retelling her story retrospectively, the reader is left with no choice but to assume she lived out the rest of her childhood alongside Aunt Raylene, forging a new path for women in the Appalachian region. Works Cited Allison, Dorothy. Bastard Out of Carolina. New York: Plume, 1992. Nicholson, Linda. â€Å"Feminism and the Politics of Postmodernism.† Feminism and Postmodernism. Eds. Margaret Ferguson and Jennifer Wicke. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994. 69-85.

Exploring Factors Related to Alcohol Consumption Young...

This assignment has been developed to discuss the consumption of alcohol in young people in Britain, and to suggest possible solutions for the young people of today and to also carry onto the next generation. This assignment will also research why young people feel the need to drink and what attracts them to alcohol, also this assignment will look into who is more susceptible to drinking alcohol, this could be male or female also what age group this effects the most, the assignment will also look in to what young people can do to pass their time rather than drinking alcohol and what parents and other adults can do to help this situation, also what can be done to prevent binge drinking and help prevent it being so attractive. One of the†¦show more content†¦Research suggests boredom is another reason for young people to drink as this gives them something to do (Hayley Jarvis 2009) also depression can have an effect on the amount young people consume as alcohol acts like a depressant this can make the young person feel very low (Erica Wittenberg Jim Parker 2003). It has been found that girls drink more than boys; this could be the root problem for unwanted pregnancies in young girls. UK- Proportion of 15/16 year olds who reported being drunk 3 times or more during the last 30 days (see bar A). UK- Proportion reporting binge drinking 3 times or more during the last 30 days (see bar B). UK- Proportion who have been drunk at the age of 13 or younger (see A bar C) (Hebbell B et al 2003) It been stated the average 13yrs old gets  £45 a month for pocket money and the average 16yr old gets  £80 (the money hospital 2007). With parents having busy lives with working and running a home teenager’s get to spend their pocket money unsupervised allowing them to purchase alcohol. With wide colourful advertisement on alcohol this attracts the younger eye, sweet fruity drinks also known as alcopops come cheap so divide the  £45 monthly allowance by four that gives the average teenager  £11.25 to send on alcohol each week and at  £1.25Show MoreRelatedChina s Economic And Technological Development4835 Words   |  20 Pagestoday, the Chinese society and the government departments are grappling with the increasing use of drug addiction, trafficking and consumption. With more porous borders, increased disposable income and increased economic freedoms, drug addiction and its effects have threatened to leave a permanent mark on the Chinese society. According to Zhang (2012), drug consumption has rapidly grown in the past few years. 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Kennedy Doctrine - 1168 Words

The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy James Cantrell POL 300- International Problems May 16, 2013 Professor Mark A. Stallo, Ph.D. During John F. Kennedy’s presidency the United States was seriously concerned with stopping the spread of communism throughout the world and there where hot spots that sparked the Kennedy administrations attention. Containment was the United States foreign policy doctrine that proclaimed that the Soviet Union needed to be contained to prevent the spread of communism throughout the world. This containment policy meant that the United States needed to fight communism abroad and promote democracy worldwide. During President Kennedy’s time in office he was faced with the Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961, the Berlin†¦show more content†¦The Cuban Missile Crisis was to be President Kennedy’s greatest moments of his Flexible Response Doctrine. On October 14, 1962, a U-2 reconnaissance plane got a photograph of evidence of the missiles in western Cuba. President Kennedy met with his advisors in secret for several days to discuss the issue at hand. The president dec ided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more supplies, and demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. [JFK in History: Cuban Missile Crisis (n.d.)]. The public was informed of the building crisis on October 22, 1962 while the world held its breath for what was to come next. The possibility of a nuclear war loomed over the U.S. and Soviet Union. If Khrushchev wouldn’t order the removal of the missiles then Kennedy was ready to launch an all out attack on the Soviet Union and Cuba. On October 24, 1962 all of the Soviet ships that were headed to Cuba turned back from the blockade except for one. This put the United States on alert for war. 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Pre Socratic Philosopher free essay sample

As I read about the philosopher in this era I found Anaxagoras to be the most compelling Pre-Socratic philosopher that we read about. He was a teacher of metaphysics who lived during the era of (c. 500 – c. 428 B. C. E. ), (Moore amp; Bruder, 2008, p. We will write a custom essay sample on Pre Socratic Philosopher or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 29). I found his distinctions between matter and mind to be intriguing. Many of his ideas about change and particles still hold true to this day. Anaxagoras believed that every different type of mass consists of a make-up of its own particles and particles from all others (Moore amp; Bruder, 2008, p. 29). Even though the particles that he spoke of could not be considered â€Å"atoms†, his ideas are still closely related to modern-day science. Considering the era he lived in, the concepts that he communicated were definitely far advanced considering the time he lived in. Although both Aristotle and Plato disapproved of Anaxagoras perceptions of the differences between mind and matter, Anaxagoras may have separated himself from both brilliant philosophers with his belief in the pure and infinite power of mind (Moore amp; Bruder, 2008, p. 30). As I read Anaxagoras’ theories, I found myself amazed at the fact that he seemed to have come across a scientific idea without all our modern day technology and without the use of any scientific tools. How does one come up with such a concept? How does one think of the make-up of mind and matter? The philosophy and ideas of such philosophers like Anaxagoras are the foundation of modern science. Much of the knowledge we have today came from a single question or idea that someone else may have thought were the nothing more than the absurd ranting is of a mad man. The primary motivation of philosophers in the Pre-Socratic era was to bring knowledge and reason to the world, despite the repercussions it brought to their personal lives. Reference Moore, B. N. , amp; Bruder, K. (2008). The Power of Ideas (7th Ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.