analysis 6: The perfect girl

The femenistic ideaas and theories of Judith Fetterley and Luce Irigaray focus on the idea of mimesis. Fetterley discusses the notion that American literature, specifically, is predominantly male. The forms and indications within American literary context are targeted as male. Through a femenist perspective, males have robbed women the opportunity to distinguish literature as a female instead as a male; they have done this by pushing women aside in literary context and most of all through religion. " To read the canon of what is currently considered classic American literature is perforce to identify as male. Our literature neither leaves women alone nor allows them to participate" (Fetterley 561). Of course, this type of feminist ideology was not enough for Luce Irigaray, who states that women are forced to submit to mimesis. Women have to assimilate societal male functions to be acknowledged and succeed within their communities. "...a direct femenine challenge to this condition means demanding to speak as a (masculine) 'subject'...-the cover-up of a possible operation of the femenine in language" (Irigaray 570).

In the clip above, a girl has an enormous crush on her co-worker and so she flirtatiously approaches him. Having paid no attention to her. the girl then goes back to her work cubicle to talk to her friend about it. They then listen closley to his cubicle and overhear him. He states that he wants a girl that could shut up, watch sports and drink beer, the steretypical role of a man. The girls then go to make a transformation of his desires.

Fetterley, Judith. "On the politics of Literature (1978)." Literary theory, an anthology. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 1998. 561-69.

Irigaray, Luce. "The power of discourse and the subordination of the Femenine (1977)." Literary theory, an anthology. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 1998. 570-73.

Analysis 5- Foucault's Panopticon

From Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish”, his idea of Panopticon as punishment was that higher authority such as the government, had the right to punish or threaten anyone with things such as unemployment, This of course is a general implication. Thoroughly speaking, the Panopticon would punish according to their class level; the harder workers would not be punished, for example. This notion, would presence large difference within a certain community. “The Panopticon…makes it possible to draw up differences, among patients, to observe the symptoms of each individual, without the proximity of beds, the effects of contagion confusing the clinical table…” (Foucault 417). Even though its way of “discipline” varies, it creates some type of order as well.

The term of Foucault’s Panopticon would be depicted in George Orwell’s The Animal Farm in which the pigs create a government that is centered to provide equality (communism) for everyone else such as the farm animals. As time passes, the pigs are consumed with power and prevent any type of revolt by giving phony reasons of why they should continue working hard and presenting threats; one example would be when the pigs sent a sick horse to a doctor which was later revealed that he was sent to a slaughterhouse instead. This threat scared many and they worked twice as hard. “No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would only be too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong mistakes, comrades, and then where should we be?” (Orwell 69). The pig sugar coats his dictatorship so no one would dare to even question him. This piece of literature is evidently much more connected to Marxism in terms of communism but the governing rule of the people, or in Orwell’s case, animals, Foucault’s Panopticon is present.

Works Cited

Fouocault, Michel. "Discipline and Punish." Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Berlin: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 1998. 464-487.

Orwell, George. The Animal Farm . New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1996.

Marxism: Overthrowing exploitation

Karl Marx’s philosophy was not to encourage communism but too simplify and point out who had rights and who did not. “Marxism is the theory of how the normality of our everyday world, with its quiet routines and rituals…is riven within by what Marx called ‘class struggle’” (Ryan 232). The bourgeoisie had money to control laborers or the proletariat. Marx then explained why workers revolted and it is then why this ideology assimilates to the clip posted. See although the bourgeoisie are wealthy, their wealth derives from the workers they exploit; without them the rich are powerless. In the clip, taken from the movie “Born in East L.A.”, Rudy [played by Cheech Marin] is an American born citizen who is mistakenly sent to Mexico. In this clip, after many attempts to get back to the United States, he gathers up hundreds of immigrants and crosses the border together with them. This is where the Marxist point emerges.

The bourgeoisie, as mentioned, exploit their workers with their power. One single worker against the rich is powerless but a mob of prols who stop working in protest may greatly affect the upper class. As the movie concludes, we see that two Border agents [the bourgeoisie] in vain attempt to stop them and Rudy as well as his girlfriend end up going back to East Los Angeles. I thought it was great way to portray an aspect of the proletariat against the bourgeoisie. “What the bourgeoisie, therefore, produces above all, is its own grave diggers. Its fall and the victory of the proletariat are equally inevitable” (Marx 260).

Works Cited

Marx, Karl. "The Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)." Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Berlin: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1998. 260.

Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. "Introduction: "Starting With Zero: Basic Marxism"." Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. Literary Theory: An Anthology. Berlin: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1998. 232.

Marxist presntation analysis: Resorces

Our class presentation was on Marxism and in order for everyone to make sense of Marxist ideas we all placed diverse branches that affected a community with Marxist ideals. For example I did resources. Although it was a challenge because Marxism is indulged in complexity that we had to simplify Marxist terms such as the usage of resources regarding class status. I worked on resources and understood the correlation the term of resources had with status. By this I mean that if a member of the Bourgeoisie, a doctor to specify, lost his job, besides his knowledge, his resource would be the medicine because others in need of medication could purchase from him/her and could make profits. A proletariat, a farmer, is working for money obviously; his job would be the only resource. If the landowner faces economic issues, he lays off workers. The landowner’s resource is his land but the farmer, he lost his job thus his resources. In examples such as these, I have simplified the idea of resources through a communistic approach so not only my group and I are able to understand but everyone else.

My contribution to this besides comprehension of resources in Marxist terms would be the following. Along with the packet my team created for the chosen groups, I have pointed out the resources they obtain. These resources are petty until they realize their value. Once again there are the examples of the farmer and doctor. The doctor’s resource would be his medicine, alongside his paid wealthy home and knowledge of medical practice whereas the farmer must make sure of his stability of his job. The analysis of the effects cannot be seen but in Marxist terms one can predict the results.

psychoanalysis and family

In relation to Rivkin and Ryan’s theories of psychoanalysis, I will exemplify with my family. Before that I must admit that Rivkin and Ryan as well as their notion to Sigmund Freud’s theories regarding children struck me. They state that from the beginning, children are sexually attracted to their parents within their consciousness. Boys realize that their position when their father steps in thus when the boy gets older, his taste for women attributes to his mother’s behavior and habits. Although I disagree with the theoretical statements that say children desire their parents (which to me is a rather strange theory besides the fact that children don’t know about sexuality) the similarities and closeness of the children for their parents depend on who gave the most nurturing.

In my family, I am the oldest, the more independent one, and the only one at the moment in college. I have two younger sisters, one in high school and the youngest in junior high. My parents were teenagers when I was born and have been together ever since. Because they were young at the time of my birth, although they were very loving, I was taught to take care of myself at a young age because my parents had to work extra hard. Four years later my sister was born and my dad took care of her more while my mother worked, four years after that, my youngest sister was born, I was older, my middle sister was closer to dad and my baby sister was in my mother’s care much more. Notice that there are no males in the story except for my father. At first I questioned Rivkin’s theory. Their theory states that the female is in competition with the mother for the father’s attention. There are three females…were all of us competing for our father’s affection? Not exactly. This is the outcome at the moment. My youngest sister and I are extremely close to our mother, we are rational thinkers, and we decide for ourselves but always think about others before ourselves, my middle sister though is quite the opposite. She is much more “socially departed”, hates any type of networking/socializing, thinks for herself most of the time and at times lacks common sense. She is extremely intelligent (we all are…) student yet very short tempered. With this said I have attempted to find an answer for such diverse behaviors and so far came up with a theory of my own. Because my younger sister and I have in a sense departed a closer male bond with our father, we have established independence only with the example of our mother. My middle sister has established closeness with the only male figure of the household thus unconsciously she never bothered to build her own independent state of mind because of the reliability she has with our dad. “Girls experience themselves as castrated and grow up feeling penis envy…the girl relinquished her father and identifies with her mother “ (Rivkin 127). In our case the first half of the excerpt is for middle sister and the second for my youngest sister and me. My middle sister is always complaining about her femininity whereas my younger sister and I have in a way accepted our father as our father and built closeness with our mother. Although my dad did spoil my middle sister, my father cared for me and my youngest sister as well so although I disagree with any theory that identifies children with incest, but perhaps that little extra affection triggered the differences of my sisters and myself.


Works Cited
Ryan, Julie Rivkin and MIchael. "Strangers to Ourselves." Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. Literary THeory: An Anthology. Berlin: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

Structuralism of a Champion

Ferdinand de Saussure has intensely built the term of Structuralism through terms of linguistics. Linguistics has built the image of whatever is popular within the society we live in. With all the accessible technology, our society has not built images of greatness (and poorness) through writing and words but through images posted on either the internet or expanded on television. An example would be that of Oscar De La Hoya. Oscar is both a light weight and mid weight boxing champion who besides making million on both his loses and many many victories, has invested in a large boxing institution in which prospective boxing champions are given the opportunity to emerge hence the nickname “The Golden Boy.”

In the picture posted, we see Oscar looking intently at the viewer through a mirror, shirtless, confident, handsome and strong. Such words to describe Oscar have increased his popularity and reputation. The mere image of him, without the gloves, without the bruises on his face, simply himself in a clean shot depicts such words in many people who know about Oscar. “Language is a system of signs that express ideas…” (Saussure 77). Oscar De La Hoya, the name itself has increased so much in popularity that immediately the image of his face is placed in one’s mind as well as the description of him i.e. champion, loser, etc. “Some people regard language, when reduced to its element, as a naming process only- a list of words, each corresponding to the thing that it names” (Saussure 77). This is true. Whether you believe Oscar De La Hoya is a wussie for allowing Manny Pacquiao an easy victory or a hero for obtaining his millions regardless if he won or lost a fight, nothing takes away the effect De La Hoya’s name has due to popularity and the contribution our society makes to increase the image of him and many other celebrities.

Works Cited

Saussure, Ferdinand de. "Course in General Linguistics." Ryan, Julie Rivkin and Michael. Literary THeory: An Anthology. Berlin: Blackwell Publishing, 1998.

The Bus by Frida Kaloh

What is entirely intriguing about this piece is not only the vibrant colors but the obvious interprettaion of class status. To the far right we see a high class woman. Thin eyebrows, thin figure, neat hair, a nice red scarf, wears purple pantyhose and carries a neat small purse. Next to her is either her husband or boyfriend who besides carrying a bag of money, is caucasian so we can acknowledge what Frida, a Mexican woman, perceived of American or white folk in general. To the far left is quite the opposite. We see a working class couple. The woman has thicker eyebrows, thicker figure and messier hair. She carries a basket, most likely for groceries and wears no pantyhose. her husband wears overalls thus we can perceive he is also of working class. Unlike the white man, he carries a hammer and is not white. In the middle we see a poor woman with no shoes and unlike the latter women, she carries neither a purse or basket but a bag of clothes. She is breastfeeding under her bright orange shawl. Unlike the other women who have men next to them, this woman has a boy who is looking to the outside of the window innocently paying attention but the green pastures that pass by.