Criticial Investigation Plan


To what extent do media products such as "The Handmaid's Tale" reflect modern feminism today?

Introduction

 What is feminism? How is feminism relevant today? Is The Handmaid's Tale a feminist series? Feminism is " the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes"

Stereotypes of feminism in the 19th century: 
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Theories/ Key Words to use in the essay
  • Mulvey - Male gaze/ Female gaze?
  • Dominate ideologies
  • Patriarchy
  • Reinforcing stereotypes
  • Primary audience - females 
  • Dominate Representation
  • Relevant examples
  • Ownership and control
  • Gender and ethnicity
  • Postmodernism and critiques


Section 1- 

Historical text - Children of Men (2006)


"I can't really remember when I last had any hope, and I certainly can't remember when anyone else did either. Because really, since women stopped being able to have babies, what's left to hope for? "

Context: 

-How feminism though equality is more equality for white women than other women of colour 
-Suffragettes  after getting votes it was only white women who were able to vote all i know is that Black women since they were black were not allowed to vote either and might as well since the suffragettes did not  allow non white women into their group
-Links to  'Iron Jawed Angels'

Section 2 
Secondary text -  1984  (1984)

Quotes 

"War is peace, Freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength"
"Big Brother is watching you"

Artices

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/1984-film-new-remake-paul-greengrass-donald-trump-release-date-2019-a7665691.html 

The Passion Of Joan Of Arc (1928)
Quote: “You claim that I am sent by the Devil. It's not true. To make me suffer, the Devil has sent you... and you... and you... and you.”

- About the great anf young fighter Joan of ark.
-film follows the trial of Joan of Arc- one woman in the trial full of just men
- follow her as she continually defends herself, her beliefs and her actions while alone in a room full of men, men of the cloth and therefore authority, is a privilege
-Very intense viewing
-Silence of whole film really aids to aggressive and brutal end
-Viewin gis also undertaking due to the oppressive way in which it was shot
-majority of the film is shot in extreme close ups, focusing on the anguish of the face awaiting its doomed fate( which is already been made for being a women)
-visuals of Joan crying, getting her hair chopped off, wearing a straw crown and her will being broken down before death.
-final scene= Joan being burnt at the stake, horrifying not only b/cs of the grimly realistic visuals, but in the stoic acceptance of her fate.
-Men having the final say for a woman fighting for them
-Before (her) time, then, sine Joan was going against the law and apparently God so she was killed- she herself was modern before her time
-Being made in 1928 al lott of women were breaking barriers in terms of jobs and clothing and such.

Context and link to The Handmaid's Tale:
-Women were not really getting anywhere at the time but slow progress
- Clothing represented in the Great Gatsby- sooo crepe dreses, silk dresses wool coats and them hats avaiation style hats.
-Women were being allowed to smoke too and go out though sometimes without a man with them (link to HM since the girl alwady gottta have someone with them, so no change there same ide of wome  being helpless and that)
-Everyone knew the true fate of JOFA but the tale was never told so intensely
-Linking closely to Joan since she french or something- Ten world famous feminist leaders stormed the gates of the French presidential palace.
- Emila Airhart- On May 21st, 1932 she becomes the first woman to successfully fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
-Also 1938 things such as:
changing attitudes to women in society
women’s suffrage campaigns
the militant Suffragette campaign
the part played by women in the war effort, 1914–18
 -Women are judged and criminalised in the eyes or men and their "God"

?Gone With The Wind (1939)- “As God as my witness they're not going to lick me. I'm going to live through this and when it's all over, I'll never be hungry again.”


?All About Eve (1950)-  “Funny business, a woman's career - the things you drop on your way up the ladder so you can move faster. You forget you'll need them again when you get back to being a woman. That's one career all females have in common, whether we like it or not: being a woman. Sooner or later, we've got to work at it, no matter how many other careers we've had or wanted.”


 Section 2 

Primary Text - The Handmaid's Tale (agreeing with my critical investigation question)


https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/we-live-in-the-reproductive-dystopia-of-the-handmaids-tale 

 http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/detailed-timeline/ 

 Feminism relevant today 













http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/we-live-in-the-reproductive-dystopia-of-the-handmaids-tale
 http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/yes-the-handmaids-tale-is-feminist

Quotes

'We Live in the Reproductive Dystopia of The Handmaid’s Tale'




Section 4- Disagreeing with argument 

https://newrepublic.com/article/140248/failures-mainstream-feminism-misogyny-doom-hillary-clinton 

 Elisabeth Moss Isn’t Convinced The Handmaid’s Tale Is Feminist
http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/elisabeth-moss-not-convinced-handmaids-tale-is-feminist.html 

 Relevance today

 -Women are using social media as a platform to shed light on not only everyday sexism but also the effects it has on women in society. Also, cultural sexism. eg. women in Saudi Arabia are now legally able to drive
- Trump scandal during the election and his  current policies on abortion (Planned Parenthood)
-Mohamed Al-Fayed accusations 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/08/mohamed-al-fayed-accused-harassing-17-year-old-harrods-employee/ 
-Harvey Weinstein accusations 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41594672 
Conclusion

 In light of both arguments I agree that there is a sense of feminism represented in the series and will have an impact on our society as it has brought to light issues we face in today's modern society

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