Preview

ladylikeness empowering or demeaning

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
514 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
ladylikeness empowering or demeaning
Ladylikeness: Empowering or Demeaning

Ladylikeness can be empowering or demeaning depending on the woman and the circumstance. Ladylikeness can be empowering for women by helping them be more gentle and fruitful in everyday life. Ladylikeness can cause a woman who is more of the calm type to be demeaned, disrespected and dismissed. Women become more aggressive and assertive because they don’t want to be treated unfairly and women taken serious. Most women who are successful and acknowledged in society today display strength. A definition of “ladylikeness” is “lacking in strength, force, or virility”. Ladylikeness for a “Woman M” who is rough, destructive, vulgar and violent would be empowering. She will be empowered by being more gentle and fruitful in everyday life. For example, this woman being more nurturing toward her children and taking time to listen and understand before acting on impulse. Ladylikeness for a “Woman N” who is meek, gentle, weak and pleasant would not be demeaning until she tries to stand up for a belief or position. Woman N will be demeaned by being discouraged and falling short of her position. The more timid she is the easier it is for people to shun her and her ideas. The more she is shot down people will look at her less seriously. The more people see how weak she is they will be comfortable with dismissing her. A definition of “demean” is “to lower character, status, or reputation”. There are many things that can lower character, status, or reputation. For example, a loss of wages, a loss of respect, a loss of a position, etc. Ladylikeness should not demean a woman. I am assuming the word “lady” in the word “ladylikeness” implies that ladylikeness is safe for women. Therefore, a woman being ladylike should not be lowered in character, status or reputation. If a lady can be ladylike without negative repercussion, then who can?
The definition of “ladylikeness” implies that being feminine and resilient cannot co-exist together in one

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Margaret Wente’s Globe and Mail editorial entitled “What women can learn from men” argues that gender differences are evident, stating that men are often shamed for being morally inadequate, when, in fact, they have many favorable qualities that women do not possess. Wente bemoans the increased attacks against men in all areas of life and contends that women would do the world a service by mirroring some of the more favourable traits embodied by men. Although Wente employs tone successfully to engage a specific audience and achieve her purpose, her argument is undermined by a lack of evidence and a dependence on generalizations that do not make this an effective…

    • 111 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Equiano speaks about women in this quote and describes them through specific words such as “uncommonly graceful” “alert” “modest to a degree of bashfulness” all to employ how women acted and behaved…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nellie Bly Research Paper

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages

    refusement to let anything get in her way is a quality evey woman must posses to become an…

    • 468 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Barbara Ehrenreich’s essay, she writes about the positions women adopt. A woman willing to be accepted must have a veneer of “niceness” with society, especially with men. Ehrenreich argues “The essence of ladylikeness is a persistent servility masked as niceness.” “Women tend to assume that it is our responsibility to keep everything “nice” even when the person we are with is rude and aggressive.” “Wherever we go, we are perpetually smiling”. This mask is what we are showing to people, constantly trying to convince of our “niceness.” Women are ladylike because of a lack of toughness. The way that we act with people is like some kind of disease. Women have to act this way because according feminist psychiatrist Jean Baker Miller, “woman’s…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Chivalry held women up to be weak and prone to needing a man’s protection. The…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a way to combat the negative image of them, many sought to present themselves as opposite of what they are portrayed as. As a result, there was a respectability politics being used to attempt to combat the prejudice. Higginbotham writes that “Black women teachers, missionaries, and club members zealously promoted values of temperance, sexual repression, and police manners among the poor.” In other words, black women were thought to change how they are viewed by changing themselves to fit white standards of decency. Being a lady in the 19th century meant having the rights of a woman. Furthermore, if being a lady in the 19th century was described as someone who stays in the house and does not work except if it is the work of raising their children, then black and poor women who were forced to work to make a living do not fit that category or the category of woman. To be treated as women, many tried to take on these attributes that made white wealthy females…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The 'doubled Victorian image of womanhood' served as an advantage to women back in the 19th Century. It not only allowed women to subtly resist the existing patriarchal society but also allowed them to have some, maybe equal, if not more power over the men as men have over them. This doubled image is that of a person under some form of authority but at the same time, is also temporarily in control of certain situations which sometimes determine the outcome. This image can be clearly fitted onto a domestic bound figure-woman and in particular that of the lower classed maidservants. Women of the lower classes are seen as nothing more than whores and that they are something to be taken advantage or possession of. Blinded by the sense of authority that they think they possess, the men fail to realise that these women, the whores, do have some power and influence over them.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    With watching the movie Miss Representation a few times, the whole idea of this topic ticks me off due to the fact I guess I was born into something that is common in my life: working with women. Also I guess the way my mom raised me to treat and respect women, is also a factor. Miss Representation opened my eyes at this problem probably four or five years ago, but it makes me mad everytime I watch this film. With media trying to define femininity in a completely terrible and false way, it also affects women in the workplace.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Act Like A Man Analysis

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This book in my opinion sheds so much light on the way a man’s mind operates. Let’s take a minute to evaluate the “Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus” theory.…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Learned and inherent females are taught to be delicate and gentle. They are taught to be wellmannered and behaved oppose to males. Males can act more freely than women can without being judged.…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Women In The Canterbury Tales

    • 11372 Words
    • 46 Pages

    Tales to women‟s status in England in the fourteenth century and aims to demonstrate that the…

    • 11372 Words
    • 46 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The society we live in today is not much fascinated by the notion of being a “lady or a gentleman”. According to Webster dictionary online, a gentleman is defined as “a civilized, educated, sensitive or well mannered man”. The resurgence concept of universal man is also one of a well rounded individual. The same is related to a woman being a lady; a lady is a woman who is admirable, with a high level of appropriate and normal behavior. All females can be measured or called women, but not all women can be considered or called ladies as some may lack the characteristics that propel others to see them and call them a lady. If a man is seen opening and holding a door for a lady to walk through, he is considered a gentleman. I remember my friend and I talking about her boyfriend, and she said he was a gentleman because he would hold the door open for her when they go out, and he is always the one carrying her handbag when they go out. To her, these features shown by her boyfriend makes him a gentleman.…

    • 344 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Elizabethan era, a woman pursuing a profession other than literature was prohibited. One profession that was extremely frowned upon was being a politician, even though Queen Elizabeth l was ruling at the time. Now we have women prime ministers, chancellors, and even a female presidential candidate (forbes, Howard). Currently, women aren’t treated as the lesser gender compared to men. Women are not treated as objects that just give birth and have no souls (galegroup.com). All women have the same rights, no matter the wealth. In the Elizabethan era, girls weren’t allowed to act in plays. Today, we have movies where women play the main character. In the Elizabethan era women were instructed to be submissive to their husband, now wives and husbands treat each other with the same amount of respect and authority. Modern women have more rights and have a bigger role in our society compared to Elizabethan…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What Women Really Want

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Feminineness :- A women needs to enjoy all the things that comes with being a women. She needs to feel beautiful and sexy. She needs to feel feminine which makes her feel alive. Experiencing new things in new ways is very important.…

    • 431 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chivalry derives from the Late Latin word “caballarius” meaning “daring medieval-gentlemen-at-arms” But in today’s society, chivalry is often mistaken for misogyny. I am here to tell you that, that is not the case. I believe in the old traditions of treating women well by doing chivalrous deeds like opening doors for her. This is not to belittling her because she is a woman so that must means she is frail. But it is out of courtesy and respect, and I will do chivalrous acts for both genders because that is how it should be. Being chivalrous is not sexist or misogynistic, and it certainly is not dead.…

    • 856 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics