One critic wrote of the treatment of women in Oscar Wao:
The internalized racism on display in the novel is scary (Oscar’s dark-skinned mother is self-conscious of her skin color, and as a girl will only date light-skinned boys), but not nearly as terrifying as the internalized misogyny that every single female character–even the indefatigable Lola–drinks down with her mother’s milk. Oscar, fat and unattractive, at least survives his childhood, but when a neighborhood girl is similarly afflicted, she goes crazy with self-hatred. Nearly every female character in the novel has a boyfriend who slaps her around, and to whom she goes back again and again. Not a single one of them seems to consider that she doesn’t need a man in her life.
Using a feminist critique, what is an analysis you bring to this idea of internalized misogyny presented in the novel that the above critic is trying to address? Is this a stereotyped idea about women or is this a reality that the author is trying to bring to the surface? Do you think the author is just trying to bring realism to his female characters, or is the view of women of color in Oscar Wao simply a patriarchal vision of who we are? Use excerpts from the text to support your opinion from pgs 75 and beyond.
The author is using the examples of these women in the novel to draw attention to difficulties some women face. He is not just perpetuating stereotypes about women but rather using misogyny to draw attention to the realism of situations women in our society face. We live in a patriarchal society in which some women conform to the lack of power and rely on men or allow men to take advantage of them. There is a hierarchical structure in our society that contributes to patriarchy which leaves women in a powerless struggle. He uses the example of Beli to show how women are affected and unfortunately, sometimes seek the attention of men. Yet, she is not even able to accomplish that without the use of her sexuality and body. The quote, "Beli who'd been waiting for something exactly like her body her whole life...the undeniable concreteness of her desirability which was, in its own way, Power" shows how women face the difficulties of lacking power in our male- dominant society (94). He uses these women to make us critical of the way women in reality are marginalized. His examples are purposeful and are not just stereotypes about women, but rather a message as to how unjust the system we live in is towards women.
ReplyDeleteThe author is perpetuating the stereotype that women are compliant with the patriarchal society we live in. He describes women as desperate for attention because they cannot wait for their bodies to grow into something beautiful to attract men. Diaz states in chapter three that women are important because of their bodies and if they are not beautiful they are not recognized as “normal” in their society. Beli, unfortunately, is one of the main examples in this story. She is an example of how women can comply with the patriarchal beliefs in society. That is the only way she was accepted, taking it in and began “… pinching her shoulders back, wearing the tightest clothes she had” (94). Even though the author is showing how tough it is to be to be a woman in a patriarchal society, he is perpetuating the stereotype that women need beauty to have power. For example, after Beli has transformed into a “tetua” the author describes her desirability and power by comparing her to Trujillo’s desire for her dead sister, he states that, “… if Trujillo had not been on his last erections he probably would have gunned for her…” showing how much power is in beauty (91). In the end he is describing the effects that a patriarchal society can have on women while he perpetuates the attention-seeking stereotypes on women.
ReplyDeleteI think that the other puts these stereotypes out there for two reasons: one being so that both males and females can agree or disagree and argue against this, and two, so that females can open their eyes and realize the way that males view females. I not only think this is a stereotype but I also think this is reality because there are many girls who think they are ugly and start preying about the way that they look because they won't be able to get a man. They can't just realize that they don't need a man in their life. I myself think that women don't "need" a man in their life because I have met many women who make it without a man in their life. I also think this is reality because it pisses me off when I meet a very beautiful girl who is with a man who is really dumb and only mistreats her. I have met many girls who are in this situation where the man mistreats them and they still stay with their man when they can easily move on to something better. I think he is trying to bring realism to his female characters so that they can know what reality is and so that they can change the way that things are and how females are viewed. Am example of a women who knows thy she doesn't need a man would be La Inca. For example, "( God save your soul, La Inca grumbled, if you think boys are ananswer to anything.)" (pg.87)
ReplyDeleteI believe women are potrayed as minorities and are seen as objects by men. As in objects, I refer that men only use women to please themselves. Junot Diaz uses the characters Lola, Beli, and other women as examples to demonstrate how In reality,situations like theirs, and many negative stereotypes still occur in society. Most of the male characters are shown to have dominance over women and it seems all they want is Sex. For instance, Yunior quotes " I had my job and the gym and my boys and my novia and of course I had my slutties(174). Because of this, women are forced and seen as easy. Although Oscar seemed to have positive thoughts about women, he is later on influenced by Ocar of how he needs to get "some" atleast once before he dies . Furhthermore, the stereotypes about women aren't only stereotypes but real examples of how women are actually seen. Do to this, society will view women as less then men and will not be taken serious.
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ReplyDeleteThroughout the hole story women are portrayed as weak and always seem to have some sort of dependence on another much more "superior" male figure. The majority of women in the story are seem to have many abusive relationship problems with other male figures, but many can simply break it off. The author just uses the mistreatment and sterotypes of women to perpetuate the idea of oscar not having the ability of being like his dominican peers, Oscar isn't capable of attracting any females into a relationship while other males just advantage of their female partners. The author makes many women of the story to have only sexual appearances that many of the male characters would consider attractive. This patriarchal society we live in today still consist of males being seen as the more dominate figure "His abuela steadily gave him shit, told him not even God loves a puta . Yeah, his tío laughed, but everybody knows that God loves a puto"(286). This stereotype of women being dominated by male figures is one that is defied by Belicia. She live her life thinking that she needed a male in her life "The man next to her would end up being her husband and the father of her two children, that after two years together he would leave her, her third and finale heartbreak, and she would never love again"(164). After the hearbreak of her third husband she no longer needed a male in her life, she worked two jobs in order to support herself and her children. Her "dependence" on a male figure was no longer present.
ReplyDeletemy other post had crap load of errors....
In the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz; the author tries to bring to the surface the idea about women being victims of the patriarchal society (male dominant) we live in today. As Beli was a victim during her childhood, once her body developed she became a new, desirable women as Diaz describes, “un mujeron total (91)”. The way the Diaz describes her body, emphasizes the idea of women only recognized for their body and not really for who they are or what they want. The physical appearance and beauty of a woman is a form of power they use to endure conformability and as a way to attract men, elsewhere they are “othered” by the male dominate society. At first Beli was afraid of her extraordinary change, “Beli felt she was stepping into a Danger Room filled with men’s laser eyes” (93). Later she realized it was sense of power she had endured and was willing to take advantage of it “she began to wear the tightest clothes she had” (94). These quotes are a direct reflection of the women in our society today. Moreover, we cannot blame women for their actions and ways of being, because it is society who unfortunate offers them that only path, and they are not willing to seek another one. They fear they will be marginalized by the male society that for decades has been overpowering the women society. The female characters in the novel seem to have an enigmatic relationship with the male characters. The author depicts the idea of men under powering women because of the male chauvinism that has caused women to feel less superior. This realization helps us understand the characters in the novel more in depth, such as Lola, Beli, La Inca, and other women; we understand why they react to men the way they do. They have a boyfriend who slaps them around, and they keep on going back to them again and again. For the same reason that they fear they will be excluded by the male society.
ReplyDeleteI think Junot Díaz is using misogony to perpetuate the stereotypes about women in order to the bring to surface the struggles that women face. Living in a patriarchal society, women have always been been thought of as being weak and unstable. Women were treated as objects and used for their assets. The author is trying to convey the idea that women comply with the patriarchal system by subjecting themselves to men by using their assets to gain power in the male dominant society. In the novel, it is described that Beli was so desperate for Jack's attention that she "pretended to leave buttons on her blouse open"(95). Beli felt as if she needed to be recognized by Jack and she used her physical appearance to gain that recognition. I think Díaz's purpose is to send a message to women letting them know that they have fallen into the trap of the patriarchal system. Women have been belittled so much that they "had gotten so used to it they thought it was normal, they forgot even that there was a world above"(81). In other words, women have been submissive to men in any way for so long that they forgot what it was like not to be attached to a man. I also believe that Díaz is using example of misogony to extend the idea that women have been affected but the standards of society. Yet that he is also trying to influence women to change the reputation of women's status in the hierarchical structure by abolishing the stereotype of dependence from beauty and men order to succeed.
ReplyDeleteIn the novel The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz brings her female characters to life by showing how the have been affected by our patriarchal society. He is not using misogamy to perpetuate weakness of the woman but rather to point out the cruelty and how their views of life have changed. More often than not woman are shown as sex symbols and possessions. “She began to wear the tightest clothes she had” this is a direct reflection of our patriarchal society, because women are only seen as sex symbols. I cannot blame Beli for her actions because it is society who unfortunately offers them that only path and they are not willing to seek another one. Beli is not the only female character in the novel that is affected by man. Maritza Oscar’s ex-girlfriend for a week has also been affected by the male dominated environment. “(Maritza may not have been good at much – not sports, not school, not work – but she was good at men.)” Because women are only portrayed as sexual objects they begin to act upon. Junot Diaz brings realism to his story by showing how the mentalities of woman have been altered by our patriarchal society and how they allow men to treat them.
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