Reading Gender Paper

Taylor O’Neal

Women’s Studies: Reading Gender Paper

The Eternal Feminine by Rosario Castellanos

In the play The Eternal Feminine there is a particular scene where the main character Lupita goes into a circus tent to see “Eve”. After meeting this performer portraying Eve, Lupita gets to hear a different version of the story of Adam and Eve.
In this version of Adam and Eve, Adam is a power tripping, uptight, organizer working for God, instead of a strong-willed, wise man as told in the real version of the Bible. Adam in this new revised version, annoys Eve by ordering her around and forcing a the name “Eve” upon her. Eve is completely different in this scene too compared to the original version of the Bible. This new and improved Eve is witty, and independent. She gets annoyed by Adam’s repetitive story telling and is bored by the typical life style of the Garden of Eden. Eve doesn’t take any demeaning orders from Adam, and she is rebelliously curious about her other life style options.
I chose this particular scene to display gender issues because the story of Adam and Eve is the first story of men and women. According to the Bible, Eve was made out of Adams ribs, which began the whole issue of women being controlled by men. It is generally believed that women must be below men, or subjective to men, because of the story of Adam and Eve. People all over the world have misinterpreted the Adam and Eve story, to falsely rank women below men.
Although this new version portrayed in The Eternal Feminine isn’t the one being printed in the Bible all over the world, it can be relatively eye opening, because it openly mocks the actual story of Adam and Eve. It reveals how ridiculous people are for basing the status of a woman to a man according the Adam and Eve tale. This new version looks at the story from a different perspective, one where Eve isn’t just a gullible woman that is easily talked into eating the forbidden fruit. Instead, Castellanos’s version represents Eve as a sophisticated woman who is open minded about other options. The newer version of Eve owns a very confident, independent personality which was frowned upon in Castellanos’s society.
I think Rosario Castellanos wanted to reveal another way to look at the story of Adam and Eve. Her play mockingly makes fun of the way women were undermined by men and all the frivolous tasks women would do for them. She even sarcastically makes fun of the traditions these women follow. The evil serpent in Castellanos’s scene doesn’t have to manipulate Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, yet discusses with Eve that she has other options in life. Eve, having a severe case of boredom in the Garden of Eden, doesn’t even think twice, but bite the apple, and sassily talks Adam into doing the same.
Understanding gender in society shouldn’t be based upon the story of Adam and Eve. Even if Eve was created from Adam, women shouldn’t be submissive to me. Through her play, she gives off the impression that women’s behavior is often silly, and that being submissive to men is idiotic. Rosario Castellanos’s stance on women equality is definitely encouraging. She thoughs outside of society’s “norm”, and wrote her play with motivation for women’s growth behind it.

blog diez.

I am a huge animal person. I still cry over my dog that died 9 months ago. I hate coming home without my dog. Me and my dad decided not to try and get another pet until we were completely over Bear.(that was my dog's name). So even though this might be unoriginal, it is still a very important topic to me. Pets and People Humane society is an amazing organization in Yukon, Oklahoma that gets homeless cats and dogs off the streets, and provides a home for them while trying to find them another home to become a part of. This is their mission statement :Pets & People Humane Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, no-kill humane society that rescues adoptable cats and dogs from municipal animal control facilities across the state of Oklahoma on the day they are to be euthanized. We provide a safe harbor for our pets until they are adopted into responsible, loving homes. All are spayed or neutered to help end the vicious cycle of homeless pets.

In 1992 they associated with PetSmart to begin a separate non profit organization.And sooner after the their organization just rapidly grew. They opened the first dog park in Oklahoma in 1999. They have sheltered thousands of cats and dogs, and helped find good homes for many of them as well.


(To go on your own to find out more about Pets and People go to: www.petsandpeople.com)

Personally, i love this organization, because this is the organization that I adopted Beard from, and he was the best dog I ever had. (well the only one) But hes was an amazing dog. I still miss him everyday. I volunteer at Pets and People every once in awhile, and even though it's really depressing to see all these animals without a home, it's still nice to be able to volunteer and spend some quality time with them. I like the way they run their animal shelter, because they organize volunteers to come out and help with taking care of the dogs and cats. They have a huge play ground to spend time with the animals, and even though it's pretty smelly in the building, they have a really nice place, and take really good care of these animals. So I already participate in Pets and People, but I will definitely continue volunteering there. Especially during the summer when i have alot of free time throughout the day.

blog nueve.

I chose the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is an organization that uses the law to advance reproductive freedom. This organization is one that I fully believe deserves support. Every woman fully deserves to take care of her body and make their own choices. Right now, they are fighting for Plan B in the military, because it is proven that military bases are not required to carry it. So women do not even have the choice to take it. To think that a woman were to have sex on a military base, and not be able to have a normal backup plan isn't right or fair. So organizations that will recognize then fight for these issues completely have my support, and should be more supported by anyone. These are some of their accomplishments :
Defeating extreme abortion bans in Michigan and Virginia

Protecting teens' access to confidential reproductive health care in Kansas and Alaska

Winning a landmark ruling from the U.N. Human Rights Committee that establishes access to abortion, where legal, as a human right

Negotiating a groundbreaking settlement with Mexico on behalf of a young rape victim who was denied a lawful abortion, the first time a Latin American government acknowledged that access to legal abortion is a human right

Taking the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to court over the agency's refusal to make emergency contraception available over the counter to women of all ages

Reframing preventable maternal deaths as a human rights violation

Calling out the U.S. for racial inequities in reproductive healthcare before the UN

Exposing widespread physical and verbal abuse of women in Kenyan maternity wards

Promoting legal scholarship and teaching on reproductive health and human rights

Bringing to light dangerous new anti-choice strategies to overturn Roe v. Wade

Working with federal and state lawmakers in the U.S. to promote progressive policies and defeat proposals that would undermine women's reproductive health

Collaborating with more than 100 organizations in over 50 countries to strengthen reproductive health laws and policies


Go to: www.reproductiverights.org




Those are some pretty real issue that have been fixed or brought to the worlds attention all because of the Center for Reproductive Rights.This is majorly a gender issue because it has everything to do with the rights og being a woman, and being safe with their sexuality. To represent these women bby fighting for rights that most people dont consider to be important is very inspiring, and respectable.