Virginia Woolf Essay Research Paper Ken Hammond — страница 2

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however, is selfish in nature because while Woolf has the privilege of focusing on the shore of ideals many people are left in the wake of the wave. Woolf fails to realize or chooses to ignore in her writing that many women and all men are, out of necessity, still in survival mode. While Woolf complains about not being allowed into a library, men are being sent to war to be killed and a large portion of the population are still slaves to their families. Men, in particular, are drowned by the aims of privileged feminism. This does not discredit Woolf?s point that women are not equal to men when it comes to opportunities in the authorship of fiction, but it does put her essay in it?s proper context. It would be an unfortunate misinterpretation if a reader were to come away from ?A

Room of One?s Own? with the impression that Woolf is advocating the idea that women are victims of male oppression. The statement is simply not true and this is not Woolf?s intended message. Although Woolf does describe trivial events such as not being allowed on a lawn with male students, these descriptions merely serve as examples of existing conditions or symbolism of a deeper meaning. The core of the essay is that both men and women must be androgynous in mind and grow out their sex roles hand in hand or else friction between the sexes will only get worse. Woolf does an amazing job of making her essay resentment proof. This is because Woolf understands, or at least senses, the true reasons behind male resentment. She builds her essay in such a way that it achieves it?s

intended purpose of getting women especially, but men as well, to think about their gender roles. Male resentment of ?feminism? does not arise from a natural instinct in males to oppress female desires. Rather, it comes from men resenting the fact that women are in the position to change their roles, while they are stuck in theirs. The traditional female role makes women feel like the property of their male providers, however, men are made to feel by their role like the arm that supports the property, not the owner of it. In many ways men are subservient to property. A large portion of the labor performed by men, not to mention war, requires that men disassociate themselves from their feelings in order to be an adequate provider. They are taught not to complain, to sacrifice, not

to be sensitive, and to protect. These characteristics are practical in the work force and are attributes that make a good provider, but when it comes to inner fulfillment, the male role is an impediment because it leads to repression. Likewise women who are taught to be nothing more than the bearer of children find it difficult to achieve fulfillment in their role as well. However, the women of privilege living in Woolf?s time and the originators of the feminist movement found that they could find fulfillment by bearing children while at the same time participating in activities that traditionally go with the male role, if only men would allow them. So why would men want to deny women fulfillment? Because they feel it is unfair to allow women to redefine their roles so that they

can have the best of both worlds, while men remain chained to their survival role. Why should men have only the option to provide and protect while women are given multiple options? Women can work, be politically active, raise a family, get an education, read and write, or become an artist, and all without an obligation to go to war. Men, on the other hand, are at the disposal of the family and the state should a war arise. A man?s life was seen as useless if he could not support a family, just as a women?s life was considered useless if she could not bear children. And a man?s life is quite literally useless if he cannot survive war. Men resent women fighting to be more than property, while they remain the disposable servant to the property they are obligated to provide their

family. Freedom is power and the illusion that men were freer of their sex role than women caused women to see men as their oppressors and themselves as victims. This was fuel to the fire that made men secretly tremble. While women felt they were fighting to be equal, men felt women were fighting to be more than equals. This is the true root of male fear and resentment of feminism. They feel that feminism frees women of their role, but sinks them deeper into theirs. Men of course never admitted that they were afraid of being less powerful than women. Instead they expressed their feelings through violence, anger, and oppression (protection) because men are not supposed to complain, but fight, which in turn added more fuel to the fire. Woolf senses the reality of sex roles as