Tuesday, October 16, 2007

HW 22: Chapter 2 Patriarchy

I think Woolf said the paper proved that England was a patriarchy because it mostly had to do with men. “Somebody scored big in South Africa (who I would assume to be a man.) Sir Austen Chamberlain was at Geneva,” and “Mr. Justice commented in the Divorce Courts upon the Shamelessness of Women,” (Woolf 33). The only bit of news that mentioned a woman was about a woman who hung herself. The paper and Woolf makes it sound like England thinks society will be better now that there is one less woman around. This paper had headlines about men, which proves the point that England is a patriarchy. Woolf also discusses throughout the chapter how men are said to be superior to women and they have all the money, knowledge, and education. It basically seems to be saying that women are stupid and pointless.
I took a look at The Boston Globe to see if it would give a transient visitor to our planet the impression that the United States is a patriarchy. In my opinion no, The Boston Globe does not give this impression. The front page of The Boston Globe had stories about high school students in Massachusetts, the unfortunate loss the Boston Red Sox had last night, Romney and Giuliani in the presidential election, and expected layoffs for Boston Scientific Corps. There are also many other stories and sections of The Boston Globe such as arts and movies, automotive, books, weather, and jobs that could interest people of both sexes. In conclusion I don’t think The Boston Globe shows patriarchy in the United States at all with its broad range of stories included in its paper.

1 comment:

Tracy Mendham said...

Yes, generally right. I believe that the actress was hung as part a film stunt, not to kill her. Also, Woolf does not believe women are inferior, but she is pointing out the many books which say so.
Finally, I think to compare the indicators of patriarcy you have to dig a little deeper. Woolf implies man's dominance is seen in that he was "the proprietor of the paper and its editor and subeditor. He was the Foreign Secretary and the Judge. He was the cricketer...He was director of the company...he suspended the film actress..." (Woolf 33-34). Did you look to see what gender the heads of state and ambassadors and company owners and athletes mentioned in the Globe were? Do the representations of men still outnumber those of women in powerful, non-domestic roles? I think this would be the way to make a fair comparison.