Critical Literacy Essay

Critical Literacy Essay

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Critical Literacy Essay

Definition of the Selected Theories

Feminist or Gender Theory

Feminist theory analyses the gender inequality that society might exhibit. Majorly, society has discriminated against the female gender by granting more opportunities to the male gender. Examples of the opportunities that get shared on an unequal basis are social opportunities, political opportunities, and economic opportunities (Frueh, 2018). Notably, discrimination, oppression, stereotyping, aesthetics, and the objection themes explain the feminist theory.

Important of Analyzing the Text Thank You, Ma’am Using Feminist Theory

Feminist Theory examines comprehensive information in the text, Thank You, Ma’am, by Langstone Hughes, describing how the boy took advantage of a woman walking with a large purse at night. The boy wanted to snatch the purse and the pocketbook from the woman. Unfortunately, the mission failed, and the woman caught the boy unbalanced, which made him not take off. The boy expected beatings and jail. However, the woman took the boy to her house, prepared a coffee, and surprised the boy with ten-dollar to purchase the shoes (Hughes, 1958). The incident explains the importance of a woman by understanding the economic fate of a young boy. The teaching and the description of the boy as a son by the woman to the young boy created a sense of humor contrary to the expectation.

Importance of Analyzing the Text I want a Wife Using Feminist Theory

Analyzing the text, I want my Wife to use the feminist theory to expose the rot in a society where the husband overburdens the wife. Brady applies ethos, pathos, and logos for valid arguments throughout the text. The information from the text depicts the demands that the husband needs from the wives (Brady, 1971). As such, the gender role in marriage discriminates the females. Therefore, Brady is fed with the wife role and wants to become a man. Notably, Brady wants to change her gender role such that she becomes a man who needs a wife for sexual satisfaction, cares for the children, takes her husband to school, and becomes submissive.

Marxist Theory

The Marxist theory posits the struggle existing amongst the social classes. The struggles are majorly felt between the bourgeoisie or capitalism and the proletarian or the workers (Powell, 2018). It defines the economic relationship existing in the capitalistic economy, resulting in the emergence of revolutionary communism.

The impotence of Analyzing the Text Thank You, Ma’am, for using the Marxism theory.

The text Thank You, Ma’am, describes the nature of the society, which makes the boy attempt theft against the woman. The boy wanted to survive but through a wrong motive (Hughes, 1958). After the capture and the best treatment of the boy, the woman’s advice is significant due to the need of an individual to work smart for economic gain instead of the theft approach, which may lead to injury.

The messages the Authors are trying to convey

Messages in the Text Thank You, Ma’am

Lavington Hughes tries to convey the message of the importance of showing the direction to the young generation on the need to work smart for economic prosperity. The woman caught the boy in the process of stealing the purse but chose to take the boy to her home, prepared the coffee, gave the boy ten dollars to buy shoes, and finally provided a word of advice. The boy never expected the treatment but could only thank mum for the wonderful act (Hughes, 1958). Also, the author tried to convey the message of the discrimination which women face in society. The boy wanted to snatch the purse from the woman at night, knowing he would succeed due to the lack of strength that characterizes women.

Messages in the Text I want a Wife.

Judy Brady, the author of I want a wife, tries to explain the message of discrimination that women undergo in society. Women as wives get discriminated against by their husbands because they are granted more responsibilities than men could do. The author lists home chores granted to women by men in marriage. As such, Brady becomes fed with the tasks because men need women to cater to all their needs by pushing the feminine needs aside. Notably, the evidence supporting the message of discrimination against women is depicted through the demand the society wants from the wife that is unbearable to Brady (Brady, 1971). As such, the author wants the audience to take action by getting mad against the ongoing discrimination in the marriage. The listing of jobs creates an irony which makes the author want the wife despite being a female. Ending the text with the word, “My God, Who wouldn’t want a wife creates an emotion to the readers that wives are under stress and pressure to cater to society’s social and economic needs.

The Role of Gender Money Power and Class in the Texts

The Text Thank You, Ma’am

The text Thank You, Ma’am, describes the role of women gender in society. It depicts the caring characteristics of a woman who caught the boy that wanted to steal her purse at night. The woman surprised the boy with the best treatment by taking him to her home, preparing coffee, calling him son, giving him ten dollars to buy shoes, and finally providing the best advice on working hard to achieve the economic goal (Hughes, 1958). Class is also described in the text where the boy wanted to snatch the purse from the woman due to his lower social class that needs survival irrespective of morality. Consequently, as depicted by the text, money plays a vital role in survival. The boy went to steal a purse to get money for survival.

The Text I want a Wife.

The text I want a Wife describes the role of women in marriage. In marriage, the female gender is expected to perform a wide range of duties to satisfy men’s needs. Also, the text expects the wife to search for money to educate the husband (Brady, 1971). Consequently, the class exists where after a man finishes his education, the woman should resign from the job and remain home for the house chores.

Stereotypes, Societal Role, and Expectations correlating with the Chosen Theory

Gender stereotype in the text I want a Wife correlates with the chosen feminist theory. The feminist theory describes the discrimination wives undergo in marriage to favor the husband (Frueh, 2018). The societal role is exhibited in the text I want a wife where society has divided the gender roles in favor of men (Brady, 1971). The expectations are also exhibited where women in marriage are expected to serve husbands without complaints.

The text, Thank You, Ma’am, describes the societal role in shaping the lives of young people in society through advice (Hughes, 1958). The woman caught the boy in the process of stealing the purse but chose to give the best treatment and advice, which left the boy wondering. Most importantly, society expects young people to behave morally as per the woman’s advice to the boy.

Impact of Gender on my Life

Gender theme has impacted my life in several dimensions. It has enabled me to understand the importance of enhancing gender equality in society because what men can do, women can also perform. Also, learning about feminist theory’s depiction of gender has made me appreciate the value of women in society. Most importantly, there exist the connections which I can make in my life with a characters like Woman in the text Thank You Mum and the narrator in the text I want a Wife. The woman exhibited an exemplary character by advising the boy, despite the trial, to steal her purse. Furthermore, the narrator creates an emotional mood that enables me to comprehend the importance of eliminating the burden granted to wives in marriage.

References

Brady, J. (1971). I Want a Wife.

Hughes, J. (1958). Thank You, Ma’am

Frueh, J. (2018). Towards a feminist theory of art criticism. In Feminist Art Criticism (pp. 153-165). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429500497-9/towards-feminist-theory-art-criticism-joanna-fruehPowell, J. (2018). Towards a Marxist theory of financialised capitalism. http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/20331/