"We teach girls to shrink themselves. To make themselves smaller. We say to girls, "You can have ambition but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful, otherwise you will threaten the man." Because I am female..." -Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Feminism- the social, political and economical equality of a woman. Can a woman be just as good of a hero as a man? Well, this is the 21st century and us girls say heck yes. We have plenty of books and movies that portray the protagonist as a female. The moods of the story may be a bit different because we are opposite sexes for a reason.
Beowulf was the perfect example of a man. He was strong, courageous and arrogant. He believed he could do anything he wanted to achieve. For the most part, he did. His vainglory was the reason for his death but he was brave until the end. The story is pure action. There are some themes for morals hidden in other stories, but for the main part it's about him conquering whatever is thrown at him. Props to the author for not having a damsel in distress, so we don't know if he was a chauvinist. Had Beowulf between written in a feminine perspective I strongly believe the story would've been with more emotion.
Let's take Divergent and Hunger Games as examples. Both books and movies have a female protagonist. Both characters are very different. Tris, from Divergent is more emotional, whereas Katniss could care less about emotions. The second book in Divergent is all emotions. In Hunger Games, there isn't a second that goes by where someone doesn't die. Does it matter that they're both girls? Of course not. I'm a prime example of that. I love cars, I could probably tell you more about them than my guy friends. I love action and horror, absolutely hate romance. I couldn't even finish Titanic, it was that boring. Yet, I'm also the biggest fashionista in this school. No, I am not a tomboy. No, I'm not a girly girl. I'm simply me. Like how boys can love fashion and hate cars. It literally doesn't matter. It just depends on the personality of the person.
One thing is certain, most men don't let emotions get in the way of their choices. Women tend to make choices based off emotions. She's prettier than me? I hate her. Why? Because I'm jealous. He has cooler shoes than me? Man I need to get some of those. Why? Because I really like them. Men have a easier way of thinking than women. They don't make rash decisions off petty attributes. Imagine if Beowulf had not saved the Danes because they had cooler fur than the Geats? That didn't even cross his mind. Why? Because his pride was the first thing to come to mind. That's why Beowulf is written to fast paced, with little description or feeling.
In conclusion, people take feminism too far. Females tell you don't get married! Men tell you you're useless. Why can't we cook and get the same paycheck as a man? It's a prejudice issues, and writing is finally breaking out of that phase. Emotion is a gift. Even though sometimes it feels like a curse.
I was really entertained reading your essay, it kept my attention throughout the whole thing, and I really like how you used some of last week's vocab words. I think your thesis was a little unclear and although you had really good points from the feminism aspect i think you should have mentioned a little bit more of the the literary techniques, but overall great job.
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