Mary Wollstonecraft's A vindication of the rights of women as generator of differing feminist traditions

Although the name of Mary Wollstonecraft still stands high in the annals of feminism as one of the earliest promoters of the feminist ideal of human equal rights, a closer look at the development of feminism along the nineteenth century reveals that A Vlndication of the Rights of Women did not influence solely the movement for the emancipation of women or Equal Rights Movement (too often presented as the only existing type of feminism at the time). Some of the ideas advanced by the author in her famous book were likewise appropriated by another type of feminism which upheld women's DIFFERENCE from man rather than their similarity. The purpose of this article is therefore to analyze how and why Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vlndication of the Rights of Women can be considered as having given rise to two different and indeed, sometimes contradictory approaches to feminism

Books, pens and pencils: the trials of a Victorian youth

In this survey, we have focussed our attention on the first part of the novel David Copperfield and analyzed how the child hero's natural dispositions are crushed by faulty training. Through his early schooling and youthful experiences, David gains a knowledge of the wretchedness children may suffer in the rigidly practical Victorian society which tended to regard little ones as small-scale adults. By means of the story, Dickens is clearly denouncing the excessive eagerness of utilitarians for efficiency and productiveness in education, and his protests are directed against educators, educational establishments and institutions which ignored the child's need to develop at a natural pace in an atmosphere of affectionate encouragement and happiness

WICKED WITCHES WERE INVENTED BY FRIGHTENED MEN

The act of communication, in this paper, will be understood as the way in which some part of the past is conveyed to us. Undoubtedly, the cultural importance of historical communication derives from its potential to influence thoughts and atittudes on and about particular events. Hence, the aim of this paper is first, to examine how insights from different disciplines have, this century, contributed to broaden and rectify historical accounts of and about witchcraft. From there, the subject will focus on why the female sex was more frequently accused Of witchcraft, most cases of witchcraft being susceptible of natural explanations. In the final part of the paper, the analysis will centre more directly on verbal communication by exposing how the old misogynistic charges against "wicked witches" persist today in certain expressions.En este artículo entendemos como acción comunicativa el modo por el cual se nos transmite parte del pasado. La importancia cultural de la comunicación histórica deriva sin lugar a dudas de su potencial para influir sobre los pensamientos y las actitudes acerca de determinados acontecimientos. Por lo tanto, el propósito de este artículo será, en primer lugar, examinar como las aportaciones de diferentes disciplinas han contribuido en este siglo a ampliar y rectificar la visión histórica acerca de la brujería. Posteriormente, el análisis se centrará en los motivos por los que las acusaciones de brujería recaían con mayor frecuencia sobre el sexo femenino, teniendo en cuenta que gran parte de los casos eran susceptibles de una explicación natural. Por último, el estudio abordará de forma más directa la comunicación verbal mediante la exposición de como la antigua misoginia contra las "brujas perversas" persiste todavía en ciertas expresiones

The Representation of Masculinity in Daniel Craig's James Bond Films

The Representation of Masculinity in Daniel Craig’s James Bond deals with how the three films in which Daniel Craig has played the role of Agent 007, a.k.a. James Bond, have changed with regards to previous films in the long-running saga. This means this essay will deal with the films Casino Royale (Campbell 2006), Quantum of Solace (Forster 2008) and Skyfall (Mendes 2012). The essay centres on the Old Man/New Man/New Lad theory of masculinity, which states that men are represented and behave according to three perspectives of masculinity: the Old Man is the traditional, rugged man; the New Man is usually more sensitive, and the New Lad is often immature and boisterous. The character of James Bond has had a development along the years, combining many features of the Old Man and some of the New Man. Recently, though, a little of the New Lad has leaked into the representation of the character. I will look at elements such as respect to authority, sexuality, profession, identity, control of technology, consumerism and nationalism, comparing how they appear in the three films analysed and how they are represented in the previous ones. With this in mind, some changes in the attitudes and tastes of the public might be brought to the fore. The essay will deal with questions about Bond’s possible misogyny, his roguish behaviour, the presence of believable villains in his films and the growing explicitness of sex in the later films, among others

Mary Wollstonecraft's A vindication of the rights of women as generator of differing feminist traditions

Although the name of Mary Wollstonecraft still stands high in the annals of feminism as one of the earliest promoters of the feminist ideal of human equal rights, a closer look at the development of feminism along the nineteenth century reveals that A Vlndication of the Rights of Women did not influence solely the movement for the emancipation of women or Equal Rights Movement (too often presented as the only existing type of feminism at the time). Some of the ideas advanced by the author in her famous book were likewise appropriated by another type of feminism which upheld women's DIFFERENCE from man rather than their similarity. The purpose of this article is therefore to analyze how and why Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vlndication of the Rights of Women can be considered as having given rise to two different and indeed, sometimes contradictory approaches to feminism

Everything You Always Hated about Thatcher's Britain: A Cultural Analysis of Mike Leigh's High Hopes (1988).

This paper starts from a definition of culture that is set in the realm of cultural studies. Broadly speaking, cultural critics see Culture as both lived experience (i.e meaning making of individuals) and social construction. Hence the deduction that we cannot live social reality outside of the cultural forms through which we make sense of it. Along with and as a consequence of this assumption, no text, practice or event can be severed off from its contextual connections since, as Stuart Hall claims (1997: 25-46), the meaning ofa cultural form is always the product of the text's "articulations", of the web of coruiotations and codes into which it is inserted. Such a view is essential to a productive understanding of Mike Leigh's High Hopes (1988) -a film which, at first sight, appears to be no more than a weird comedy about ordinary people doing ordinary things. For this reason, only a "radical contextualising" of both Thatcher's years in power and of the (visual) text itself will help apprehend Leigh's film as a real-life, political and ideological manifestation of what it felt to be alive at a particular time and place, i.e Britain in the eighties. My analysis of the film will show how the social tone and class tensions developed during the period are conveyed through the humorous portrayal of the actions, interactions and intimacy of three different couples

Wars of words: A historical and rhetorical analysis of political and literary texts in the English 1830's and 1840's

Nuestro ensayo consiste en un análisis del uso manipulativo del lenguaje en dos momentos muy próximos del siglo XIX británico: por un lado se estudian varios de los procedimientos lingüístico-literarios empleados por las clases dirigentes inglesas para preparar el camino de la ley de pobres de 1834. A saber: 1-"the poor law amendment act" ; 2- "the report from his majesty's commissioners" ; y 3- la propaganda literaria efectuada por medio de los escritos de la prosista Harriet Martineau. En la segunda parte del articulo se analiza la nueva cosmovisión que, a través de la manipulación lingüística, intentaron llevar a cabo los poetas del movimiento cartista con objeto de defender los intereses de la clase trabajadora. Unos y otros pretendieron obtener la victoria política ayudados, en buena manera, por la retórica y la demagogia ; pero las clases privilegiadas fueron quienes, una vez mas, supieron sacar el mejor partido en esta "guerra de palabras