Synthèse spe LLCEA terminale  « women’s emancipation »

In this synthesis, we will rely on 3 documents to study our subject matter. The first one is a lecture, « Barbie at 60: instrument of female oppression or positive influence? », given by Gemma Witcomb. The second is a poem, “Warning”, written by Jenny Joseph, and stem from the “selected poems” compilation. Finally, the visual support is a painting by Evelyn de Morgan, entitled The Gilded Cage. All of those documents are gathering around the issue of women’s emancipation, and present different ways of approaching it. How is women’s emancipation depicted in those documents ? To properly answer this question, we will first focus on the social expectations for women, I shall then turn to the importance of time in those documents.

Women are extremely likely to experience a strong pressure exerted by society onto them. Social expectations are abundant, and heavily condition women’s behaviour in society.

One of those many expectations are gender roles. In human society, from today as well as yesterday’s, genders are assigned specific behaviours and morals. Girls and women are especially affected by those requirements, which are strict. As an example in the poem « warning », we can read « we must […] pay our rent and not swear in the street, and set a good example for children ». Having a perfect, almost unrealistic lifestyle, lovelife, being caring, emotional, wearing pink…are the oppressive criteria women must fit in, to be included in society.

Body image is also a big topic when it comes to women’s expectations. A « beautiful » woman is almost always represented as a tall, skinny, blue-eyed blondie. It is the case of Barbie, who is the most well known beauty icon. In fact, over-sexualisation is very much present in women's representations. We can come to the conclusion that women in societies are most valuable when they meet men’s criterias. In the painting by Evelyn de Morgan, we can see on the ground the women’s jewellery, that she let down while trying to emancipate. That proves how women’s bodies can be constricted in standards, and that does not help at all in a being’s way to fulfilment.

Glass ceiling is also a major issue in the emancipation of women in society. Professionally, expectations when being a woman are not high. Very few women accede to high-responsibilities positions. In the documents 1 and 3 , the issue is well depicted : « A girls future role would be one of homemaker and mother », and in doc 3, the glass ceiling is symbolised by the window, which stops the woman from going outside to explore beautiful landscapes and be a part of the free people we can see walking outside. Even if women want to go further, they are often reminded of the gender expectations they are supposed to follow.

Woman are developing throughout their lives, and evolving depending on how old they get. Time is an extremely important element in our documents, as well as regarding the emancipation of women.

Chronologically, a woman’s life starts as soon as she comes to the world. But her développent as a person, and her inclusion in society depends on her influences during childhood. Barbie doll is an icon and a leader in toy’s market. Little girls are very much sensitive to stereotypes and images, and tend to mimic any image they are exposed to. No inclusivity, nor diversity in their models

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