The Farmer's Bride Analysis

As people’s worth and identity become intertwined with gendered expectations that influence the way they think, speak, and feel, they unconsciously reinforce discriminatory hierarchies in society. Through human interaction, people continually construct and enforce the rankings of gender in an effort to organize their lives. However, the hierarchical division of society creates a conflict between the interests of the powerful and weak, as each group contends to preserve autonomy over their lives. Oftentimes, the advantaged oppress the groups unable to fight in order to maintain their privileged position. In “The Social Construction of Gender” and “A Room of One’s Own,” Judith Lorber and Virginia Woolf suggest that gender stratification depends on the oppression of one group in order …show more content…
However, in “The Farmer’s Bride” Charlotte Mew indicates that systemic sexism divests women of their human characteristics, as men treat them like objects and animals instead of people. Consequently, in “Girl,” Jamaica Kincaid demonstrates that both men and women contribute to the preservation of oppressive societal expectations as men manipulate women into compliance and silence any opposition to their unmerited privilege. Ultimately, social stratification justifies the oppression of those deemed inferior and dismantles people’s free will as they become dehumanized and forced into submission.
Gender stratification stems from the conflict between the devalued and valued genders as the preferable gender strips opportunities from those on the bottom of the hierarchy. In “The Social Construction of Gender,” Judith Lorber suggests that men reside at the top of the hierarchy, and as a result, their valuable characteristics define what the subordinate groups lack. In this imbalanced construction of gender, men’s work “is valued more highly” than women’s because of their elevated status in society (142). Consequently, the structured inequality