My Antonia Essay: The Role of Men in My Antonia -- My Antonia Essays

  The Role of Men in My Antonia        Gloria Steinem once wrote that A wo adult male take a man like a fish needs a bicycle. Clearly she is attempting to assert wo manpowers independence and further the liberation move manpowert. However, her doctrine of analogy is not quite complete. A bicycle has absolutely no rove in a fishs life, simply whether she needs him or not, men argon very much present in a womens life. While a women screw survive without a male influence, his influence habituss much of her personality. This position of man manifests itself in the lives of the women of baleful Hawk only most vividly in the form of the working girls. While working in Black Hawk, the hired girls assert their independence from men in practical matters but also proclaim their dependence in defining their personality. Tony, Tiny, Lena, and any former(a) country girl ever to work in town can clearly survive without a male influence. They are, in fact, supporting the men with the funds they send home. However, as each is independent from men for survival, each is still defined by their actions and attitudes toward men. Lena Lingard is most outwardly defined by men. In the fields and the cattle she exists in a male nullity where she can be wild like the fields around her. erstwhile she is exposed to town life and men, she still retains the wild nature, but it is today covered by a facade of new dresses instead of her primarily rags. The unusual color of her eyes - a shade of deep royal - and their soft, confiding expression are no longer representative of her smooth nature, but instead an object to be lusted over by men (150). Lena doesnt need men to survive, but she needs men to be beautiful. In similar fashion, the farm physiques of Tiny and Ant... ...back, youre here, like my father. So I wont be lonesome (256). Those memories of her father and Jim are all that Antonia posses of her past and they are all that shapes her future No woman truly needs a man to sustain life but men will often shape their future. As clearly shown in My Antonia , men often have an needful impact on womens personalities and choices of lifestyle. Mrs. Steinems metaphor does not hold. A bicycle has no place in a fishs world, but men and women cannot be separated. some(prenominal) past action inevitably shapes ones future. If a man exists anywhere in a womans world he will affect her life whether it be in a positive or negative fashion. The more allot metaphor would be something like Women need men like a fish needs nuclear waste. You certainly dont need it, but if its there, its going to have an impact on your life.