ENTRY #20

DORIS LESSING  >> Read the short story "A Woman on a Roof" by Doris Lessing. You can access a complete analysis HERE.

Some important concepts:

• characters: men have names (Harry, Stanley and Tom), ages (45, 17), roles (workers).
• woman (no name) subverts the due image of women in patriarchal soceties (indiference & non-verbal communication).
• she makes no compromise to patriarchal society.
• woman shows her endowed power.

"Phenomenal woman"

by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is an African-American poet, novelist, educator, dramatist, actress, producer, filmmaker, historian, dancer, and civil rights activist. She is one of the most famous and influencial voices in the United States. Maya Angelou wrote poems about segregation and discrimination towards African-American in the United States and some of her poems talk about identity and the issue of racism. Maya Angelou is one of woman writers who uses feminism approach in her work. In her poems, Angelou expresses about the woman during racial discrimination, segregation, and male domination.

"We should all be feminist"

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much... That they can succeed, but not too much, because that threatens men. In this talk that opens a worldwide conversation about feminism, Adichie asks us to start dreaming and planning for a different, fairer world of happier and more authentic men and women.

MADONNA >> Woman of the Year Full Speech Billboard Women in Music, 2016.

Madonna in her speech gives her opinion about the role of women in the entertainment world, where to be successful, no matter the capacity or talent you have, but the physical aspect. A woman cannot grow old or gain weight because the record companies do not hire them. She also says that the press defamed her causing a lot of psychological damage, and only stopped when she got married.