"Boys in the Head:" Gender Policing in Shakespeare's As You Like It
Shakespeare's As You Like It features a female character pushing the limits of conventional gender and sexuality; Rosalind achieves her goals, but at what cost? Popular in plays like Merchant of Venice, All's Well That Ends Well, and Titus Andronicus is the success of its female roles, but at the expense of others. Certain aspects of Shakespeare's writing does lend itself undeniably to enlightened and progressive ideals of gender and sexuality, but I can't help but wonder... it is it doing more harm than good?
In As You Like It; Rosalind dresses as a man and flees to the forest. Rosalind calls herself Ganymede, an androgynous sex symbol that quickly enchants Orlando and Phoebe. In Rosalind/Ganymede we are presented with one of the most kick-ass examples of fluid sexuality and fluid gender, but at the expense of the female sex. Yes, one could argue that the rail against the character of Phoebe by Rosalind is used to show the constraints placed on them, but I find her rant somewhat offensive to the female gender. This is not to say that Rosalind isn't a hero, which she is, but the policing of her own gender detracts from her appeal. The conversation between Celia and Rosalind after Ganymede/Rosalind's lesson with Orlando is particularly interesting because Celia points out that Rosalind, "'...simply misused our sex in your love prate. / We must have your doublet and hose plucked over your head, and / show the world what the bird hath done to her own nest'" (As You Like It 4.1.Ln.172-4). What Celia is saying is that in order to gain ground with Orlando she had to betray her own gender.
In order to put this in a modern day perspective; I have chosen magazine covers to illustrate my meaning in regards to Rosalind in As You Like It. What these covers have in common besides all the women featured on the front are beautiful, and uphold current beauty standards, but the headlines and content around them is most startling. "50 Ways to Seduce a Man," "Sex Survey, Thousands of Guys Reveal What Really Flips Their Switches," "What Guys Really Think About You!" The list goes on and on, we as consumers see these in our everyday life, but what are the repercussions of this kind of advertising? By focusing on what men want from women instead of what they want out of themselves is counterproductive. This has been called "Boys in the Head," and it can be seen in instances where women enforce the gender binary on themselves without there needing to be a man physically present. We as girls have experienced this throughout school and our adult lives. "Slut shaming" is a popular form of gender policing , as well as female relational aggression, a direct result of women not being allowed to experience, nor exhibit aggressive behavior. It is easy to make the connection between gender policing and Rosalind/ Ganymede's comments to Orlando, and it is no doubt problematic, but Shakespeare redeems the misogynistic undertones of the play by shedding light on gender policing through the role of Celia.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI agree! It truly makes me question why women still today are seen as creation needed only for the benefit and pleasure of men. We do not see these magazines covered with ways in which men can work harder to please their lady (and this is if we are only staying in the heterosexual realm). Rarely do we see a woman getting in shape or applying makeup because she wants to for herself; she does so to get herself a man. When we teach women that being in a relationship is the height of success, it is no wonder so many mental disorders are arising… because females feel insecure and have failed to do the one thing we taught them would make them happy. If it hasn’t changed since Shakespeare’s time, will it ever change?
Brittany,
DeleteI agree with your point here except one. Girls/women may feel pressure to please their man or get man, but I don't think that's a reason why mental disorders are on the rise. Medicine has just advanced and professionals have gotten better at diagnosing such disorders. I like the ideas about how women are constantly being told that to happy they much find a man, please him at whatever cost and keep him satisfying. And if a woman fails to do that, she fails as a female. This relates back to Rachel's point about how women police their own gender and make each other feel bad about themselves because of their "unruly" behavior. Women are already constantly labeled and judged for their behavior and when women themselves join in, the problem continues it's vicious cycle. Back to your question about whether this phenomena will change. I believe it can if we all consciously decided to do something about it.