Catie Evans Addington AP Lang Awakening Article According to society, a woman should be meek, demure, and dainty; this

quote rom the article entitled Why Are Men Threatened by Womens Sexuality, by Aisling Ashbery, !arallels the ideas !ro"ected onto woman during literature works o the nineteenth centaury# $ritten in %&'' The Awakening by (ate Cho!in e)!lores the role o women, se)uality, and e)!ression within the outlines o a traditional nineteenth centaury Louisiana Creole society# *uch like in the article by Aisling Ashbery, The Awakening discusses society+s e)!ectation o women to be elegant and charming, but more im!ortantly discusses how these e)!ectations are ultimately determined by men# ,oth Cho!in+s The Awakening and Aisling+s Why Are Men Threatened by Womens Sexuality address the idea that women have the choice to either be de ined by men or live a li e se!arate rom the rest o society# -hroughout The Awakening, main character Edna Pontellier e)!lores her re!ressed se)uality in a setting that allows her to be ree, an a air with Alc.e Arobin# -his a air ultimately leads to Edna+s understanding o hersel as a se)ual being# Edna discovers that Alc.e satis ies her se)ual needs# /ever emotionally attached to Arobin, Edna maintains control throughout their a air, satis ying her animalistic urges but retaining her reedom rom male domination# 0owever, Edna attem!ts to ind sel de inition by creating a third li estyle o!tion and beginning to act like a man# 1he sees that men are allowed to live lives o se)ual ul illment, while not being e)!ected to bear

or care or their children, and are able to develo! a !ersonality and individual sel through !artici!ation in the business world# 0owever, the Creole culture in which Edina resides states that women are to be aith ul to their men and cater to them regardless o any issues in the relationshi!# -he article Why Are Men Threatened by Womens Sexuality, Cho!in discussion to the hy!ocritical gender roles dis!layed in The Awaking# 2n the discussion o gender roles the articles suggests that the se)ist societal e)!ectations or women have been created by men out o ear# As said in Ashbery+s article, $hen a woman de ies the social norms that indicate she should be weaker than a man, some men can become threatened# -his statement suggests that by e)!ressing se)uality in the same way a man does, a women there ore, has de ied the social norm# -he article discusses that this societal norm has been created by men out o ear# ,y women asserting their se)uality they also assert !ower, there ore !osing a threat to the male ideal o women as a weaker gender# 2n women+s assertion o se)uality, as e)!lored in Ashbery+s article, men loose a sense o domination they once elt over women# As a res!onse, many women will !lay the role society e)!ects, due to the threat that their se)uality !oses to men# Edna+s su!!ression o se)uality in the beginning o the awakening !er ectly !arallels this res!onse# 2n both Cho!in+s The Awakening and Aisling+s Why Are Men Threatened by Womens Sexuality, gender roles are discussed# -hrough the analysis o both te)t it can be suggested that the double standards set by society limit a woman+s se)uality# -his societal limitation ultimately causes internal con lict with those who do not it the social norm created by mens ear o domination by a woman#