Female Sexuality and Gender Politics in A fine, A private Place by Diane Ackerman and Play

Female Sexuality and Gender Politics in A fine, A private Place by Diane Ackerman and Play The poems â€Å"A fine, A private Place† by Diane Ackerman and â€Å"Play-by-Play† by Joan Murray are both concerned with the theme of female sexuality. â€Å"A Fine, A Private Place† utilizes the third person narrative voice to express the memories of a woman who fondly remembers a lovemaking experience she had with an unidentified male lover by the shores of an unidentified ocean/sea.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Female Sexuality and Gender Politics in â€Å"A fine, A private Place† by Diane Ackerman and â€Å"Play-by-Play† by Joan Murray specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the woman reminiscing was at first none the wiser about her lover’s intentions – he had to ask twice before she could understand the nature of his request and intensions (first stanza), and before she realized his manhood was hard: an indication of lovemaking desire. However, the subseque nt lovemaking experience as reflected from the woman’s voice was mutually consented, and the lovers made love intensely and with deep feelings for each other. In â€Å"Play-by-Play†, the omniscient narrator poses rhetorical questions as the narrator watches a group of men playing softball and analyses the secrete sexual thoughts and desires of the women nearby(both old and young), as they secretly admire the men’s bodies and reflect on the men’s sexual appeal. The two poems suggest that female sexuality can be, and is, as expressive as male sexuality. In â€Å"A Fine, A private Place†, the female voice expresses the desires and thoughts of a woman during and after a lovemaking experience. These reminisces convey the idea that the female partner is not a passive player during the act of lovemaking, but is an equal partner with emotions and desires too, which have to be fulfilled and catered for in the entire lovemaking process. The male player remai ns unnamed and unidentified – ironically, the last line of stanza three has the woman wondering who the man was, yet the woman is able to make love to a point of female climax and complete satisfaction. In the last line of stanza four, the woman reaches her climax as her loins roar and she pants in climactic excitement. The fact that the woman is able to be expressive sexually with a male who is not necessarily her husband portrays a woman who has taken control of her sexuality. The woman in the poem is not tied down to certain societal expectations that women should be a passive player in both the courting/dating scene and in the act of sex/lovemaking itself (Markle 48). The woman in â€Å"A fine, A Private Place† is sexually expressive and is able to take charge of her sexual desires and her own path to sexual fulfillment. In the poem â€Å"Play-by-Play†, the omniscient narrator also highlights the sexuality of a woman being as expressive as that of a man. In the first line of the first stanza, the narrator wonders whether it would surprise the young men playing softball to discover that the women around them are admiring and discussing their sexual appeal.Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the second stanza, the narrator further asks rhetorically, but poignantly, whether the men would take offence (as many women do) if they were to know that the women were lusting after them. In these expressive questions, the narrator brings outs the voice of women’s sexuality that has been previously unheard of or ignored. The questions point to the fact that the woman’s desire for sex and the pre-lovemaking bodily admiration for a potential lover is not a preserve of men. The narrator is not condoning the act of men looking lustily at a woman, as men have been doing for generations. However, the narrator brings out the fact that a woman, too, has very similar feelings and even lusts for her lover, only that the woman prefers to do her sexual longing and lusts in a manner that does not necessarily cause her potential lover public humiliation- a point men should borrow. The narrator in â€Å"Play-by-Play† further busts the female sexuality myth that has long been held – that once a woman reaches her sixties, (past menopause); her sexual desire is non-existent. The omniscient narrator indicates that the old women in their sixties who are also watching the men play softball are actively analyzing the sexual appeal of the softball players, just as much as the young virile women drinking wine and reading books a little further in the field. The narrator further vouches for the women in their sixties as being the best-placed persons to speak on the matter of a man’s sexual appeal, since, as the narrator states in the second stanza; their experience has been horned through years of being with different lovers. Again, the fact that these women in their sixties are shown as not having been involved with one lover – or one husband, but are portrayed as having experimented with different lovers, depicts female sexuality as not dissimilar to that of men. The act of old men admiring young women is considered ‘natural’ in a macho male society, but in the poem â€Å"Play-by-Play†, the old women are comfortably admiring young men, and have had different lovers, just as men in their sixties would. These women represent a sexually expressive generation of women. Similarly, in the poem â€Å"A Fine, A private Place†, the woman reminiscing on her lovemaking encounter also highlights that, by virtue of her reminiscing, she is currently not in contact with that particular lover. Additionally, one can speculate that she has made love to other men, or is currently courting another man, thus her sexual experiences are varied; therefore, the woman is sexually liberated. Therefore, both the poems â€Å"A Fine, A Private Place,† and â€Å"Play-by-Play† portray female sexuality in a much different light than what female sexuality has been thought of, especially by men keen to preserve the status quo and relegate women to secondary and passive roles in sex and lovemaking situations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Female Sexuality and Gender Politics in â€Å"A fine, A private Place† by Diane Ackerman and â€Å"Play-by-Play† by Joan Murray specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Because sexuality is dictated by various historical, social, political, and economic factors, sexuality can be, and has been, used as a tool to subjugate women in all these realms. The subjugation has always been propagated on the myth that women are not sexually expressive. The matter of consent before a lovemaking act has been tackled in â€Å"A Fine, A Priva te Place†. The woman’s lover is portrayed as being mindful of his lover’s feelings and satisfaction throughout the lovemaking process. In the first stanza, he asks twice before he obtains consent from the woman, and throughout and after the lovemaking act, he further seeks to know whether she is fine and satisfied. Since sexuality is dictated by gender roles, the secondary role of the woman in society is usually transferred to the lovemaking process and her consent on whether she desires to make love or not is never sought – she is viewed as being ever ready, or is expected to be ever ready. This mentality plays a role in men not being overly concerned with the beastly act of rape or defilement. The poem â€Å"A Fine, A private Place† vouches for seeking the consent of the woman, and the woman’s equal status in the lovemaking process. Therefore, sexual expressiveness is parallel to women’s liberation and development within the society. Furthermore, because the woman is expected to play a subservient role in sex, her opinion on whether her lover or husband uses a condom and on the more significant way of family planning is ignored. In both poems, sexual expressiveness in the women in the poems points to the need for the women to be recognized as equal partners in not only the lovemaking process, but also in the significant issue of family planning. Women in many third world countries are saddled with child after child even when their mental and physical energies for child bearing and rearing are exhausted (Manderson, Rae Bennett, and Sheldrake 184). This occurs due to the social and political norms in such countries that reinforce the notion that women have no role in the entire family making process. The family making process is intimately linked to sex and sexuality, thus women’s sexuality is an important social, political, and economic entity. Such practices leave the women in these countries socially, p olitically, and economically disadvantaged. In conclusion, the poems â€Å"A Fine A Private Place† and â€Å"Play-by-Play† portray female sexuality as present, real, expressive, and even honorable. The role of a woman as an equal partner to the man in the sexual realm, as the poems advocate, is the first step in achieving social, political, and economic advancement for women.Advertising Looking for essay on comparative literature? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Manderson, Lenore, Rae Bennett, Linda, and Sheldrake, Michelle. Sex, Social Institutions, and Social Structure: Anthropological Contributions to the Study of Sexuality. Annual Review of Sex Research 10.6 (1999): 184. Markle, Gail. Can Women Have Sex Like a Man? Sexual Scripts in Sex and the City. Sexuality Culture 12.1 (2008): 45-57.

The Conditional Tense of Spanish

The Conditional Tense of Spanish Just as in English, the conditional tense of verbs in Spanish is difficult to classify. Unlike the past, future and present tenses, it doesnt always refer to a particular period of time. And while its name suggests that it is used when theres a condition involved, in Spanish it also has some close connections with the future tense. In fact, in Spanish, the conditional tense is known as both el condicional and el futuro hipotà ©tico (the hypothetical future). The conditional also has various uses that dont at first glance seem closely related. But the connection among them is that verbs in the conditional dont refer to events that definitely or necessarily have happened or are happening. In other words, the conditional tense refers to acts that can be seen as hypothetical in nature. Conditional Tense Often Translates English 'Would' Fortunately for those of us who speak English, the theory is fairly easy to apply, since the conditional tense can usually be understood as the Spanish verb form that is used to translate English would verb forms. In most cases where we use would in English we use the conditional in Spanish, and vice versa. As long as you remember the rare exceptions, you wont go wrong often by thinking of the conditional as the would tense. Here are some examples (in boldface) of the conditional tense in use: No comerà ­a una hamburguesa porque no como animales. (I wouldnt eat a hamburger because I dont eat animals.)Si pudiese, vivirà ­a en Guadalajara. (If I could, I would live in Guadalajara.)Hay seis pelà ­culas que yo pagarà ­a por ver. (There are six films I would pay to see.) Here are the major usages of the conditional that can be understood by using the English would. If the explanations are confusing, read the examples for clarification: Using the Conditional for Actions Conditioned on Something Else Another way of putting this is that the conditional indicates the possibility of an action related to specific circumstances. The circumstances (that is, the condition) can be stated, but they dont have to be. Note the following examples, with the conditional verb in boldface: Si tuviera dinero, irà ­a al cine. (If I had money, I would go to the movies. The condition is having money. In this case, the condition in Spanish is stated in the imperfect subjunctive, as is very common. It is also stated in the subjunctive in the English sentence, and this is one of the few constructions where the subjunctive form is still used in English today.)Yo comerà ­a la comida, pero soy vegetariano. (I would eat the meal, but Im vegetarian. (he condition is being a vegetarian.)Marà ­a habrà ­a venido, pero su madre estaba enferma. (Mary would have come, but her mother was sick. The condition is her mothers sickness. This sentence is in the conditional perfect form, using the conditional tense of haber followed by the past participle.)Marà ­a habrà ­a venido. Mary would have come. (This sentence is the same as the one above, but without the condition explicitly stated. The condition would have to be inferred from the context.)Con ms dinero, yo ganarà ­a. With more m oney, I would win. (The condition is having money. This is a case where a condition is expressed without using si.) Yo no hablarà ­a con ella. (I wouldnt talk with her. The condition is unstated.) Using the Conditional in a Dependent Clause Following a Past Tense Sometimes, the conditional is used in a dependent clause that follows a main clause that uses a past-tense verb. In such cases, the conditional tense is used to describe an event that might have happened after the event in the main clause. A few examples should help clarify this usage: Dijo que sentirà ­amos enfermos. (He said that we would feel sick. In this case, feeling sick happened, or might have happened or will happen, after he made his statement. Note that in such a sentence construction, the que, or that, doesnt always have to be translated into English.)Supe que yo saldrà ­a. (I knew I would leave. As in the above sentence, the act of leaving isnt connected to a specific period of time, except that it takes place, or could take place, at some time after the knowing.)Me prometià ³ que ganarà ­an. (She promised me they would win. Again, we cant tell from this sentence whether they actually won, but if they did it came after the promise.) Using the Conditional for Requests The conditional can also be used to make requests or some statements sound less blunt. Me gustarà ­a salir. I would like to leave. (This sounds gentler than Quiero salir, I want to leave.) ¿Podrà ­as obtener un coche? (Would you be able to get a car?) Note that querer in the subjunctive is sometimes used in a similar way: Quisiera un taco, por favor. I would like a taco, please. Conjugating the Conditional Tense For regular verbs, the conditional tense is formed by adding a suffix to the infinitive. The same suffixes are used for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. Hablar is used here as an example: hablarà ­a (I would speak)hablarà ­as (you would speak)hablarà ­a (you/she/he/it would speak)hablarà ­amos (we would speak)hablarà ­ais (you would speak)hablarà ­an (you/they would speak) Key Takeaways As its name suggests, the Spanish conditional tense is typically used, like would, to indicate that a verbs action that is conditioned on some other event, which need not be explicitly stated.The conditional tense can refer to real or hypothetical actions in past, present, and future.The same method is used to form the conditional tense for all regular verbs, regardless of whether they are -ar, -er, or -ir verbs.