Woolfs Advice for the Woman Artist :: Virginia Woolf, A Room of Ones Own

Women who want to escape the label "woman writer" (as opposed to writer--the masculine norm) have had to write like one of the boys, de-sexing themselves. Super-feminine lady writers, if they stick to their nice nook, will be both praised and despised for doing what comes naturally. But the woman writer who refuses these categories blows the scheme sky-high and incurs the wrath of the gods. (Michele Roberts in The Independent, 1997) Perhaps more than any other late-twentieth century British woman writer, Jeanette Winterson has taken to heart Woolf's advice in A Room of One's Own that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" (4), but Winterson has also, as Michele Roberts points out, "incur[red] the wrath" of the cultural gods as a result. Winterson has used her literary and financial success to secure a life centered around her work and her concerns-- much to the fascination and horror of the British literary establishment and popular press. Winterson challenges the established "rules" of writing, publishing, reviewing--in sum, the cultural expectations for the woman artist in British society--constructing her life in order to argue against, as Woolf does in AROO, two cultural myths: that the artist can remain aloof from the material concerns necessary for the production of art, and that gender and its attendant social roles do not influence the production of that art. Continual ly re-inserting her body, her gender, and her capital into their portrait, Winterson wrestles with the British press and literary establishment for the right to construct her social role-- and live her life--on her own terms. In following Woolf's advice for the woman writer, then, Winterson has struck a nerve in British culture, and the public response she elicits, I will argue, illustrates the persistence of gendered and class-based expectations for a woman artist in Britain today. Instead of tolerating Winterson as another Martin Amis or, in one reviewer's comparison, excusing her behavior as comparable to "old Papa [Hemingway]'s bravado" (Faulks 9), the press presents Winterson's decidedly un-feminine and nouveaux riche behavior with a combination of fascination and ire. Indeed, she is taken to task for the very circumstances which have allowed her to produce her art. Winterson may have garnered the proverbial L500 and a room of her own, but her self-presentation and her resulting representation in the British press encourage us to revisit Woolf's advice and cultural analysis of the woman artist in a patriarchal society with a contemporary eye. Woolf's Advice for the Woman Artist :: Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own Women who want to escape the label "woman writer" (as opposed to writer--the masculine norm) have had to write like one of the boys, de-sexing themselves. Super-feminine lady writers, if they stick to their nice nook, will be both praised and despised for doing what comes naturally. But the woman writer who refuses these categories blows the scheme sky-high and incurs the wrath of the gods. (Michele Roberts in The Independent, 1997) Perhaps more than any other late-twentieth century British woman writer, Jeanette Winterson has taken to heart Woolf's advice in A Room of One's Own that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction" (4), but Winterson has also, as Michele Roberts points out, "incur[red] the wrath" of the cultural gods as a result. Winterson has used her literary and financial success to secure a life centered around her work and her concerns-- much to the fascination and horror of the British literary establishment and popular press. Winterson challenges the established "rules" of writing, publishing, reviewing--in sum, the cultural expectations for the woman artist in British society--constructing her life in order to argue against, as Woolf does in AROO, two cultural myths: that the artist can remain aloof from the material concerns necessary for the production of art, and that gender and its attendant social roles do not influence the production of that art. Continual ly re-inserting her body, her gender, and her capital into their portrait, Winterson wrestles with the British press and literary establishment for the right to construct her social role-- and live her life--on her own terms. In following Woolf's advice for the woman writer, then, Winterson has struck a nerve in British culture, and the public response she elicits, I will argue, illustrates the persistence of gendered and class-based expectations for a woman artist in Britain today. Instead of tolerating Winterson as another Martin Amis or, in one reviewer's comparison, excusing her behavior as comparable to "old Papa [Hemingway]'s bravado" (Faulks 9), the press presents Winterson's decidedly un-feminine and nouveaux riche behavior with a combination of fascination and ire. Indeed, she is taken to task for the very circumstances which have allowed her to produce her art. Winterson may have garnered the proverbial L500 and a room of her own, but her self-presentation and her resulting representation in the British press encourage us to revisit Woolf's advice and cultural analysis of the woman artist in a patriarchal society with a contemporary eye.

Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese remains one of the most interesting directors in film history. He has long since been lauded as one of the true great auteurs and cinematic geniuses of modern times yet commercial success has often eluded him. Yes, he has had films that did well at the box office, but he also had a number of bombs and marginal hits. Quality wise, his films are truly special and this is why he has a solid base of loyal fans. Within that base are a number of people who seem to hone in on Scorsese's affinity for the downtrodden, the disaffected and the outsiders. [1] TAXI DRIVER, for example, was brilliant in the way in which it effectively portrayed New York's squalid Times Square wasteland as the perfect backdrop for the life of a loner who felt completely alone in a world in which he did not feel he belonged. The advertising tagline of the film went along the lines â€Å"somewhere in the world there is a loner trying to fit in.† Since the loner is an outcast he feels comfortable living amidst the squalor of the denizens of the classic image of Times Square, a brutal image of paste urban decay that has long since been forgotten, Such loneliness and rebellious imagery of outcasts has long since permeated Scorsese's films. GANGS OF NEW YORK, THE DEPARTED, MEAN STREETS and GOODFELLAS all seek to show a world where loners wish to live outside of the norms of society so as to craft their own unique â€Å"hole† in the world where they and their ilk can live. Then again, one does not have to be a sociopath or a gangster to wallow in this type of outlook. One could be a dancer/musician as seen in NEW YORK, NEW YORK or a pool hustler as seen in THE COLOR OF MONEY or a reclusive billionaire as evidenced by THE AVIATOR. Regardless of what type of character the director is presenting he always falls back on the notion that the character is a disaffected loner trying to forge a place in society against all odds and all problems. Often, this makes for compelling viewing and even more compelling characters. If there was a film that departed from this notion it would be CAPE FEAR, a remake that was probably Scorsese's weakest film. A remake of a film noir CAPE FEAR removed the film noir elements and replaced then with 1980's style slasher movie conventions.[2] It didn't work and ended being more of a lame – albeit wildly commercially successful – B-movie that has a minor cult following. Stick with the original instead, Scorsese remains a brilliant and inspiring director despite the fact that his subject matter has a tendency to wallow in the depressing. But, his films are not without hope or without a clear morality tale. Because of this the subject matter often rises above the nihilism or flaws of its characters and becomes a stunning insight into humanity and it foibles. Bibliography Christie, Ian. Scorsese on Scorsese. New York: Faber and Faber, 2004. Harland, Pamela. (2001) â€Å"Review of CAPE FEAR.† Retrieved April 18, 2008 [1] Christie, Ian. Scorsese on Scorsese. New York: Faber and Faber, 2004 [2] Harland, Pamela. Review of CAPE FEAR.

What Is A Student Athlete - 1101 Words

What is a student athlete? Well, if you break down the two words, according to Dictionary.com (n.d), a student by definition is â€Å"a person formally engaged in learning, especially one enrolled in a school or college† (1). Also, according to Dictionary.com (n.d), an athlete is â€Å"a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physicalagility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or gamerequiring physical skill† (1). Therefore a student athlete is a person engaged in learning and enrolled into school or college who is active in a sport. If one is just a student alone then they have a lot of responsibilities and hard work to put forward towards their career. If they pile a sport or even more than one sport†¦show more content†¦Games are away as well. Student athletes spend hours on a bus traveling to an away game. This is very time consuming. Student athletes get home late from games and are usually ready for bed to have enough sleep to be able to get up for school or class the next day. These two examples clearly show that athletics take up a lot of time which could be used studying or doing homework. If they are not studying or turning in their homework, their grades begin to slip for the reason that they are either one, not prepared for their upcoming test or two, they are just getting zeros on assignments because they did not have the time to do them. Also, they are exhausted from practices, games and training so they are not fully focused on their school work due to exhaustion. Along with the time consumption of sports, athletics also bring out the character in people. In some situations, sports bring out the bad character in athletes. Most sports require aggressiveness and a headstrong attitude to succeed and win. The player takes the aggressiveness and attitude from the court or the field into their everyday lives. If an athlete does not have aggression and easily gives up the ball to the oth er team then they are not succeeding. Sports also do teach good character in some situations as well, for instance while watching a high school football game if there is an injured player on the field then both teams