One
important theme that stood out to me when reading and watching the material on
Joan was the importance of gender in the relations between characters. After
reading through the previous posts, I say this idea clarified by Professor D.
On Maggie's post, "Who Needs a Man?," she comments that in this
story, "something that bothers you, perhaps more than the gender dynamic,
is the power dynamic." After thinking about this, I realized the truth
behind this analysis, and then began to consider exactly what the power dynamic
was in the case of Joan of Arc, and what about it is somewhat frustrating for
women to read now as we continue to work to level the power dynamic between men
and women.
In general, when someone has gained power through a
position they do whatever they can to maintain that. When someone or something
comes along that they see as radical or unknown, they may see this as a threat
to their power and they do whatever they can with their position to eliminate
this possible threat. Although in this story, those in power were solely men,
it was not just the fact that Joan was a woman that influenced their actions
against her. Rather, it was her rogue and radical actions that made them do
whatever they could to control her before she had too much power. The Church
authorities went so far as to charge her and burn her at the stake for her
actions. Joan was beginning to gain power in both the Church and in France, and
this was threatening to some of the men who were in power at the time. Although
there are many gender related undertones to what happened, it more specifically
was about power.
I too find the gender/power dynamic between men and women a very interesting topic of reflection. As a female in engineering, on a daily basis I have to struggle with being one of few women in a very male dominated field. It is not easy to stay motivated when you feel that those around you don't always take your input to be valid or even accept your comments but as with many things, it takes time. I think it's easy to feel like without the support of men we wouldn't be able to succeed or make a name for ourselves but teamwork truly makes the dream work. I depend on my female counterparts just as much as my female counterparts because I know that together we will go further.
ReplyDeleteWith respect to Joan of Arc what if her being a woman influenced their actions against her? Who's to say that they tolerated her "hysterics" longer because she's a woman. I may be wrong, but in those days it seems it was easier to do away with individuals that threatened you in any way. They could have ignored or killed her earlier than they did but "there was something about her." I question if they would have been so intrigued by a male who proposed the same things Joan of Arc did.