Identity in E-Lit

Theme in "My Body - a Wunderkammer"

The theme that is present in “My Body - a Wunderkammer” is that a woman’s body is her identity, but not in the way that society believes it to be. Jackson’s work describes how every part of her body has a story that adds to her identity. Whereas society makes it seem that a woman’s identity is simply her body, Jackson argues this by showing that her identity is within her body and that each body part represents a part of her identity. Her muscular shoulders, she describes with pride because it is a result of swimming and tennis. Muscles are typically associated with men since it is considered more “masculine”, yet Jackson is prideful because it shows a part of her identity since it is a result of her sports-playing. Too many times is a woman asked to suppress her "masculine" aspects and be more "feminine" whether it be physically or otherwise. As Rosemary Balsam's article, Intergrating Male and Female Elements in a Woman's Gender Identity, states that "...in order for a woman to claim femininity according to this early theory, her masculine trends in development must be repudiated and 'overcome'." Instead of "overcoming" her masculine trends though, Jackson highlights them since they are a part of who she identifies as. “...I knew the womanly hip was supposed to be a desirable entity… My hip was an indeterminate straight stretch connecting my stomach to my legs. There was nothing to linger over” (Jackson). Jackson also doesn’t let society define who she is and reassures the reader that her hip is simply a part of her body and lets herself choose what parts of her body should be used to identify her and tell her story of how she got those features or aspects.

Woman Identity Comic Book

Freddie Sanabria

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