The concept that All gender by definition is unnatural 1 is a theme that has been

encompassed in Angela Carters The Erl King aswell as A Thousand Splendid Suns. The
construction of womanhood is sexualised to the point of which womens bodies become
constructed as communal sufferers, familial victims, and second-class citizens (138)
2
,therefore particularly In A Thousands Splendid Suns women encountersexual violence
during times of war and political turbulence [that]reflect[s] the tendency of cultures to make
women feel ashamed of their bodies and sexuality.
[and with that],men learning to see women as objects of sexual target dehumanise women
completely in the pursuit of pleasure. In Contrast Duffys representation of gender, in Mrs
Tiresias, Pilates wife, Mrs beast and Delilah, transgresses set gender stereotypes of
masculinity and femininity.
In the Erl king the nameless character addresses the idea that The Erl king will do grievous
bodily harm and once in the woods she knew at once that all its occupant[s]had been
waiting for [her].the irony that the erl king resides within a naturalsetting in entrapping nave
female victims in cages isi ironicin some sense as it is natural for women to be
manipulated.The character in the erl king after the loss of her virginity aknowleges herself as
a thing of the erlk king eat me drink me she says .The erl king is KING OF NATURE she
GIVES HIM HER ABUNDANT MILK AND HE CAN MAKE SOFT CHEESE THAT HAS
UNIQUE RANK,AMNIOTI TASTE-WOMANHOOD HE VALIDATES HER WITHOUT HIM
CONSTRUCT IS INCIOMPLETE The young girl N EEL KING GENDER CONSTRCT
DESTINY INNEVITABLE .amniotic taste referencing the removal of sexuality and the
constructive natureof motherhood he called them girly things (pygmalions brideI played
statue
in a similar way "if I look into it long enough, I will become as small as my own reflection".
This quotation may be saying something about the female role in the story; she is framed by
the Erl-King, and only sees herself as she appears in his own eyes. MOTHER MOTHER
YOU HAVE MURDERED ME
Archetypes are shape by who is in charge hence she sees herself in his eyes of aswell
bring in a thiouysand splendid suns motherhood
Female value in afghan cultue is determined by your ability to produce an emblem of
patriarch The reinforcement of these gender roles can be interpreted as a vicious parody of
the inferential means to reject freedom from men suggesting women are happy to be
communal sufferers, familial victims, and second-class citizens (138).3 subtly highlight the

hushing of the female

1 De Beauvoir,Simone The second sex(vintage1973) from Judith Butler sex and
gender in Simone de Beauvoirs second sex)(New York): (301)
2 Jacquelynn,M.Kleist (2011)A Journal of Pakistan Studies ) (Pakistani) : Vol. 3, No. 2 more
than Victims: Versions of Feminine power in Bapsi Sidwhas Cracking India

3 Jacquelynn, M.Kleist (2011)A Journal of Pakistan Studies ) (Pakistani) : Vol. 3, No. 2

more than Victims: Versions of Feminine power in Bapsi Sidhwas Cracking India

women are innately victims to phallocratic inequality primarily a result of biology

rendering women vulnerable to sexual exploitation
Because stereotypical gender roles harbour prevalence in the Eastern societies in which
theyve been fixed for instance in a thousand splendid suns women are victim to the
indoctrinating ideologies such as of gender that deem women only in a physical state.
However unlike Cixouss claim that phallocratic ideology has claimed [another ] victim4Mariam ends Rasheeds life similar tom that of the girl in erl king you strangles the erl king
he lays [her] down on his bed where [she] live[s] at the mercy of his huge hands he strips
[her] to [her] last nakedness.
Whilst men tend to objectify women this being her sexuality he could thrust me into the seed
bed of next years generation (reinforce of matriarch) submissive women mock my loss of
liberty lullabies for foolish virgins
.

HOWEVER

In the poem mrs Tiresias boundries are blurred between male and female whilst he went
out for his walk a man he returned home female v of the shirt were breasts uttered her
name in his womans voice potent lost of masculinity therefore identity as the masculine
blow drying his hair till he learnt to do it himself,sisterly then he started his period his flirts
smile firstly his hands a woman s softer than mine indolent hands .(pilates wife.softer
He fucked me again until he was sore then hwe lay with hus head on my lap
narrator explains she cannot be gentle or loving or tender I have tobe strong(Delilah) mrs
beast

BUT AT THE SAME TIME HIS CONSTRCT IS BLURRED HIS KITCHEN HE IS AN

EXCELLENT HOUSEWIFE AGAIN HER SEXUALITY
Although the Erl-King is objectively male in this story, carter reverses male power it is noted that "he is an excellent
housewife". His skin is the tint and texture of sour cream, he has stiff russet nipples ripe as berries. Like a

tree that bears bloom and fruit on the same bough together, how pleasing, how lovely.
Male bodies are carters description of a more aesthetic male body exposes the constraints of the dominant
gender characters that have been converged. Carter explicitly defamiliarises gender roles when she writes
He is an excellent housewife. http://blogs.chi.ac.uk/shortstoryforum/lick-my-words/)

4 Cixous, Hlne(28 Feb 2013 )Rire De La Meduse Et Autres Ironies (The Laugh
of The Medusa), Editions Galile,