Zaharcu Emma
Professor Bogdan Stefanescu
The Rethorical Construction of National Identity
21st January 2017
National Identity of the Jewish American Women in Unterzakhn
The graphic novel Unterzakhn by Leela Corman is constructing the national identity of the Jewish American Women in the early 20th century through an ideological approach, the most important and highlighted ideology being feminism. Ideology is a form of rethorical construction and it provides us with a deeper understanding of the nation. As a theoretical instrument, Andrew Heywood, the author of Political Ideologies, will provide the ideological skeleton needed in order to support the fact that the text is constructing the national identity of the American Jew women through the ideology and political movement called feminism.
First of all, Andrew Heywood pointed out the fact that feminism is a political movement and an ideology, which wants to advance the social role of the woman in society and that the feminist ideology is characterized by the fact that women and men are treated differently because of their sexes and that this unequal treatment can be and should be overturned. In Unterzakhn, Leela Corman shows the dark side of things for the American Jew women in the early 20th century by showing how far these women have come, but how far they still have to go. Esther and Fanya, the protagonists of the novel, who are identical twins, choose different directions in life because they realize that there are very few opportunities for women to express themselves, such as being a mother and a wife. Moreover, the fact that they were immigrant Jews, really diminished their roles in the society. So, they want to rebel against the traditional ways and the paths they have chosen seem to be defined by this rebellion because the worlds in which they perform are defined by sex and femaleness. On one hand, Esther chooses the direction of satisfying man’s sexual drives, letting herself influenced by the woman who runs the burlesque theatre, which covers the prostitution business developed upstairs. Later on, she will become a very successful woman through her talent as an actress in the theatre and with the help of a man who supports her financially and takes care of her. Therefore, Esther refuses to become a wife without any kind of power or authority and mother and she defines herself in a society that was underestimating her. Moreover, most men from the brothel wanted to take her away and make her an honest woman, but she did not see any satisfaction in becoming a submissive woman and give up sexual transactions for a suffocating life. On the other hand, Fanya is choosing a different path: she becomes an apprentice for a lady obstetrician, who performs illegal abortions, but safer than self-induced ones. There is an example of a woman who died in the market from Upper East Side and we find out from Mrs. Feinberg that she provoked her own abortion, that is way she bled until death: ’’Mrs. Gold was gonna have another baby. But she didn’t want no more babies. So, she put a wire inside her, to take out from her the baby’’. (Corman 19) Additionally, the lady doctor has witnessed many female victims in the domestic life: abusive husbands, self-administered abortions and unwanted children. Therefore, she has a negative view of sex and there are several examples where she tries to educate Fanya in this matter: ’’ You see, Fanya, males of most species are ruled by their sexual urges, and are in fact not capable of resisting them. This is to the detriment of Woman. It’s men’s drives, you see, that keep woman reproducing constantly, like a breed cow’’. (Corman 60) She also mentions that the woman is a victim and she recommends her to control her sexuality: ’’ Sexual slavery awaits the woman who allow a man to entrap her, either in marriage or in quick and ugly gutter union. Therefore, I say, Woman is best advised to abstain. I do, and I suggest it to you aswel.’’ (Corman 60) Nevertheless, Fanya wants to improve the view of sex through educating women, married or not, about birth control methods. At this stage, the doctor and Fanya argue over this, but Fanya is a brave woman and continues to educate women in order to avoid suffering in their lives.
Secondly, Heywood stated that most of the feminists strike for equality between sexes, but it is very misleading to define feminism in terms of embracing the goal of gender equality as some feminists chose to distinguish between liberation and equality, the latter implying that women should be ’’like men’’ (Heywood 201). In Unterzakhn, the two Jewish American sisters try to suggest different paths in order for women to change their lives and not be submissive to men anymore. For instance, Esther strikes for public acknowledgement and wants to embrace the American look and appearance promoted by the mainstream media. When she goes to Miss Lucile, the owner of the burlesque theatre, she is delighted by the posters of women wearing corsets and make-up. So, she acknowledges the fact that women can wear more comfortable and useful clothes such as shirts, waists that will allow woman to move without difficulty at home, at work or in the street. Later on, Esther becomes to identify herself with the flapper by wearing excessive make-up, short skirts, curvy dress-style, having bobbed short hair, by drinking, smoking and by always expressing her disdain for what was then considered to be acceptable behaviour: she did not approve of marriage. On the other hand, the graphic novel shows that in Lower East Side, the Jewish women have given up the headscarves, which were a symbol of the traditional Jewish lifestyle in Western Europe and have become American through the clothes they choose to wear. Moreover, in Easter Europe, when Isaac, the father of the girls, goes to sell some onions, all women were wearing headscarves, shawls and winter coats, which was a sign of humility, modesty, submission and poverty, of not attracting attention, of not having a personality or identity, of being part of the crowd. But in United States, we can notice several changes in women’s appearances: some sellers wore some headscarves while buyers wore very fashionable hats as a sign of a high social status or did not cover their hair; the dresses for the upper classes where fitted to the body while for the working women more pragmatic and comfortable waists and shirts were worn. In what concerns Fanya, she becomes a sort of an egalitarian reformer, who wants to help woman irrespective of their marital status, even if she is impeded by other limitations, such as Bronia, the lady doctor, who is a helper of women, but with enormous prejudices concerning their social or marital status. Bronia always attacks Fanya because she goes anywhere she is needed and gives contraceptives to unmarried woman, who are not work the risk of getting arrested. This association of a new lifestyle and wanting to provide women with the right to choose for their life show a clear progress obtained by the Jewish women in America and highlight a major change in their national and cultural identity.
Thirdly, Andrew Heywood highlights the fact that patriarchy is a central concept in feminism analysis because it draws attention to what oppressions and exploitations women are subjected. Nevertheless, patriarchy also emphasizes the political importance of gender, which refers to socially imposed differences, not biological differences between women and men. In addition to this, Leela Corman portrays the poignant contrast between the Jewish American immigrant adult women and their first generation of American daughters when Mrs. Feinberg reacts to Esther’s fascination with the client’s jewelleries and looks: ’’You stay away from her and pritzes like her unless I ask for your help’’. (Corman 25) Then, the mother says to the client that despite her plain look, she will find a match for her, in the same way she married her husband. Therefore, for her arranged matrimonies were still normal practiced in the United States and women had no right to choose their future husbands because it was being imposed by their parents and it would have been a disgrace not to comply with the wishes of the parents. Moreover, attractive looks for the mother meant loose morals: ’’No daughter of mine is gonna be painted like a whore!’’ (Corman 41). Nevertheless, from some panels it is understood that she is having an affair and nobody knows about it: ’’Mach schnell, boychik… I’ve got things to do’’. (Corman 27) There is another panel where Mrs. Feinberg is getting dressed and the silhouette of a young man putting on his pants can be seen in the background, while she says: ’’Don’t forget your hat.’’ (Corman 27) It might seem that the role of the mother and wife has suppressed some of her inner feelings and desires and she lets go of her submissive and traditional woman in society when breaking the rules of marriage, respect and common sense. Mrs. Feinberg’s behaviour is also the result of her being subjected to an arranged marriage and of an acute caution to keep up appearances within the traditional Jewish community. Moreover, in Eastern Europe, women were obliged to have double hidden lives in order to survive. Nevertheless, it is clear that the traditional immigrant Jewish women wanted to keep up appearances, it did not come from an internal desire. In what concerns her daughters, both pudh back against motherhood and compulsory marriage in their own unconventional and complicated ways, in a feminist becoming world populated by the figure of Bronia, the lady doctor, who impersonated Margaret Sanger, a sex educator, birth control and nurse. For instance, Esther becomes a prostitute and then an actress who does not believe in marriage, while Fanya remains pregnant after having an affair with a childhood friend, refuses his marriage proposal and provides illegal birth control and abortions. Moreover, neither Fanya does believes in marriage: ’’ Why should we willingly submit ourselves to man-made bondage? Isn’t our love enough?’’ At first, Mrs. Feinberg alerts them about the life the girls will have if they choose the path of marriage and motherhood: ’’Just you wait. One day, it’ll be you up here, slaving away for your own army of little ingrates!’’ (Corman 37) Additionally, in what concerns oppressions, exploitations and discriminations of women, Unterzakhn conveys many examples of abuse, either physical or verbal. In what concerns physical abuse, there is a scene when little Esther, maid of Mrs. Lucille’s, is called by Susanna, a girl who worked at the brothel to fetch her some whiskey. When she goes in the room, Susanna was lying in bed, unconscious and the client, an old man, tries to take advantage of Esther, but fortunately, she manages to escape. Therefore, women were considered sexual objects for the pleasure of men whenever they wanted. Moreover, there are many anti-Semitic stereotypes, very dominant in the case of Esther, who was trying to become a performer in theatre and dancing. Some envious colleagues of her from the theatre used to mock her for some aspects of her appearance like the big nose calling it ’’hook nose’’ (Corman 69). For instance, Lizzie, one of her colleagues, even tries to discourage her from playing the main part in the play as Aphrodite by saying that ’’ I’m serious, Ether. You could open your own hose for that nose alone (…) with a honker like that, she’ll be a charity case unless a kind soul like me lends a hand’’. (Corman 69) Her disdain is very strong and she makes this association between ’’Jewish nose’’ (Corman 69) and ’’case of charity’’ (Corman 69) in order to point out the fact that when the Jews first came to America, they had to rely on charity in order to make a living. Therefore, Lizzie suggested that her race is damned to be part of the lower classes, without any future and also points out the inferiority of the Jews. In what concerns verbal abuse, when Fanya does not accept Saul’s marriage proposal, she is insulted, despite the fact that she tried to explain to him the fact that she does not want to be bound to someone and that people getting married not always end up happy: ’’It’s because you’re a whore, just like your mother and your stinkin’ sister!’’ (Corman 142) Moreover, Saul tells her that he wants to dominate her, to be her husband: ’’ I don’t wanna be your equal, I wanna be your husband!’’ (Corman 142)
Fourthly, Heywood draws attention upon the fact that feminist theory and practice is very diverse. There are liberal, socialist and radical forms of feminism. The first, liberal feminism, refers to a commitment to equality and individualism, characterized by equal rights and opportunities in political and public life. The second, socialist feminism, derives from Marxism and shows links between capitalist mode of production and female subordination, highlighting the economic significance of women being restricted to the domestic life and family. The latter, radical feminism, calls for a reconstruction of the whole personal, domestic and family life. It goes beyond already established political traditions, gender divisions. Radical feminists say that ’’the personal is the political’’. (Heywood 196) In the case of Unterzakhn, it is clear that the main characters, Esther and Fanya, stand for the radical feminism through the deconstruction of the traditional way of life of women in the 1920s. They are no longer restricted to a domestic life and family, both of them refuse to marry and do not agree of marriage. Moreover, they are aiming and pursuing a career, either in the business performance industry as Esther or as Fanya, a doctor wanting all women to benefit from birth control even if it is illegal and she is risking to be jailed for this. On the other hand, their mother is a representative of socialist feminist because of her subordination to society, family and domestic life, wanting her business to grow up but in the same time, not wanting her daughters to learn to read or have an education, so they could follow her path. For instance, in the book there are some panels which show Bronia trying to convince Mrs. Feinberg that the girls should be in school: ’’But Minna, do you realize it’s the law that she be in school?’’ (Corman 33) But Mrs. Feinberg states the fact that it is none of her business and ’’It’s my law that she become a decent lady! She’ll marry and take over here. She doesn’t need goyish schooling.’’ (Corman 33)
To sum up, it is clear that by analysing Unterzakhn from a feminist approach, we come to consider that the text and images from the graphic novel are constructing the national identity of the Jew American women. As Heywood emphasized the fact that one of the strengths of feminism ideology was that it challenged and exposed gender biases existing in society and which have been ignored over time by the conventional and political thinking, it has also opened our eyes and shed light upon concepts such as power, equality and domination. Nevertheless, nowadays, we life in a society were woman’s life has changed drastically in the domestic, professional and public life.
Bibliography
Heywood, A. (1992). Political ideologies: An introduction. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Corman, Leela. Unterzakhn. New York: Schocken Books, 2012. Print.
Ayaka, Carolene, and Ian Hague. Representing Multiculturalism in Comics and Graphic Novels. 2015.