Women's rights have come to an extended manner withinside the beyond one hundred

years; nonetheless, it's miles no mystery that ladies are nonetheless difficult to gender
prejudice in society. Women are the same in intelligence to men; however, ladies are
nonetheless shockingly paid much less than men, and are regular sufferers of bodily and
intellectual abuse from tyrannical men. Margaret Atwood is a famous feminist writer who
regularly writes approximately the oppression of ladies in society. In her mysterious poem
"This is a Photograph of Me," Atwood makes use of numerous elements of nature located in a
photo to represent the dominance of guys over ladies in our oppressive society. She needs
society as an entire to look at the stereotypes positioned on ladies and have a look at the
authentic significance and importance ladies have in records and our gift lives. Atwood's
despair poem starts with a lady describing a vintage blurry photo of a woodsy panorama with
a residence, a lake, a tree department, and a small hill. The lady appears as though she is
viewing the image for the primary time as she factors out the sizable elements of the photo
which have been distorted from both overexposure or the daylight reflecting off the lake.
Atwood employs a superb deal of symbolism in her poem to specify the topic of girl
oppression. This symbolism is perceived withinside the blurriness of the photo, the tree
department, the slope, the residence, the lake, and the contemplated mild off of the lake. The
distortion of the snapshots withinside the photo represents the poor labels placed on ladies.
We should appear beyond this distortion to look at what the snapshots are, or to have a look at
the actual essence and significance of ladies. There is one predominant trouble with society's
poor perspectives on ladies and lots of different problems rising from primary trouble. The
lady withinside the poem is hidden underneath the water of the lake; her spirit and voice are
veiled through the lake's water: "The results of water / on mild is a distortion ”. The water
portrays society's male dominance this is warping the authentic voice of ladies represented
because the mild contemplated off the water. Atwood urges us to appear beyond the
distortions of prejudice and notices the authentic snapshots or profound importance of ladies
in our society. Margaret Atwood, as far as I know, only wrote about women. Her women are
the center of every universe.
Atwood’s women are not complete. Her female protagonists are glorious and
insufficient. And in as much as Atwood turns conventional novel-writing on its head, by
placing men at the far end of her plot lines, her female protagonists don’t, by any means,
dwell in absolute rectitude. And in this, her protagonists are real and self-conscious. Her girls
are the center of each universe. Whether or not it's Upper Canada withinside the 1840s,
Gilead in an unknown and chaotic time, or inside a social test known as Consilience- girls are
on the coronary heart and center of each book. The guys in Atwood's books are appendages –
they seem withinside the history, unfocussed and blurred. They don't keep up the plotline; at
best, they may be the oblivious beasts that stay withinside the periphery. The guys in her
books are corresponding to the history in the intensity of discipline photographs – bleary and
redundant. And Atwood intends it that way – the guys in her books are portrayed as how girls
are perceived via way of means of many in actual life. She continues a cautious distance from
the guys in her books – they may be fragile creatures, incapable of shifting the tale forward
(Bhattacharya,2018) Atwood's girls aren't complete. Her woman protagonists are wonderful
and insufficient. And in as a lot as Atwood turns traditional novel-writing on its head, via way
of means of setting guys on the long way quit of her plot lines, her woman protagonists don't,
via way of means of any means, stay in absolute rectitude. And in this, her protagonists are
actual and self-conscious. Atwood additionally strategically locations parentheses withinside
the textual content to split the poem into halves. The lake in Atwood's poem can also be
related to an effective image of femininity. The artwork of symbolism portrays water as
strongly female; besides, water that emerges from the earth is interpreted as a present from
the womb of Mother Nature. This is paying homage to Atwood's photo of the lake; generally,
herbal lakes are born from flowing springs that might be from the earth. The starting of all
existence happens withinside the "water" of the girl's womb. Therefore, the lake may also
constitute the girl's womb or the start of existence, and the submerged lady may also
characterize the ladies' robust voice and authentic nature this is eagerly organized to be born
right into a male-ruled international. The putting connection of water to the girl’s spirit is
established via the proficient cap potential of ladies to nurture and bring existence withinside
the fluid in their uterus or womb. In Atwood's poem, female energy is prepared to be born
right into an international of gender equality. Knowing that Margaret Atwood is a famed
feminist writer, leads me to agree that the poem's symbolically hidden predominant topic is
the oppression of ladies in a male-ruled society. The truth is that the photo is blurred, the
elements of the panorama and the usage of parentheses to divide the poem will be interpreted
in numerous ways; however, the underlying topic is overwhelmingly feministic in nature. A
female of 1920 could be amazed to understand that she could be remembered as a "new
female." Many adjustments could input her lifestyle withinside the subsequent ten years.
Significant adjustments for girls passed off in politics, the home, the workplace, and in
education. Some had been the consequences of legal guidelines surpassed, many resulted
from newly advanced technologies, and all needed to do with converting attitudes in the
direction of the vicinity of girls in society. Surprisingly, a few girls didn't need the vote. A
good-sized mindset changed into that girls' roles and guys' roles did now no longer overlap.
This concept of "separate spheres" held that girls need to situation themselves with home,
children, and religion, at the same time as guys took care of commercial enterprise and
politics. North Carolina warring parties of female suffrage, or balloting, claimed that "girls
aren't the same fellows mentally" and being capable of a vote "could take them out in their
right sphere of lifestyles." Though gradually applying their newly gained balloting rights,
with the aid of using the give-up of the decade, girls had been represented on local, state, and
countrywide political committees and had been influenced by the political timetable of the
federal government. More emphasis commenced being placed on social improvement,
inclusive of shielding legal guidelines for baby hard work and jail reform. Women lively in
politics in 1929 nonetheless had little power, however, they'd begun the adventure to real
political equality. "A female who completes paintings for a diploma presented with the aid of
using the institution [can] be graduated." In 1928 the simplest twenty-one girls had been
enrolled there (Benner,2004).
What I loved most about This Is a Photograph of me is that its meaning lies behind what
the eyes can perceive. Atwood’s bizarre and strongly feministic poem is complete with
symbolism. The poem comes throughout as a morbid description of a photo taken of a useless
lady hidden beneath the lake, she drowned in. It is darker than the words we can read, its
context is far beyond the textual content of the poem. Everything withinside the picture,
actually and symbolically, is laid low with the photo's distortion. The small hill that "needs to
be a gentle/ slope", represents the demanding situations ladies have in overcoming girl
prejudice. This venture has to be effortless, however, it's miles alternatively a laborious climb.
The small body residence symbolizes ladies as an entire ladies' area in society. Generally,
ladies are bodily smaller than men, and they're regularly regarded because of the weaker
gender. Also, the house is usually located as a lady's area in society in preference to fixing
issues withinside the workforce. The rising tree department indicates the numerous issues or
problems at the back of the unfair remedy of ladies. An unmarried tree department has one
predominant department with many similarly sizable smaller branches stemming from the
primary department. It made me feel creepy at first, but it made me shiver more learning its
true meaning. The depiction of the image of women during this time gave the message to our
society as to how women need equality and social freedom, away from oppression. Margaret
Atwood is one of those women we can tell as a strong independent woman, who knows her
worth.

References:

Benner, L (2004). "A New Woman Emerges" Tar Heel Junior Historian.
Tar Heel Junior Historian Association, NC Museum of History. Retrieved from
https://www.ncpedia.org/history/20th-Century/1920s-women

Bhattacharya, D. (July 02, 2018). How Margaret Atwood Portrays Women In Her Books:
https://www.thecuriousreader.in/features/margaret-atwood-women/