Introduction

In this presentation I will be exploring the issue of culture, identity, and community, more specifically
female agency. This struggle is and has been deeply entrenched in societal norms and gender roles that
have led to the discrimination and subjugation of women. In modern society organizations such as the Me
Too movement have been created to help women around the world to achieve power. The movement
was created in protest to the structural sexism and prejudice embedded in our society.

By analyzing literary works like Carol Ann Duffy's "Little Red Cap" from her collection "The World's Wife"
(1999) and the more modern day representation of women in the Tampax advertisement "Text4 Tampax"
(2010s), we can explore the different dimensions of the female struggle for agency, thus the pursuit of a
powerful role in modern society. The struggle for agency is the main topic for both texts and is
represented both physically and psychologically in both, where the challenge is represented as a path and
the end goal is agency.

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In Carol Ann Duffy’s Little Red Cap the protagonist slowly gains her agency and power and uses the wolf
as a tool to achieve this. LRC first leads the wolf into thinking that she is nothing but a prey, we can infer
this from the quote “I made quite sure he spotted me”, this makes it clear that the protagonist had
already planned to make actions in order to pursue her aim of agency; yet it also clarifies that she is in a
position of complete powerlessness since she is completely dependent on the wolf taking her virginity
from her in order to gain power. The wolf's position of power is further described by the expression “he
stood in a clearing” this is symbolism since it depicts the wolf in a confident and powerful way since he is
not afraid to be in an exposed position. The metaphor of the “white dove” symbolizes purity, innocence
and virginity; this is also a remark to modern society and its injustices. In our world more often than not
women have to sacrifice this in order to obtain agency this is a price that men don’t have to pay. The
statement made before regarding “murder clues” matched with the figure of the white dove creates a
strong contrast between the pureness of the dove and the brutality and violence impersonated by the
wolf. The loss of her virginity was a major step in LRC’s life, however it is possible to infer that the wolf did
not share the same thoughts over this event. The symbolisms “breakfast in bed” and “one bite dead” are
two statements that prove this deduction, these are referring to the dove’s death and thus on how the
wolf took away LRC’s innocence, they give off the idea of simplicity and daily routine; which again is
strongly against the gravity of the action itself. After this major step forward there is the biggest shift in
power dynamics of the whole text, this occurred exactly when as stated “I took an axe to the wolf as he
slept” as she is in complete power being armed and him being asleep, he is powerless she has almost
achieved agency; here power is symbolized by violence, she needs to kill him in order to detach and not
be dependent on the wolf thus cutting it out of her story line and detaching from this event and the wolf
himself. The physical journey later concludes as she leaves the forest, “out of the forest i come with
flowers” the flowers accentuate the idea of happiness and completion thus showing that her aim had
been achieved and she now had gained her agency.

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Overall, in the other poems by Carol Ann Duffy there is a constant presence of the struggles endured by
the main female protagonists in order to obtain their agency and role in society. In the poem named
“Thetis” the protagonist Goes through a number of physical transformations from animals to mythical
figures back into animals, these actions are taken in order to better adapt to the ever changing situation.
The changes are not linear but rather change in frequency as the gravity of the situation varies, as this
process goes on the protagonist slowly gains agency which is shown in the last stanza where the author
expresses the completion of the objective. The quote: “I changed, I learned” shows how she had finally
gained knowledge and had finally reached agency and her struggle had come to an end.

In the literary extract of “Pygmalion’s bride” we can witness once more the main protagonist undergo a
series of challenges to which she has to adapt in order to finally obtain her agency. This time unlike
“thetis” there is only one transformation, from statue to human. In the first stanza the author is clear,
Galatea is powerless and completely lacks agency; this is expressed by ““He will not touch me”, but he
did”. Pygmalion has complete power over her, thus she is cold and impotent like a statue. However,
towards the end of the poem the situation changes once more, Galatea gains power as shown by the
quote “So I changed tack,” this puts her as the active one granting her power to act; this is followed by
asyndetic listing where the actions of sexual intercourse are described one more signifying that she
gained her agency through the loss of her virginity. Finally she expresses her independence from him with
the quote “And haven’t seen him since.” showing how she had completely detached from him and has
finally gained her agency. This is a criticism of the modern system where this often happens for modern,
where the loss of virginity is the only way to obtain agency.

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Zoom in

In Tampax advert 4, made in the 2010s; we can see a development in identity and the struggle to achieve
agency. Against acts of violence which not only strip women of their agency but also reinforce power
imbalances that perpetuate gender inequality. By examining modern advertising such as the Tampax
advertisement "Text4 Tampax," we can witness how the company is trying to fight this situation. It is a
clear attempt of granting back agency to women that is shown both in a physical and psychological way.
Physically it is shown by a small dangerous road which leads to a stunning and unexplored island which
signifies freedom and agency. Again the protagonist is ready to take on this challenge as shown by the
sporty clothing and the hiking boots, similarly the motorcycle is a symbol for tampax which are the most
important way through which true agency can be obtained. Again psychologically, we can see the
extremely high presence of the color blue, this is usually associated with masculinity. The color blue is
anti-stereotypical breaking societal norms and showing that with determination and preparation agency
and power can be achieved. Undoubtedly this advertisement is hinting that the only way to fight period is
with tampax and thus the only way to reach the island is the motorbike, it also hits that the only way to
achieve agency is to become much more like a men. This physical journey reflects the one taken by LRC in
Carol Ann Duffy's poem, and the embedded sexism and gender imbalances are also very present in both,
in little red cap its regarding the loss of virginity while here its about becoming a man.

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More generally all tampax adverts have a similar concept all showing positivity towards the idea of
reaching agency and empowerment; yet they are not underestimating the extreme difficulty of the task
and are also subtly hinting that tampax is the only way to obtain this agency. The texts are also all
breaking the stereotypes, as an example text 2 where in the main picture is depicted a woman on a
motorcycle which during the 1970s was often deemed a manly activity and often discarded by most
women. Text 2 further accentuates the idea of empowerment by making use of imperative action verbs
such as “run and roar”that show power and will to take action. Once more the authors use colour as a
way to symbolise purity and freedom as shown in the white dress in the top corner of the advert. Yet,
these ideas and concepts are brought to such extremes that it raises a question of whether these ads can
be seen as sexist; they depict such actions as alien to women, arguably making a mockery out of them.

Text 5 has a similar approach to the issue, again it depicts sever women enjoying sports, which are often
considered dangerous and can be discarded women, like surfing or camping. However, it also ironizes on
some aspects of femininity, like make up, and overreactions to dangerous situations, this is representing
women with more agency than what was believed in those times, yet it also implies that although women
have agency they are still not equal to men. Still, there are several different details supporting female
agency and defeating gender stereotypes, an example is the knife which signifies power and masculinity,
as well as the predominant presence of the color blue which is often paired with the idea of masculinity.
Thus, we can once more notice the achievement of agency, yet this does not happen arbitrarily but rather
to a more limited extent.

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Conclusion

The adverts highlight the struggle for agency women have faced in the past decades, this is achieved
through a number of metaphors, symbolisms and other rhetorical figures. Duffy's representations of old
and historical tales contradict traditional gender roles and the patriarchal systems that ruled the world in
the past. They emphasize the themes of power, agency and the struggles of obtaining both. Duffy defies
tradition, bending rules and going against historical norms, exploring the global issue of the struggle for
agency like had never been done before. Again, Tampax adverts convey a message of positivity towards
the idea of achieving agency and independence but do not underestimate the challenges of doing so.
Furthermore, there is a subtle suggestion that Tampax is the only means to obtain agency, still this is
predictable due to the nature of the source itself. However, tampax representation of the way to solve the
issue of agency is very extreme, this is to such an extent that to some the source itself might appear as
sexist due to the over exaggeration of the gender roles themselves. This topic is still very sensitive today,
and analysing the difference an change occurred throughout the years from the early seventies to more
modern times is extremely interesting and important in order to understand the future of this issue

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