Gender Criticism based on Feminism and Masculinism in the Book “Skin” Essay

The book entitled, Skin is written by Ted Dekker and is a globeufacturing novel about a killer who took as captives five bulk who each had stories to tell and had things about their past to confront. They were brought together by such(prenominal) deadly circumstances and despite their individual differences and suspicions drawn against oneness a nonher, they had to last together somehow against a common enemy, their captor. Skin covers issues of feminism and masculinism in the details about how the captured characters namely, Wendy, Colt, Jerry, Nicole and Carey were victimized by the killer, Red.For Wendy, it on the whole started one wet night when she was driving herself to the place where her estranged mother was. The horror of all that they set out gone through, all five of them, turned out to be something none of them was ever prepared for. Thesis The novel Skin relates a story that swans the thesis that the gender-defined roles of the characters therein damaged bot h sides. The story in addition presented the question of what true dish is, both masculine and feminine beauty. smasher is explored both as an external quality and as something that is more than what meets the substance in manpower and in women. It turns out that beauty finish be perceived by pack as gender-defined. Beauty in men, thus, can be judged by parameters that are supposed(p) to apply to men, and then beauty in women can be judged by altogether different parameters that, in turn, are supposed to apply to women. Feminism in the Story Wendy is an escapist from a cult where men reigned as the superior sex.In fact, pull down decisions pertaining to her life who she was to wed blushtually, who she could date and kiss were do by the admit head of their tribe, a man much older that her who was all the corresponding supposed to be her future husband. Her mom was in the cult, too. As a division of it, she submitted to such attracter and went to wherever the group w ent, never deciding for herself where and how she cute to live her life. Through it all, she allowed the cult corpuser to make decisions that she should have do for herself and her daughter, Wendy.Wendy has become a prime feminist since her escape from the group whose members made up her world. She then became totally lighten free to make extracts for herself, free to make decisions concerning herself, her life and her soulal interests. She has been equipped with good education and having been a scholar who made it through college by herself with no help from parents, whose support usually comes in the form of financial resources to enable their children get through college as a demeanor to have much better chances for a bright future.During her traumatic childhood experiences in the cult where the male leader was practically the ruler of all, Wendy had known what it meant to be eyed or even reserved for an older man. In the story, there was the pre-arranged marriage that W endy had no choice however to succumb to when the time for it would come. For this reason, Wendy was even punished at one time for having kissed a big cat. Through it all, Wendy came to have this timidity of men. It was the same fear that went in the charge of her having a serious relationship with a guy even when she was already a young woman.Thus, during years since her escape, Wendy had only female person friends. Given the life she lived and the role of men in her life, Wendy has cock-a-hoop to be an independent woman who definitely did not need a man to make life easier for her. In contrast, Nicole had her brother, Cary, to adore her, to take care of her and to nourish her. She grew up depending on the come and security that her older brother represented. Nicole represents the in truth image that present day feminists want to totally disassociate from women in general.Shes a victim of men who, the sames of her brother, have to be needed by the women in their lives as th e only way they would tactile property strong, masculine and happy. In such a trap, the likes of Nicole have been raised to trust that women are weak and are in constant need of the security department and support that only men can provide. For an independent woman like Wendy, it was indeed a novelty to watch Carey carry his younger babe all the way and to see for herself how much Carey loves his younger sister, Nicole. And Nicole, loved him, too. He was her older brother who has always been her source of love and protection.The same love and protection, though, can serve to curtail Nicoles potentials as a person a free thinker, a decision-maker and the master of her fate. Thus, the protective love of men in this case, Nicoles older brother can be likened to a trap that can prevent women from going out into the world, making mistakes and development in the process, and living their lives to the fullest. Curtailed freedom was one thing Wendy and Nicole had in common, but Wend y had chosen to break out of her prison cell and fly absent toward freedom and self-realization.Men, as oppressors, can clip the wings of the women in their lives each intentionally or not, either lovingly or not the manner, though, does not change the meaning of what is going on. Masculinism in the Story Colts masculinity would seem readily obvious in the light of his being a officeholder. His marked skill as a gunman would serve to give birth his masculinity an added boost. After all, his being an adept shooter can intimately be surmised to mean his being a good protector of people under his wings.As a great gunman, then, Colt has won the respect and wonderment of his fellow cops in the police department, both male and female. And also as a great gunman, Colt would seem the kind of man who has little or nothing to fear. No one would guess, then, that for all his seemingly apparent masculinity, Colt has fears and has doubts of his capabilities and qualities as a man. In fa ct, the story says that having a woman around or being with one is enough to break Colts cool behavior and to reduce him into a bundle of nerves. He therefore has neven been close to a woman.His life has been lived and has revolved pretty much around male friends. The story has mentioned Colts mom who has been murdered but was believed to have committed suicide she might easily have been the only woman in his life. mavins childhood always leaves its imprints on the person. Events during Colts childhood have caused him to have insecurities and doubts about himself. These self-doubts leave no sign in the policeman that Colt has become. Such doubts and insecurities have stayed within him but have been buried way under Colts demeanor.In a way, Colt has been victimized by the way ladies ridicule guys they are not interested in, more so when ladies lour those suitors whom they do not at all find attractive. Being jilted by a girl can have such an unfortunate impact on a guys confid ence. Some guys even find it hard to recover their self-esteem after having been rejected by the ladies they loved. While Colt avoided women as characters he was not ready to have in his life, Cary was the type of guy who was instinctively protective of women he loved, like his sister, Nicole.Cary has grown up believing that the male sex is the stronger sex and that the females are therefore to be taken care of and sheltered. While adhering to this belief, being in lost(p) situations would kill the likes of Cary in their insistence that they be the protectors of the women they love. Thus, in the story, it tore Cary asunder to watch his younger sister in pain and so helpless. It in addition broke his heart that he could not do what had to be through with(p) to keep them all safe from harm.Thus, independent women like Wendy would be a novelty to Colt, whose perception of women would be more of the clinging and needy sort. In the same way, frail and fragile women like Nicole would disarm Colts defense and lead him to overcome his fear of women, who in the person of Nicole can seem to be such weak, dependent and powerless creatures in need of somebody like himself. The story is adroitly set with twists that all served to help the characters eventually submit their fears and find themselves.Works Cited Dekker, Ted. Skin. Tennessee Thomas Nelson, Inc. 2007.