Peter H.

Mahotiere
Due Date - 4/20/15
ACS 1001
Entertainment, Gender and Time
Gender and entertainment are topics that are usually placed and discussed
alongside one another. A Room of Ones Own by Virginia Woolf directly discusses the
correlation between gender and entertainment. The premise of the novel is about how
gender in the past has hindered the ability of women to be able to write great works of
art. Not only within literature, but in different areas of society has the ability of women
to create great works of art been hindered. Throughout the years women have been
gaining more and more rights. These rights include the right to vote, run for public
office, own property, work certain jobs and also to write great works of art. In todays
society women have the ability to be involved in the entertainment industry and to reach
audiences that encompass both men and women. I enjoy novels, movies and most
entertainment that are associated with men or women. Gender and entertainment have a
strong correlation, but other factors such as age, race and socioeconomic status also play
a role in entertainment preference. Some of the entertainment that I enjoy has to do with
my gender, however other social identifiers also play a role in my entertainment
preferences.
In A Room of Ones Own, Virginia Woolfs points about women and literature is
adaptable to women and entertainment in general. The main source of entertainment for
me is anything that pertains to sports. This type of entertainment is one that I believe has
to do with my gender. I am more drawn towards sports that involve males. I respect

female sports and I know that females work just as hard as men in their sporting event.
When Im watching sporting events, I do not find myself interested in womens sports.
There have been some occasions in which I have been interested in a particular womens
sporting event, but I am more drawn towards mens sporting events. In chapter one of A
Room of Ones Own the narrator speaks of an instance with a Beadle in which his face
expressed horror and indignation. Instinct rather than reason came to [the narrators] help;
he was a Beadle; I was a woman. This was the turf; there was the path. Only the Fellows
and Scholars are allowed here; the gravel is the place for me (6). The scene represents
how women and men were placed on different turfs and therefore are given different
opportunities. This particular instance in the novel reminds me of Title IX. With the
implementation of Title IX, women were able to be better funded in high school and
collegiate sports. With time women were able to conduct themselves in the entertainment
industry and also literature.
Although I enjoy sports with men, I enjoy literature written by both women and
men. I enjoy both The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. The main character of Harry
Potter is a male. The novel is written by a women however. The Harry Potter series is
popular to both women and men of all ages. The Hunger Games is written by a women
and also has a women as the main protagonist of the storyline. Woolf writes about the
emergence of popular women writers throughout history. Woolf writes about Mrs. Behn
who led the way for women writers to make an income from their writing. And with
Mrs. Behn we turn a very important corner on the road. We leave behind, shut up in their
parks among their folios, those solitary great ladies who wrote without audience or
criticism, for their own delight alone...She had to work hard on equal terms with men.

She made by working very hard, enough to live on...For now that Aphra Behn had done
it, girls could go to their parents and say, You need not give me an allowance; I can make
money with my pen (64). In todays society women are now seen as capable as
performing the same tasks as men. In order for women to be successful in literature they
need time to create works of art, but also time for society to accept their talents. Women
authors are just as talented as male authors if not better in some cases. My gender does
not cause me to have a preference on who wrote a novel, but only if I am enticed by the
plot and characters.
Gender and entertainment have some correlation with one another, but the
connection to gender and entertainment preference is more than just gender. In A Room
of Ones Own, Woolf writes about women and literature and what is needed in a woman's
life to be successful through literature. Some of the entertainment that I am interested in
is however due to my gender. Just because I am more drawn to male sports, doesnt
mean that I dont respect womens sports. In A Room of Ones Own, the novel reveals
mostly the disrespect to women involved in literature or sources of entertainment. In
todays society the correlation to gender and entertainment is one of acceptance.
Woolf, Virginia. A Room of Ones Own. San Diego: Harcourt, 1989.