Equal Opportunity?

When referring back to the essential questions we responded to prior to reading The Awakening, question number eight immediately grabbed my attention.  It raises the issue of whether or not we as a society have equality between genders.  Personally, I do trust that when compared to other countries around the world, we alone have become the closest to achieving parity among the sexes.  However, though at times I can still see America as being a “man’s world”, I am absolutely moved by the advancement of women. 

While women had formerly stayed at home to tend to the housework and children while their husbands went to their white or blue collar jobs, the whole situation has seemed to increasingly reverse itself through present day.   According to the Washington Post, there are an estimated 159,000 stay-at-home fathers in the United States to date; a number that has practically tripled in the last ten years.  It’s astonishing to think that while at one time women have gone from not even being allowed to vote, some are now even becoming politicians such as Sarah Palin (unfortunately), Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Polosi (also unfortunately). 

In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier can be seen as one of the women who tried to break the housewife trend.  During her time period of the late 1800s, it was almost unforeseen for a woman to move out of her house, mind you during a marriage, to live independently elsewhere.  She even had the guts to challenge her husband’s authority by insisting that she would follow her aspiration to be an artist and do as she would like.  Surprisingly, her obviously male physician, Doctor Mandelet, sided with Edna in her personal desires against the wishes of her husband.  Shortly after, her once dominating husband was no longer objectionable to her choice of lifestyle. He was likely seen by other men as being “henpecked”; a rarity of that time.

Of course, not all husbands approve of their wives idea of having personal freedom, as is seen in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns.  Mariam and Laila’s husband, Rasheed, a polygamist, puts his fist down and controls his wives’ every move; even their outward appearance.  Not only are his wives practically prisoners, but they are also constantly abused both verbally and physically throughout the entire novel.  Though this oppression may seem like something of the past, it is sadly still apparent in Middle Eastern society today.

A lot of our views on gender can be traced back to the media.  As stated in STS9’s song and documentary, Regeneration, “…And when you’re surrounded by an environment that way, you have to be shaped by that.  That’s how culture works; culture shapes identity, culture shapes how we understand the world.  So it’s not that we’re surrounded by media, what we’re surrounded by is commercialized media,”.  This idea that “culture shapes identity and how we understand the world” can be applied to the way men treat their wives in countries such as Afghanistan.  While we may wonder how so many women tolerate their lowly role in that society, we also need to realize that in theory, they are ignorant of their potential due to the environment in which they were raised.  In contrast, while such countries lack surrounding media, our country thrives off of it, and so, I believe that the media can take most of the blame for the gender roles we see today in our country; and sadly, we continue to listen, watch, and even enjoy the entertainment that concentrates the majority of its subject matter on women as “sex objects”.  Take the Rolling Stones’ song, Under My Thumb for instance: One verse includes the lines: "Under my thumb, a Siamese cat of a girl.  Under my thumb, she’s the sweetest, hmm, pet in the world.”  If a woman was not acquainted with the song, and read those lyrics, she would likely have a fit and label it as a “sexist” piece of material.  Nonetheless, despite the chauvinistic lyrics, women (my Mom and her sister included) still love Mick Jagger, and are still huge Stones’ fans.  

I do believe that as a country, the U.S. is moving toward equality between genders in a variety ways.  However, other countries around the world, and even some parts of our own society are still far from achieving this egalitarianism.  I do believe that women deserve more credit for their ideas and strength as individuals.  As an infamous bumper stick declares – “Well behaved women seldom make history”- Laurel Thatcher Ulrich  - However, for now, I believe that the preponderance of our concern should be attributed to that of other societies; mainly the underdeveloped countries in the world where, in many cases, women are deprived of even basic education and overall respect within their own society.  Still, I believe it is absolutely incredible to see that women are making their mark in contemporary society as they increasingly enter into the work force, and live independently without the need for male dominance.