Self-worth

The role of women is something that is still talked about today. The true role of a woman to some is a wife and mother, or while others feel they should be equal to men especially in the work force. Woman today, at least in our country, have their own identity and are seen as an individual. This was not the case in The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Edna realizes that she does not know who she truly is and she needs to leave her husband and family in order to figure that out. Of course for her the only solution was suicide. To me, this is such as foreign concept, how could a person not know who they are. Women were seen as less than men, and they were more of “play things” which can be seen in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. Nora was just seen as doll to her husband, he would give her money and treat her like a child but she was not her own person.

I do not understand how a mother can be so selfish as to leave her children as Nora and Edna did. Your children are supposed to be your most prized possession and protecting them is the most important thing. These women seemed to only have children because that is what was expected of them. Who were they if they were not mothers? Nobody. Nora and Edna were both so dependent on men their entire life that they did not know who they were on their own and they had trouble dealing with it. Edna searches for herself in other people besides her husband, while Nora decides that she does not love her husband anymore. I like the bold move that Nora made, however I think that Edna committing suicide was a very cowardly thing to do, and she took the easy way out. The only problem is that in today’s society it would be frowned upon for a mother to leave her children for her own selfish desire, but in the time period the novels take place it is a bold statement.

Unfortunately women are still put into categories and if they are not doing what is expected they are labeled and outcast (this does apply for males too.) In the article, “Part of a Whole, But Still Me” by Alexandra Franklin she reminisces on the past when she was different and was not into all of the “girl things.” Her mother wanted her to wear lipstick and dress up, while she found it more important to be smart, but she had to choose between being pretty or being smart. Once she gets a boyfriend she begins to question whether she was in love or whether it was sympathy, and furthermore felt like she had sold out. She turned to anorexia to try and solve the way she felt about herself. She put everything she had into her boyfriend because she did not know how else to find worth. She slowly began to figure out who she really was, and she was still able to be with Dan. She found the college that was right for her, one apart from her boyfriend. It is not that she gave up on being an individual but she realized that it was okay to be part of the whole, because she loved Dan. I think this article really shows how girls lose their identity in today’s world. So many girls/women put all there worth into a guy, and usually not one who is going to give them anything in return, and then they do not know who they are without someone to lean on. They constantly need a guy to depend on and that is where they seek their identity, but I think this article shows that you can love someone and still figure out who you are on your own.