Predecessor's Purpose

            Where would an aspiring female soccer player be without the footsteps of Mia Hamm to follow?  Where would a student teacher be without the guidance of a successful professional teacher?  Where do the majority of children without some responsible adult guidance in their lives end up?  Each of these situations presents an amateur of some sort needing the example of an “expert” to become successful in each of these areas.  Furthermore, each area needs to have had a “history.”  For example, the student teacher is following the history and traditions of education.  Education has had a history, and, therefore, can produce teachers with the ability to replicate and improve the process of educating.  Most humans like to have a path to follow; a step-by-step process of how to achieve their goal.  Of course humans also like to be individuals and create their own unique techniques within their field, but, generally, the major aspects of the field will remain constant.  Over time, the unique techniques will sew themselves together to adapt the overall process, but one person does not typically change an entire process.  The next conclusion that can be drawn is the difficulty of an individual to begin “something” that no other individual has achieved previously.  History has shown, though, that the world has had firsts.  For example George Washington was the first President of the U.S., and Aretha Franklin was the first women inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Virginia Woolf intruduces another arena in which there had to be a first: female authors of novels. 

            In the words of Woolf, women “had no tradition behind them.”  Female literary geniuses had no example to follow.  Carving their way was the only option.  Although this was an obstacle, these women were geniuses, so they probably could easily overcome this downfall of not having a predecessor.  Another possible problem would be not having the encouragement of another woman’s success.  The idea “if she can do it, I can do it to” is a very real human consideration.  We think that if another person with some similarity to ourselves can accomplish tasks, then we in return can accomplish the task.  The first female novelists were left to their own devices.  The final, and most obstructive, was that the world, since it had never had a first, was afraid to have a first.  The fear was expressed through oppression; women had never written novels, so, therefore, women were “not capable of writing novels” in the minds of humans at the time (many males and females thought this).  The first had to be able to push through this opposition.  Not having a lineage to follow was the greatest discouragement to female novelists because of the consequential fear it created. 

            Human nature tends to fear change.  At times this is warranted because change can be negative.  The universe has a moral standard that all humans are accountable to.  Change that allows humans to defy this standard is not a positive change, and it should be feared.   For example, as a society, we should not allow undeserved murder to be acceptable.  We should fear a change that would allow this.  However, some necessary changes face adversity even if these changes are correct and justified.  Many men and women before the twentieth century in the U.S. (and continuing today) fear the changing of women’s roles in society.  Women being able to vote, enter the work force, write, sing, and act are all examples of positive changes of women’s roles.  Many people still fear this change, but it is an appropriate, even positive, change.  On the other hand, I do find that this change, although positive, has been abused by humans to have some adverse effects.  Women are now expected to “do it all.”  Having a successful career, family, and marriage are expectations put on women.  Some women do have the ability to successfully handle it all.  However, to expect all women to be able to juggle these successfully is unrealistic.  In many cases, depending on the career, women should chose between a family (children) and a career.  Children are dealt a raw deal when mom and dad are both never home.  Of course there is always the option of the father being available for the kids, but many times it is a mother’s nature that desires this naturally.  This is not to say that all mothers have these tendencies (I am not a mom, so I do not know), but I would conclude a majority do based on conversations I have shared with mothers. 

Hopefully, the world will not stop having its “firsts;” hopefully, the geniuses out there will recognize their abilities and not allow their reservations to stop them in their journey.         

               

Flaws of Feminism

Reading literature such as A Doll’s House or A Thousand Splendid Suns opens discussion of issues relating to the roles of men and women in society.  In modern western society, we see men and women working side by side; equal, for the most part.   This has certainly evolved during the course of the years beginning with the American Revolution.  A Doll’s House enlightens readers to the accepted role of women in the late 19^th century in western culture.  Nora is a common house wife.  She focuses her life on pleasing her husband.  This includes "looking pretty" and not much else.  Helmer calls his wife pet names such as “little squirrel” giving insight to their relationship: Nora is Helmer’s doll with which he dotes on but does not see as an equal partner.  Nora is allotted money from Helmer.  She is not involved in the finances of the household.  Any serious comments Nora mentions to Helmer are brushed aside as if her mind is not capable of logical thinking or intelligence.  True to the work’s title, Nora is simply a doll that Helmer “plays with” in his house.  Nora’s secret she keeps from Helmer proves that she has the capability of not being a doll; in fact, she could eventually discover who she is as an individual.  Nora realizes that she had never had the opportunity to be an individual since she went from being a daughter to being a wife.  She recognizes she has to leave the marriage in order to uncover herself. 

This situation describes many women of that time.  The author meant the play to illustrate reality.  In a marriage, both man and woman should view each other with equal value.  This means that each should value the other’s thoughts, opinions, and capabilities as highly as he/she values his/her own.  This idea of men and women having the same importance was not widely held until a few decades ago. 

Looking at literature with the setting in areas such as the Middle East, a culture where men and women are not of the same value can be observed.  A Thousand Splendid Suns gives insight to the culture of Afghanistan, and the different level of value place on men and women.  Largely, women were simply for bearing children and taking care of a household.  As lesser human beings, women were, therefore, legally subject to physical punishment at the hands of a man. 

The derogatory treatment of many Afghan women, as presented in A Thousand Splendid Suns stemmed from human error in interpreting and implementing religious laws/ideas.  For example, women are/were required to cover themselves because their purity is to be upheld; they are to be free from the eyes of men other than their husband.  Although this idea is an honorable one, the way in which man implemented this was flawed. 

Despite these appalling examples of inequality between genders, I find flaws in the modern movement of equality.  Men and women are of the same value, but not of the same capabilities.  First there are physical differences, such as a woman’s ability to bear a child.  Despite protests, men are generally physically stronger than women.  The logical side of the majority of men’s brains is more active than the emotional side, while women have a more active emotional side of their brain.  The majority of women seek to develop relationships with other human beings; newborn baby girls seek to make eye contact earlier and more frequently than boys.  These and other so-called “stereotypes” are actually truths that have been proven.  We must accept these differences; they are unchangeable!  The issue is not these differences.  The issue is how we interpret these differences.  Saying that logic is always more important than emotion is wrong.  Saying that since women are physically weaker than men, women are of less importance is also wrong.  Comparing two very different things and saying one is of more importance than other is incorrect in this situation because these two different human beings were created to complement each other.  However, just because the emotional part of a man’s brain is not as active as the emotional does not mean a man does not have or feel emotion.  Similarly, a woman can certainly think logically.  In each gender, some may be more like the average than others.  For example, one woman may be able to think more logically than another.  Therefore, we can not categorize individuals as simply a man or a woman.  Similarly, without looking at an individual, one should not decide that person’s capabilities based on his or her gender. 

All of this is to say that man and women are fundamentally different.  These differences cause men to be better at some things and women better at other things.  Our value as a human is what makes us equal, not our abilities.  “So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.”