Women in the Family

In Mary Wolllstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Women, she constantly addresses the issue of a woman. Whether they be in the work force, the family, or in the social scene. I find it most interesting, though, when these issues are concentrated within the family. The relationship between a husband and wife starts with love, but there is an eventual natural death of love. "She secures her husband's respect before it is necessary to exert mean arts to please him and feed a dying flame, which nature doomed to expire when the object became familiar, when friendship and forbearance take place of a more ardent affection" (54). When this love dies, though, the two keep a "domestic peace" between them, and I believe that this is necessary for the family to continue on and exert virtues onto their children. But if there is no husband, Wollstonecraft explains how a widow focuses all of her love and attention of her children. "She lives to see the virtues which she endeavoured to plant on principles, fixed into habits, to see her children attain a strength of character sufficient to enable them to endure adversity without forgetting their mother's example" (55). To me, this seems like a huge responsibility for a mother, and extremely hard, considering the era that this book was written in. Women were so limited in the 18th century, and I don't know how Wollstonecraft thought that a widow could be a perfect example for her children. Nobody is perfect, we all have our issues and we all make mistakes. So how Wollstonecraft put this need to be perfect on women is astonishing to me.

Images- Why This Way?

During spring break, I have been in Los Angeles, California looking at schools. During the days which I haven't been touring colleges, my mother and I have opted to go shopping. We figure we might as well since we don't get too many opportunities to shop in America. As we walk the streets of L.A., young, gorgeous, skinny, and fake women troll in high heels, hanging onto their older, successful husbands. Their voices are loud and obnoxious, deafening so much that we have to move tables during one meal. Their conversations include fashion, gossip, and maybe some more fashion. Don't get me wrong, there are so many other types of people in L.A., so I'm not making a generalisation about all women in L.A., I'm just offering my observations of some of the women that I encountered. But as I looked at these women, probably a size 0, sipping on their cold ice waters and picking at their salads, I wonder how our society has evolved into a place where being stick thin is desirable? 

In The Handmaid's Tale, images are consistently brought up. The body is such an important symbol of fertility and beauty in the novel. Yet the main character, Offred, will not look at her own naked body. Her constant dehumanisation of herself contributes to this almost self-loathing of a sort, in which society also adds to. In one instance, we can clearly see her objectifying herself: "What I must present is a made thing, not something born" (66). The pressures of this different society on women focus a lot, like ours, on the body. Margaret Atwood constantly refers to the body, even when Offred is explaining her purpose in society: "I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping" (Chapter 13). 

A few decades ago, the desirable size was maybe a 4 or a 6. But since then, it has decreased until a 0. So many girls nowadays deal with various eating disorders due to so many social pressures around them. The media, being one of the main pressures, has huge implications on girls, especially teenagers. If you look through any random magazine, I can probably guarantee you that 75% of the ads will imply in some way that to be attractive, you need to be skinny. But being attractive shouldn't just be about your weight. It should be about so much more, including the cheesy line: "It's about what's on the inside". But what is it about being skinny that is attractive? Girls all over the world starve themselves to be that way. It can be such an unhealthy way to live as well. You don’t get proper nutrition, and therefore don’t get the most out of your life because you have no energy.

I do believe that the media has played a big part in bringing our society to this point today. But I also think that human nature has played a role. By nature, I feel that we are followers. We look to the “superiors” to guide us on the newest fashion trends, slang, and in this case, body image. If we weren’t like this, we wouldn’t have fallen into this trap that has killed a countless number of girls. Although I am painting a picture of this awful society that has intense pressures on girls to be skinny, I do believe that things are changing. I am seeing many more health campaigns in the media and schools are improving their food to promote healthy eating. Because the world is so aware of these issues, we can take control and fix them. Awareness is such a powerful thing, and I hope that in the future girls won’t have to worry about being a size 0. Instead, they should just worry about being healthy.

A few decades ago, the desirable size was maybe a 4 or a 6. But since then, it has decreased until a 0. So many girls nowadays deal with various eating disorders due to so many social pressures around them. The media, being one of the main pressures, has huge implications on girls, especially teenagers. If you look through any random magazine, I can probably guarantee you that 75% of the ads will imply in some way that to be attractive, you need to be skinny. But being attractive shouldn't just be about your weight. It should be about so much more, including the cheesy line: "It's about what's on the inside". 


Pablo Picasso once said, "Beauty?... To me it is a word without sense because I do not know where its meaning comes from nor where it leads to." I can understand what he trying to say, how beauty is something that we truly cannot define. It is different everywhere, whether that be Los Angeles or the world of Gilead in The Handmaid's Tale. The way that some societies can act upon beauty is so terrible and demeaning, I think that it is one of the most awful things that happens today. Beauty should be allowed to be different and personal.