Is there room today for females to be
who they truly want to be? Can women have
the freedom of choice of either holding onto old stereotypical gender roles or
striving to attain whatever it is they wish to accomplish? The largest factor I see is whether the
female is comfortable with herself and her beliefs in the first place. She must have a strong enough character to
look beyond how others around her may label her, persuade her or condemn her. This is the type of male strength our fore
fathers had when they formed our country, it is the type of strength necessary
to force change and become who you truly want to be as a person.
In Esquivel’s essay “At the Hearth,”
the story line runs us through her childhood learning the ways of the women
generations before her. She takes us on
her journey of becoming educated, gains wisdom, and finally makes her way back
in completing her circle of life by returning to the hearth. She comes to the realization that the birth
of the new man cannot take place until there are societal changes of what is
truly important. I agree with her. In a material based society, one’s worth and
value is measured by the ownership of worthless and meaningless items never
attaining total fulfillment. The giving
of life, sustenance and nurturing of spiritual needs becomes much more
important to her and should to us all.
I’ve placed my order for my own copy, only 1 left on Amazon.
Jumping to a recent DQ Commercial, I
was taken aback at first. Not surprised though, as it depicts the same old use
of simple sex which is in most of our advertising world. The use of such a young girl compounds and
epitomizes what feminists are constantly trying to combat. Here I see two ways of looking at it, however;
1. The young girl just using her femininity to get the ice cream she wanted which
confirms the female in a weak form; or 2. The young girl intentionally and
psychologically outsmarting the young boy by using her femininity over him as
she knew he would be weak, a stronger view.
I hope DQ was going for later.
The underlying answer to all of this
is simply respect and basic human rights.
Whether male or female it’s
something we want, desire, and deserve.
In this capitalistic age people are measured by their salary, job
position, and where they fit into society.
If a homemaker/mother/wife made a salary of say $100,000/yr. do you
think more people would be opting for the job?
Would it make the position more desirable and respected? If so, does that mean it’s ultimately the
price tag that determines the value? Is
there no value to creating human life, a home, caring for elderly parents and
managing a household or is it because we as women have been juggling it for so
long almost seamlessly that it appears to have no value? We can look at “A recent study in Social
Forces, a research journal, found that women–even those with a “feminist”
outlook–are happier when their husband is the primary breadwinner.” (Noer, 2006) Or perhaps can this be due to the fact that
women are typically completing the position of a domestic engineer while
alongside another fulltime/part-time occupation.
The world is forever evolving and change is never easy. I believe we are at a stage that is in limbo
at the moment. Women as a whole are
still trying to find and attain their equality and “new” place in what is still
a largely patriarchal society. As
females our self-esteem and personal thoughts about ourselves can sometimes
have a paralyzing effect and be detrimental when we are not sure of ourselves
or haven’t yet decided who we really are.
It is that inner strength that allows great women such as Susan B.
Anthony to Malala, to step out and speak up.
They are both women who know themselves.
Try ordering a double dipped chocolate Esquivel in a waffle cone at DQ
just to see the reaction. (607/626)
Works Cited
Noer, M. (2006, August 22). Forbes. Retrieved
February 9, 2015, from Forbes Website:
http://www.forbes.com/2006/08/21/careers-marriage-dating_cx_mn_0821women.html
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