With Women's Freedom Comes Responsibility

[Virgil Reality]

The story of "Tess Of The Durbervilles" gives rise to lots of interesting discussions and central is the position of women in society and their choices , or lack thereof, in their own destiny.

I thought this article was pretty interesting

With Womens Freedom Comes Responsibility

Discuss

[Gg]

ooh, an assignment!


It is the intelletual freedoms that I treasure the most. As Tess herself mentions -- she doesn't even know (the dangers she faces as a woman, she is a possession to her family and ultimately to both Alec and Angel -- an object of love or sex or opportunity, but not a PERSON); she is never educated enough to defend herself from her employer, her church, her society. Rather than the "right to party" perhaps it is our sudden ability to make mistakes that these freedoms allow, to some extent -- to think for ourselves, even when we get bad ideas! All else springs from that -- creation of work that is our own, sexual freedom, the freedom of educated choice. The idea that all people, regardless of gender, have a inborn right to have enough information to at least attempt a well lived life. Figuring out how to live with all the information we CAN get is hard enough. A hard decision is a far greater gift than never having the capacity or opportunity to make a decision at all.

What does Jo March say in Little Women?--raised as a transendentalist, she had the freedom of thought to voice the opinion that woman should be given the vote, not because they are good or because they are in some way perceived as better than men -- but because they are citizens and they are here.

But currently my favorite quote about the role of women in history is from the play "History Boys" when "Totty" says:

"What is History -- history is women following behind...with a bucket"

[Virgil Reality]

Of course, we speak with a first world perspective.

One just assumes that anyone can google anything, anytime. (and increasingly, with Balackberry, anywhere,anytime

Fact is, there are still women without running water, let alone high- speed broadband

[jessyjellybean]

one of my work friends is from away Im treading carefully here cos I dont want to make trouble,when she wanted to go out with another gal she was quizzed to with in an inch of her life,in some cases its still a matter of the man=the boss

[jenny]

Okay...so it has been awhile since I have written an essay!
Thanks for this article. It is very fitting for the book that I just finished for my book club - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.
I will try to give a bit of a review without giving away too much of the story.
Basically the story is about the relationships of women and the hardships that they endure. I'm being tright...it is a bit more complex than that.
Like Tess, the story is fictional but historical. It is an emotional story that covers the plight of women in Afghanistan. There are many parallels between Tess and the characters in this book - the lack of choice based on societal expectations, the roles of sex and relationships, betrayal and the idea that women are possessions.
It opens with the mother of one of the two heroines (Mariam) in the story telling her illegitimate daughter about "our lot in life." That of the poor, uneducated women who endure the "hardships of life, the slights of men and the disdain of society."
Like Tess this heroine is put to death for defending herself against more abuse at the hands of her husband and content with the decision that she has made.
It would be an interesting character study for someone.
Many countries have come a long way in the "liberties" of women, but some have gone backward. This book is an example of that. It really pulls at your heart and makes you shake your head and appreciate the things that you have in life.