Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Where are the women?
Women continue to get the short-end of the stick with the stories for this week. I have never seen "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" movie, but I wonder if his mom had more of a role than she did in the book. I would think the mom, who gave birth to this phenomenon, would be mentioned more to give her perspective. What did she think when she gave birth to Benjamin? Did she have any idea things were wrong during the pregnancy? I feel like a whole side of the story is missing without more input from her. At least a woman had some whole in this story — Hildegarde — unlike stories like "Unseen — Unfeared," with no female characters, and "The Jelly-Fish," which stated that the graduates were all male.
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I agree, I was terribly confused when Mr. Button got to the hospital and absolutely no mention of her was made. Not a nurse, not the doctor, not Mr. Button made any allusion to her, much less a mention of what she was going through/doing. Maybe a stork dropped Benjamin off?
ReplyDeleteI agree as well, the women seem very left out of this literary time, or are subject to being objectified or simple side stories. Though, one point I did like in this story was that it was so sharply pointed out the hypocrisy and double standard that surrounds women looking older as they age and men looking more "distinguished." It was all dandy when this young girl loved an older man, but God forbid a younger man should find an older woman attractive. It is a problem in the average marriage, and was an exponential issue to someone growing ever younger!
ReplyDeleteWomen don't get much attention in general in most of the stories we've read, or if women do get mentioned, it's as objects of suffering (like in Poe's story, where the poor woman gets all her teeth forcibly removed...). I'd like to know what Benjamin's mother thought about the son she gave birth to, though - Mr. Button had a really hard time accepting that his son was so unusual, but what about Mrs. Button? Did she feel the same way? And if she did, maybe she got left out of the story because she left herself out of Benjamin's life. Maybe she doesn't get mentioned as a part of his life because she was freaked out by him, and therefore distanced herself from Benjamin. The story definitely made it clear that the Buttons cared about public image and what society thought, so could that have played a part too?
ReplyDeleteI thought about this post allot when reading "I have no mouth." The woman in the story was turned into a complete slut and was there just for the amusement of AM. Are we ever going to read a story where the women are given some credit ?
ReplyDeleteIt really bothered me that the mother in "Curious Case..." was never mentioned after Benjamin's birth. I wonder if she was shunned for giving birth to such an unusual human. I also wonder if Benjamin's dad was ashamed of her for ruining the family name and that's why she is never mentioned again. No doubt, she probably felt very guilty and was looked down upon by others. In the film, Benjamin's mother dies shortly after giving birth to him. However, the woman who raises him plays a huge role in the film. She is seen as a strong, independent, and loving woman.
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