Dear Feminists and Anti-Feminists,
I was assigned to read a classic novel in my Honors Lit. and Comp. class. The novel The Woman in White was about how a guy fell in love with a girl who had major family issues. Including the fact that she was being forced to marry someone much older than her only to realize he was marrying her for her family’s money. However, there was many oddly dissatisfying parts in the book that made you want to jump up and take a stand and that’s what I’ll be writing about today. When I first got into the book I was definitely a little lost and taken back by how oddly satisfying the book had gotten in Section 2, Chapter 2, Part 1. There were multiple points where women didn’t have a voice in the novel, well rather they had a voice they just felt like they couldn’t use it.
Feminism is a real topic. Feminism throughout the years has changed but women around the world still feel like they can’t stand up for what they believe in. Like the women in Saudi Arabia who can’t speak out against their husbands or can’t drive a car or even don’t have a voice in whether or not they can have a job without being abused. Physically and emotionally. In a women’s mind it’s set that everything a man can do a woman can do too. We want to feel like we can fit into society without being called weak or made into a media’s public humiliation. I know there are people out there that don’t like the feminist movement and that’s fine but please keep your opinions minimum and hold back all the very negative buildup inside because everyone deserves the same chance men have.
The further I got into the novel the more I started to realize was that Ms. Farlie, (The young Woman) had confessed that she loved another yet Sir Percival, (Monster of the story) defiantly insisted that he was still to marry her over her father’s dying wish. That was the part that got to me. He knew she was in love with someone else and unhappy yet he had the guts to tell her no you’re still marrying me whether or not you like someone else. I MEAN COME ON! How could you not see this guy is trying to use you. Especially the fact that in the same chapter her finances and marital decisions were decided by her father’s Lawyer. Even he could see something was wrong with Sir Percival.
In the story I’ve read multiple times that the women were poisoned, ill, and even dying. Not only did the men in this novel want to get Ms. Farlie’s money but also they wanted to kill anyone who got in the way including Mr. Hartright, (Farlie’s lover) and Ms. Halcombe (Ms. Farlie’s half sister). I just wished in the novel the women had the same rights the men did. A march for fairness and equality for wages and funding. Like today in the modern world where the Women’s march went on NOT for Trump’s presidency, which many thought was about trump, but rights as independent women that doesn’t need a man to prove we can get into the military or then unfair pay based on our gender. We can rise up if we only speak our minds and let no one silence us.
I started thinking what made me connect to this book and I’ll tell you. I have a friend who can’t speak her mind to her dad about certain feminine issues because her father will hit her or ground her. Hearing that along with how the main character of this book was treated throughout her marriage with Sir Percival. She was being beaten not Physically but mentally. She had bruises on her arms because of him grabbing her wrists with full brutal force and forcing her to do things that she didn’t want to do. It’s sad really how the novel lived up to how the gender roles were played. I was worried that this topic was going to be hard because I have come face to face with standing up for what I believe in and in return only got bullied for speaking my mind about what I believe is right and is fair to a man.
If you don’t know what feminism is just take ten minutes out of your day to educate yourself. There is a reason women stand up for equality and fairness and it might not be what you’re thinking is the purpose of the whole shebang. I believe that women can and will magnificently change this planet one step at a time. Even if some people aren’t satisfied of the outcome.
Sincerely,
Kaitlin Hawley-Hughes
