"Either Men and Women are Equal, or They're Not"

I found The Awakening by Kate Chopin to be an incredible novel that uniquely and realistically explores the acuity and engagements of humanity – specifically women. I commonly find in literature, film, or television shows that women are presented as helpless and void of meaning without men. Generally their sole purpose is to find a man that can rescue her from the strenuous and difficult life that she is too fragile or stupid to handle by herself. However, in Chopin’s novel Edna finds herself because she is alone. She understands that no man could ever make her happier than she would be if she could be completely independent and living for herself – unfortunately her society does not give her the opportunity to obtain this fulfillment. Another unique quality of this novel is that it does not degrade men just to elevate women. It does not describe men as mindless, brutal, or ferocious. Edna’s husband is very sensitive and spoils her with materialistic gifts. Arobin is sensuous and physically perceptive to Edna, taking time to romance her and appeal to her sexual desire. Robert is emotionally comprehensive and seeks to make Edna as happy as he knows how, although his environment did not prepare him for a revolutionary woman like Edna.  Chopin does not argue that Edna is any better than her male counterparts, she’s simply different and she is not compatible for this Cajun New Orleans environment. The men in her life seek to own her while Edna wants to be with someone that will allow her to be an equivalent, equal in every social, emotional, and material way.

            Recently I have been absorbed with the show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (I’m actually watching it as I write this). One episode in particular really interested me and got me thinking about gender equality in modern society. The show is typically focused on female victims who are sexually assaulted by male assailants. However, the episode Ridicule is concerned with a male victim who is raped by three women. The male is a stripper who performs at a woman’s bachelor party, but after he goes into the woman’s office to be paid three women tie him to a bed and rape him. When he goes to the police to report his assault, few people believe him because of his gender, including Detective Elliot Stabler, a male detective. In the pretrial, the defense claims that this is not even a real case because a woman could not possibly rape a man, however, the judge replies, “Either men and women are equal, or they’re not.” This quote made me realize that when women are made inferior or treated as immature it has as an equally negative effect on our society as when men are treated as visceral beasts with primitive minds. So many men are told to “man up” and internalize their emotional pain then portrayed as being unable to sympathize. Men and women are physically different, but that does not make one superior to the other. Gender roles are so fascinating to me and I’m still developing my attitude towards society’s opinion on the behaviors of each gender but the subtle differences in media speak loudly towards the issue and popular opinion. Embracing differences and illuminating unique talents equalizes individuals’ roles in their society.