Unreasonable Expectations: Society's Lessons for Women
Summary:
Esther, the narrator of The Bell Jar, was considered a menace to society because she had difficulty conforming to the image that had been designed for her. She was a wonderful person trapped inside the mold of orthodoxy. After her escape from her social expectations she found herself in a downward spiral, simply because she unintentionally eluded "normality."
Normal, according to Webster's Dictionary, is conforming with an accepted standard, model, or pattern. Unfortunately that standard is determined by a close-minded, unyielding force called society. "Society is one vast conspiracy for carving one into the kind of statue it likes and then placing one in the most convenient niche it has." Society tells us what to do and who to be. Esther, the narrator of The Bell Jar, was considered a menace to society because she had difficulty conforming to the image that had been designed for her. She was a wonderful person trapped inside the mold of orthodoxy. After her escape from her social expectations she found herself in a downward spiral, simply because she unintentionally eluded "normality."
People are constantly teaching each other about their proper roles in society. In The Bell Jar, Esther receives instructions from many sources. The media, her family, and friends force upon her expectations of beauty, submission, and virginity, among other things. For example, when Esther states that she will never marry, her friend Buddy Willard responded matter-of-factly and said, "you're crazy." When referring to socially accepted women she became familiar with Esther said, "they all wanted to adopt me...and have me resemble them." Despite Esther's reluctance to yield to sometimes unrealistic and unfair expectations, she feels she must present to society what it wants to see.
These days, the media is relentless in reaching its goal of uniformity and perfection. Esther also faces this issue, especially when reading magazines. Along with eleven other women, Esther won a fashion magazine contest and felt inadequate in comparison to the "cover girl" image the magazine strived to create. These women won the contest using their intelligence (essays, poems, articles, etc.), yet they failed to receive as many intellectual rewards as they did frivolous ones such as makeup kits, "passes to fashion shows and hairstylings at a famous expensive salon."
Esther read an article in the Reader's Digest titled "In Defense of Chastity" that was written by a woman. The editorial stated that it was a female's duty to remain chaste until marriage, even if her husband did not. It is obvious that society taught the author of the article that her role was to be a man's property and subservient to him.
Esther's family and friends worked hard to make her the person they wanted her to be. Her friends at college encouraged her to stop being so studious and subsequently set her up on blind dates. They made comments directed toward Esther about "people wasting their golden college days with their noses stuck in a book." Their telling her to stop being so scholarly was based on the reason of the times. In Esther's decade, the 1940s, a woman who worked hard and educated herself often did so fruitlessly because her career options were quite limited. Despite a woman's intelligence or potential she had to accept substandard jobs such as being "a waitress or a typist" or a secretary because that was considered a woman's proper role.
Esther's mother, probably one of the most influential people in her life, sent her the article "In Defense of Chastity" while she was in college. It was a less than subtle way to persuade Esther to refrain from sexual activity. While Esther's mother was simply being maternal, she was also pushing a message society also wants Esther to adhere to; while on the other hand a man has no obligation to obey.
Society will always require individuals to be people they may not want to be. Esther, because she is a woman, is destined to be a wife, a cook, a mother, and the fixed list is endless, but bleak. Society does its best to carve its members into the ideal statues and gives them designations. However, society cannot sculpt without willing clay - a person who will risk losing their opinions, individuality, and independence.
This is the complete article, containing 645 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
