March Monthly Connection

For as long as anyone can remember, men and women have been treated in different ways. In some cases, it is intentionally, and in others subconsciously. No matter how much our modern society attempts to equalify the sexes, their actual treatment will remain divided.
In the book "A Room of One's Own," Virginia Woolf makes some interesting points about how women fit into society. One point that is made, is how women are the protected sex. She goes on to say that one day women will cease to be this. Although she made this prediction, it has yet to come true, and in my opinion, it most likely will not. This concept of women being the protected sex has been around for so long, that to break this pattern would be close to impossible.
Although women aren't protected to the extreme as they were during the time of Virginia Woolf, they are still protected. On a day to day basis, women are taught to be protected, and men are taught to protect the women. In many cities, such as New York City, many women will not walk the streets in certain areas without a man escorting them. Although, it is seen as a necessity for a man to be with a women when in a dangerous area, it's mostly because our society has taught us to behave in this way. If from the start of this world women were taught to defend themselves, protection of themselves would not be as great of a necessity.

February Monthly Connection

Discovering one's self is a concept that many run after for most of their lives. On the other hand, some are born with a strong sense-of-self and never have to search for their true identity. Throughout the course of this year, we have read many books where there has been individuals that are searching for their identity, as well as those that already have captured their "true self." In "The Awakening," Edna is a woman that never discovered who she really is. I saw her as a weak character because she never seemed to make a decision based on her true desires and feelings and instead made her choices based on others. As a result, she choose a life that was not her own and felt like she was stuck as someone that she really wasn't.
I believe that that's the issue with those that are searching for their "true self." People like Edna may become wrapped up in pleasing others that they choose a life that isn't their own. They then allow their circumstances to change who they are as a person which results in unhappiness.
Personally, I can kind of relate to Edna. When I first moved to the area and started going to Oxford last year, I hated it more than anything. When I look back on last year I realize that I allowed my circumstances to determine my overall level of happiness. Instead of being the individual that I was before I moved, I changed into someone that I didn't even recognize. It wasn't until this year that I realized this and now that I think about it, I wish that I wouldn't of allowed my circumstances to control who I was.
I believe that there are a lot of people like Edna. People that allow their jobs and such to determine who they are and when they lose these, their entire self crashes down. I find it sad that people don't know who they are and are in "search" to find their sense-of-self, because in the end, not everyone discovers what they have been in quest for their entire lives.

January Monthly Connection

Although it isn't especially common in modern day, for many years, women mainly married for approval among family members or for social status. This is a very sad concept because in most situations the woman is left lonely and confused. The woman may not even feel as if she knows her so-called husband and is left looking for more in the relationship. In the end, she is often left in a sad state. This can pass on for generations as the human race enforces that money is of utmost importance in one's life. In "The Awakening," Edna marries Leonce under the pressure of her family. Her mother died when she was very young, leaving her oldest sister to step in as her "mother." Because of this, her family felt that it was best that she marry into society, thus having a major impact on the decision of marriage. Edna never appears to truly love Leonce, and finds herself falling in love with Robert. It was through her family striving to bring her into a wealthy lifestyle that left her unhappy.A second novel that we are currently reading is "A Thousand Splendid Suns." In this situation, Mariam is forced into marrying Rasheed. Apparently, Rasheed was put out as being in a higher class. Although he wasn't by any means poor, he wasn't all that he was made out to be. When her father and his wives are convincing Mariam to marry Rasheed, they continue to enforce that she would live a upstanding lifestyle. Once they attempt to have children, Rasheed realizes that Mariam is incapable of carrying a child for a full term. He begins to abuse her, which in turn makes her unhappy with her life.Although these two instances in the novels are very different from one another, they have one similarity. Their forced marriages for the gain of social class gave them an unhappy lifestyle. Thankfully, this concept has declined over the years in America. However, it continues to be prominent in specific regions around the world. Today, some women will marry for money, but in the end they will often turn to divorce in a matter of a couple years. It is marriages such as these that have trashed the meaning of marriage. In my opinion, marrying for social class will only lead to the individuals becoming unhappy with one another. Instead, one should marry when they know that they will be happy with nothing but each other.