We all learned it in kindergarten. The golden rule: treat
others how you want to be treated. Unfortunately, such a simple maxim is
apparently incredibly difficult to grasp for some people. Every human being has
an equal, intrinsic worth, regardless of gender. That’s that. No one has any
place to look down on someone because they’re a woman, or think someone is
inadequate because they’re a man. Yes, males and females are different, but different does not mean unequal. For
this reason, maintaining that the two sexes must be segregated and live out their
lives in opposite spheres of social influence is ludicrous.
Edna Pontellier from Kate Chopin’s The Awakening suffers firsthand from such antiquated sexist
prejudice. Ensnared in a stifling relationship, Edna searches for and
ultimately finds a man who she believes will bring the extra dimension that has
been missing from her life. Having her hopes raised and subsequently dashed by discovering
she has conflicting intentions with her love interest, Edna is forced to make a
difficult decision. Because her sex is suppressed by society and not afforded
the same freedoms as men, Edna’s life as a wife and mother is dreary, oppressive,
and a far cry from the life she intended for herself. Edna drastically reclaims
her individual freedom by owning her own life and committing suicide. Though
her situation is terrible and tragic, Edna becomes a martyr for women who are
forced to alter their personalities and lives to satisfy men.
Though technically fictitious, Edna’s suppressed existence is
an all too legitimate reality for far too many women in America and abroad.
Though society as a whole is making great strides towards gender equality,
perhaps most noticeably evidenced in the #HeforShe movement, we have a long
ways to go before the two sexes are honestly treated as equals. But just like
the old story about the boy throwing starfish back into the ocean, every person
matters. For every individual that takes a stand through HeforShe and declares
that man and woman are created equal, society is progressing in the right
direction. Eradicating millenniums of
prejudice and discrimination will take time, but I believe it’s possible. I
dearly hope that by the time I die, society will recognize that a person’s
gender is secondary to the fact that they are first and foremost a human, all of
which are equally deserving of respect.
