My Old Town

I grew up in Bergen County, NJ, a county that is known for having housewives with plastic faces and silicone boobs.  The town I lived in is right next to Franklin Lakes, NJ where the Housewives of New Jersey are from.  I just moved this year from a school called Ramapo High School where I went to school with several sons and daughters of people with superficial lifestyles.  At Ramapo High School, it was not uncommon to see girls walking into school with bigger boobs or new noses after their 16th birthdays.  My parents are not superficial people so it is surprising that we lived in a town for 17 years that was right out of a reality TV show.  Like many parents in town, they saw a good school district, safe streets, and a quick train ride into New York City for work.  Little did they know, walking into Ramapo High School was like walking into a firey-pit of judgmental people.  The girls were always expected too be thin, pretty, smart, and just overall good at everything.  My friends from home are the same people I was best friends with in first grade, so luckily we've all managed to stay down to earth.  As a whole, the girls at Ramapo look nice, but they are not nice at all and do not do nice things.  This is probably why they have been called "Ramahos" generation after generation.

The Beauty Myth and Killing Us Softly 4  remind me of how superficial my old school was.  It is really true that "Today, what hurts is beauty" (219).  Striving to be beautiful is what causes the girls at Ramapo to be so superficial.  What is even worse is that the girl who do not think they are pretty enough will become a typical "ramaho" in order to be visible to the boys at school.  The girls at Rampo truly personify what was talked about in Killing Us Softly 4. These girls make me wonder how much the media actually influences our society.  I would love to know if it is the superficial environment of the girls, or if over all their years, they feel their expectations for themselves are actually realistic and necessary because of the media.

Identity 2

While in Paris with my friend Jaclyn over break, we began talking about our names.  Jaclyn is not a very common name and Alex is an extremely common name.  This started to get me thinking about Jasmine and how she constantly associated herself with whatever names people called her.  Jaclyn and I then came up with the question: does your name have anything to do with who you are? Shockingly, Jaclyn, which  is the more unique name, is more shy than me and my common name.  Maybe over my years I have become more outspoken and outgoing because I need to compensate with always being one of several Alex's.

Jasmine's name seems to drive her through most events in her  life.  Her name depends on whichever guy is most prominent in her life and that persona is who she tries to be in that moment.  For example, when Bud refers to her as Jane, that is who she decides she wants to be: "Plain Jane is all I want to be. Plain Jane is a role, like any other" (26).  Jasmine sees each of her names as a role to be played and that is how she defines herself.

To answer my question (does your name have anything to do who you are?): I feel that your name gives you identity but does not show who you actually are as a person.  I feel that it was a weakness for Jasmine to view herself in the way that each of the men in her life viewed her rather than as an individual.

Who decides how women are viewed?

The Beauty Myth has brought to life several different stereotypes and realities about women.  After reading the beginning of The Beauty Myth, my question is, who decides how women are viewed? It appears that while men may expect women to dress and act a certain way, it is the women who keep these gender differences alive.  While some women dress nicely because they like to look and feel pretty, there are most likely women in the world who are dressing the way they do to get a head start.  The book states that their are more men than women using their looks to get ahead, but if I had to guess I would assume it was the opposite.  It is sad what a shallow world we live in but in reality, more women taking this survey my have just been too ashamed to admit that they have used their looks to get ahead.  "By the 1980s, the agents who head hunted anchors kept their test tapes under categories such as, 'Male Anchors: 40-50' with no corresponding categories for women, and ranked women anchors' physical appearance above their delivery skills or their experience."  This shows the double standard for men and women, and how even if males were trying to use their looks to get ahead, it probably would not make a difference.  

On the ABC show The Voice, the judges have their backs turned away from the performers so that they can be voted purely on looks alone.  A show like this give a fair chance for everyone and allowed the people with the best singing voices to make it the furthest in the competition.  What is so interesting about this show is that when a pretty girl comes on stage and the judges don't put their button because they did not love their voice, they are always immediately disappointed that they didn't vote for them.  It is as if the second they see they are a pretty girl, the fact that their voice was not as good as the other contestants is completely forgotten.  This is parallel to how attractive women in an office who may be doing sub-par work can still get away with having their job, simply because they are pretty.  As hard as people may try to have complete equality, as long as people can see, it will be impossible for people not to judge.  Knowing this, I find that it would be very difficult for women to completely reject trying to have a nice appearance.  This also means that both men and women are involved in how women are viewed.  

All or Nothing

Women are very complicated.  A lot of the time it does not make sense that we expect to have all the rights as men, yet expect to be treated different then men.  Jenna Marbles, a youtube celebrity, brought this to my attention.  Women expect to be treated as equals in the work place, but still believe that the man should pay for dinner.  Why should girls get gifts randomly just because they are the girlfriend in the relationship?  Yes, I'll admit, when I have a boyfriend I would be shocked if he didn't at least offer to pay half the bill.  But why is society so prone to believing that women deserve to be pampered when we have worked so hard to become equal to men in every way possible? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ7wT4CUprQ 

The women in The Handmaid's Tale are only used for sex.  The way the society in Gilead is set up is so women are only needed to get pregnant and have babies.  It is interesting how women in our society appear to have the luxury of having a job, being a wife, a mother, and still being pampered just because that is how women are supposed to be treated.  It appears that when women are seen as for only sex, all of those other  positive things in a women's life disappear along with it.  This explains why the women in Gilead are seen as objects.  Also, when the women in Gilead begin seeing themselves as only being used for sex, they begin to lose site of who they really are.  Even Offred, one of the strongest Handmaids, gives up hope and just let fate take control of her situation.  "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum. Fat lot of good it did for her. Why fight?" (237).  Moira is completely overtaken by the idea that she is only needed for sex when she trades her dignity for some handcream and cigarettes.  "The food's not bad and there's drinks and drugs, if you want it, and we only work nights" (261).  Moira has completely forgotten that women have any other purpose besides sex, and therefore sees her situation as a positive one.  

This makes sense of why women feel the need to have all the benefits that men have and more.  This also proves why there is a double standard between men and women in general about sex. By taking everything away from the Handmaids, we see how important everything women have in our society is for their self-esteem and security.  

Justified #2

In an earlier post I discussed if women in the short stories A Jury of Her Peers and Sweat.  After reading The Handmaid's Tale, it is obvious that when people feel they are doing something wrong, they try to justify their actions.  We saw this in the women in both of these short stories, and we see this in both the men and woman in The Handmaid's Tale.

Women in The Handmaid's Tale try to justify the life they are being forced into living.  Because they so vaguely remember their lives before they lived as handmaids, these women are trying to justify their new life so they aren't completely miserable.  The most disturbing part about this justification is that at some point these women begin to believe in the society that they have been forced into.  When Janine tells the other handmaids about how she had been raped when she was fourteen and got an abortion, rather than feeling sympathy like they would in their old lives, the handmaids blame Janine for the rape.  After seeing Janine in despair and chanting things like "her fault", "teach her a lesson", and "cry baby", Offred thinks to herself, "we meant it, which is the bad part" (82).  This proves how eventually these women have been completely taken over by their new life.  The biggest example of justification in women is seen in Moira.  "So here I am.  They even give you face cream. You should figure out some way of getting in here. You'd have three or four good years before your snatch wears out and they send you to the boneyard.  The food's not bad and there's drink and drugs, if you want, and we only work nights." (261).  Moira is essentially living in a brothel and she is completely trying to justify what she is doing.  Offred understands that Moira's lifestyle is degrading and wrong but all Moira sees is that now she has face wash and a different kind of freedom.  This shows how some women have really forgotten who they are and have completely given into this new society.

The only reason this society can function smoothly is because the men who are leading the society are trying to justify their actions.  It appears that most men understand that what they are doing is wrong, they just try and convince themselves otherwise.  The negative things from the past are driving this horrible society to continue functioning.  They also make exceptions to the strict society that they have created.  "Nature demands variety, for men.  It stands to reason, it's part of the procreational strategy.  It's Nature's plan." (249).  It is clearly much easier for men to be happy in Gilead. The commanders will try and say the old society was wrong, when in reality they are trying to hold on to those old ways any way they can.

Reflection

In class we discussed the second paragraph on page 196 of "The Handmaid's Tales".  This paragraph truly embodies the power of knowledge, how the handmaids feel about men, and what "Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" means.

When Offred is finally able to write something down, everything she has been thinking in her head seems to come to life.  This proves the overall power that the pen holds and how just knowing you have the knowledge to write something down can empower a person completely.  Being able to physically write out "do not let the bastards grind you down" may be the push Offred needed to truly believe and live by those words.

This paragraph also shows what the handmaids feel about the men who control their lives.  In class we came to the conclusion that "Pen Is Envy" clearly stands for "penis envy".  This means that whoever holds the pen holds the power, and in this situation, it is only the men who are allowed to use this power.  This leaves women with only envy for the knowledge and power that men have.  Envy is also one of the seven deadly sins in the bible, so I am curious to see if a religious connection comes into play with the phrase "pen is envy".

"Nolite te bastardes carborundorum" means "do not let the bastards grind you down".  While this holds a powerful meaning in the words itself, I think the most important thing about this phrase is that it connects Offred to the women who lived in her room before her.  It is a reminder to Offred that whoever this women was got out of her bad situation.  It is also a reminder to Offred that the stories that are so fuzzy in her head are true.  This phrase is a continuous reminder that men are not supposed to be treating her the way they do and that society was not always the way it is portrayed in this novel.

Identity

"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood had me thinking about identity and the importance of having one.  The women in this novel are completely stripped of their identities in this new world that has been thrust upon them.  They have taken away their real names, clothing, education, and even their children.  It is as if whatever they knew before they lived in this lifestyle is completely removed from memory and replaced with subjective information that is completely brain washing these women.

The treatment of these women feels similar to how Jews and other minorities were sees as less than human and had their identities taken from them in the holocaust.  The treatment of these women in "The Handmaid's Tale" proves to me that women are only seen as objects and are only sees as useful if they are fertile.  If women weren't needed for reproduction, it appears as if their fate would would parallel to that of Jews in the holocaust.  Just as the women are giving labels of property, Jews were given numbers as their identity and were forbidden to use their real names.  Just like the women in this novel, Jews would secretly call themselves by their real names as a reminder who who they truly are.  "We learned to whisper almost without a sound.  In the semi-darkness we could stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren't looking, and touch each other's hands across space sideways, watching each other's mouths. In this way we exchange names, from bed to bed" (14). What is so terrifying about the women described in this story is that they are beginning to believe the things that they are being brainwashed about.  For example, when one women is raped, the other women truly believe that she brought it upon herself.  Perhaps if the holocaust had gone on longer than it did, Jews would begin to believe that they were unworthy and that they had no identity.

Just as the narrator of "The Handmaid's Tale" continues to tell us, a story must be told even if no one is listening.  Telling her stories is what is keeping the narrator sane through out this novel.  Telling stories of their past lives and using their real names is what helped to keep oppressed Jews sane during the holocaust.  When someone loses site of their overall identity, that is when hope is lost, and when the oppressors have achieved their goal.