Guilt

After reading both A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and The Beauty Myth, there were parts that made me feel guilty.
To begin with, in Wollstonecraft’s book she advocates that it is time for women to change their mannerisms in order to better society. She says that women need to be more educated in order to have more things to think about in their daily lives rather than just housework. She says, “girls marry merely to better themselves” (79). Wollstonecraft clearly states that she does not approve of these actions but would prefer that women spend their time doing something more productively. This makes me feel guilty because I feel that I too am a part of what she disagrees with. I have dreamed about getting married and having kids. Not because I don’t want to have a job or be educate, but instead just because it makes me happy. Wollstonecraft says, “women have seldom sufficient serious employment to silence their feelings” (78). I sort of disagree with this and I will use my mom as an example. She told me that she had many opportunities to work, but she refused them because she felt like spending time with us was more important. She didn’t mind spending all of her time with us, nor did she feel like that didn’t satisfy her needs.
In The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, she explains that putting on make up and looking nice, can objectify a woman. She describes how a woman walks down the street, “she painted her face for an hour, blending and shading, and now she holds her head as if it were a work of art” (249). Well firstly, reading that line made me think of a confident executive woman maybe in a business suit and how she feels confident about herself. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I feel like by saying she held her face up like a ‘work of art’ we would be judging her. I understand that women should not only care about their looks, but I personally feel that it should be ok to want to dress up and look nice just because it makes one feel good.
Both these books have very valuable and important messages that have definitely helped shape society. While it is important to be aware of these issues, we should also focus on getting rid of the guilt and judgments. At the end of the day, isn’t that what makes us feel the worst?