Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Independence of woman
At the beginning of Thelma and Louise, we get the feeling that Thelma is a stay at home wife secluded from the world around her. After calling Louise on the phone at her work, Thelma decides to make a decision of her own to leave Darryl without confronting him. Up until this point, Darryl had control over Thelma's life, and it is at this moment where she decides to be bold and make a decision for herself. Although she is not leaving him for good, Thelma proves that she is not completely reliant of Darryl in life and can make decisions for herself (we see how important this is to Thelma later in the movie when she say's she has "crossed over"). This is relavent to today as far as the move that women have made in society. No longer are men solely the breadwinners of the family. Women are making a strong stand in society, competing with men in the job market. More and more women are providing for themselves, thus crossing over from the once dependency of men, into a strong independent being suitable for making decisions for their own good.
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I agree with Greg but I also see that the struggle women faced in society during the 90s as still relevant. Although we have come a long way from the "Feminine Mystique" of the 50s and 60s, as Betty Friedan described it, double standards and sexist views are still apparent. All the men that Thelma and Louise encounter with exception of Jimmy and Hal want to put them down. These men can't and don't want to see them as what they have become: independent women. Harlan directly attacks this notion by raping Thelma and the truck driver insults this notion through his sexual gestures. Thelma and Louise beat these oppressors of their independence but their victories over them end up getting them into trouble and lead to their ultimate confrontation with the police. Their final appeal to their independence comes in the form of killing themselves as opposed to being put in prison. But to have to take this drastic of a measure to sustain one’s independence shows the opposition they faced and the struggle that they had to overcome. While women have a lot more independence in all aspects of life, there is a greater potential for someone to want to threaten this independence, like those that Thelma and Louise encountered in the movie, than the independence which men seem to almost take for granted. In the working world, there are times women can not make the same wages as men; can not hold the same job as men. There are derogatory phrases associated with women when they act in certain ways that are considered normal or passable when men do them. While women have gained more independence in life, fragments of the “Feminine Mystique,” of the proper place and proper role and proper way of living for a woman which was put in place by men still exists today, because when a woman accepts and acts upon her independence there are forces which try to threaten this independence.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Greg that it is relevant in the fact that men are no longer the only dominant force in society. There are probably many women who have reached their breaking point and "crossed over" into a new life. Maybe Thelma had a little more dramatic of a transformation than other women, but it can be as small as deciding to go back to school or go for a job interview instead of being a housewife. It seems that in the beginning of this movie Thelma is far behind Louise when it comes to street smarts, but Thelma has such a large transformation that by the end she seems like the leader of the two.
ReplyDeleteWhat are some things that can spark someone into "crossing over" into a new life?
I agree with Greg in the sense that this film shows what is known as the modern woman. I am not saying that all women are fugitive running from the law, but Thelma and Louise rise up from their stereotypical roles as housewife and waitress to become outlaws, which is normally a male role. I think this theme of the women rising up to places that men have typically dominated is still very relevant. The last election serves as a good example of a woman breaking through the barriers of gender roles is society. When Hillary Clinton was almost the democratic nominee for president shows how far our country has come in making strides for equality.
ReplyDeleteDo you think glass sealing still exist?
This aspect of the movie is relevant in that it shows how women transformed to how they are portrayed in society today. Yes, there is still a reasonable rallying cry to better women's rights, but I believe we've made an impressive progress in the last ten years alone. Sure, there are still house wives and mothers who are still confined to their traditional spheres, but this image has been progressively evolving since the 1980s and 1990s. I believe that Thelma's rebellion against this type of image is an example of the feelings that began to spark among women across the country in the past 15-30 years.
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