Women and Their Independence

I think that there was a major issue in a Thousand Splendid Suns concerning women and their independence.  I had such a problem with Nana's inability to function and be happy without a man.  Yes he was a jerk but she needed to get over it and face society and be there for her daughter.  It would have been hard, but she definitely could have done it.  Part of the problem though was the society that they lived in.  They oppressed women, and still do, to the point that they thought the most important thing in life was to be married and have children. That is just so wrong to me because there is so much more out there.  What bothers me even more is that there are so many people out there, not just in the  Middle East but also in America, who think the same way.  Some of these people are even women and they think that there is nothing else for them but a husband and children.  I am not saying that being a housewife is bad but that not realizing that there are other choices out there is.  I bet plenty of women are housewives because they think that there is nothing better for them to be or aspire for.  They do not need a man to survive and be happy.  All women should know that they can be independent and that there is nothing wrong with being independent. Nana seemed to not know this, which was part of her problem.  She was just so bitter about her situation that she couldn't even consider that she could over come it.

Society and It's Ethics

I want to talk about number thirteen of the socratic seminar questions for A Doll House. The question was "What is the difference between the ethical codes for men and women in the society portrayed in the drama?"  Obviously, there are some big gender gaps in this story. Nora is expected to stay home and take care of the children.  Her husband doesn't want her to have to work, and many women who do work are looked down upon in society. Helmer is meant to be the bread winner of the family and make all the decisions with their money.  In this family in particular, there is a role play type of situation in which Nora pretends to be a perfect little angel but in reality, she is not.  They never talk of anything serious as if Helmer thinks that Nora is too stupid or innocent to ever even think of such matters. It was not okay for her to borrow money or have any involvement in the business world at all.  It was an ethic code of their society just as today many people still think that women should stay at home and take care of the children and cook and clean and make their husband happy. Of course we are breaking out of this, just as Nora did by leaving, but there are plenty of men who still want to suppress women into these roles.  It really saddens me that we are not past this by now, though I do realize that these ideas could still be around for maybe a hundred more years.
In the Awakening, we do see a woman, Edna, break out of her societal constraints, or at least try.  Just like Nora, Edna tried to escape the expectations and ethical codes that society was pushing at her. In my opinion she was unsuccessful and felt that the only way she could get away was to end it.  She was not successful as Nora was because she did not find a way to leave.  I think that in our society everyone has certain social constraints, not just women.  Women do have it especially hard with being expected to look and act certain ways but other groups have it hard as well.  Ethnic groups such as African Americans or Latinos are seen as certain way in society.  It's not right, but that is how it is.  Some find a way to get past these expectations, but many don't and live with them their whole lives.  Also, a big controversy in our county is gay marriage and homosexuality.  Our society has always tried to push these people into "normalcy" but currently more and more are pushing out of this expectation and making their views and wants public which is awesome. I admire anyone who openly pushes at society's constraints. But anyway, in conclusion, Nora and Edna are both women who tried to escape society's ideas for them.  Nora succeeded and Edna did not. This is how society is today as well. Some break society's expectations and rules while some stay behind these lines. I think there will always be some sort of societal expectation and that there will always be people trying to be individuals.

The Challenge of Cultural Relativism

A problem was brought forth in The Challenge of Cultural Relativism saying that this theory cannot be applied to certain things such as the earth being flat or spherical. If one culture believe the earth was flat but we believe that it is spherical, can we actually overlook that and say that there is both right and wrong in these beliefs? We now for a fact that the earth is spherical. I don't think this theory is meant to be applied to situations such as the previous, but moreover moral situations such as shown with the Greeks and the Callations.  Every culture has a different belief system which has different moral traits. Yes, there may be one truth out there that is the only thing that is right, but there is no way of knowing what that could be, so there is faith. Each culture puts their faith in their beliefs and to them, they are right because they believe that their truth is the only truth. In Things Fall Apart, many people would see the cultures marital practices as wrong, but according to their culture, they would see ours as wrong.  Right now even, there is the question of gay marriage. So many people claim it is wrong based on their belief system, but others have their own set of moral guidelines that allow such a thing. People need to be more open minded to see the difference in everyone's ideas and beliefs. So many problems have arisen throughout history because of this. I'm sure that the Greeks and the Callations despised each other only because of their burial rituals. They probably fought wars over it, just as there have been religious wars in the Middle East for centuries. If everyone were to apply this theory of understanding and tolerance towards other religions and cultures, we would not have so many problems in the world. Of course you can't force the theory onto scientific fact, such as the world being round, but there should still be an understanding that each culture can believe what it wants. We cannot condemn other beliefs or cultures merely because they are different.
Now, I'm not saying that you can just let terrible acts of inhumanity go because a certain group of people believes in something.  Take the Nazis for example.  Most people would agree that what they did was terrible and wrong, but the Nazis thought they were doing a great thing. Here is where the Theory gets blurry. I think that the solution is to say that groups and cultures that believe one thing should not be forcing their beliefs on others, and if they do, we should be allowed to stop them. Christians have always been forcing their religion on others for years and years as have other religions. This is wrong, even though they do it in the name of "God."  The people being repressed should have the right to push them away and refuse their beliefs.  Again with the current situation of gay marriage, many say that people are trying to force homosexuality into society, but in fact, it has been here for ages. They are not forcing their beliefs on anyone else, they are not forcing  others to be gay, so society has no right to fight them off. I'm not entirely certain if any of this made sense or if I was rambling, but hopefully, I got my point across.