Today's women

郭红艳

Our teacher often said to us with a big smile on her face :“If a woman is defined as a strong woman, then she is not a woman any more. In the eyes of these men, she has been a men”in the History and Anthology of English Literature class.Acorrding to people’s way of thinking, woman’s position should be in the house to take care of their husband and children,their career should be put in the second.A woman should have a famliy, otherwise she is not complete woman,on matter how sucessful her career is. Though feminism movements had achieved many fulfillments since 1850’s, this kind of thinking is still rooting in people’s mind. So far, women have got the rights  to vote, get good education, work and so on. However , it is not enough. Recently, I have watched a film“Mona Lisa Smile”which was very thought-provoking and inspired me some  ideas about women’s character in  modern society.

     Firstly ,I will introduce the outline of the film to you. In autumn of 1953, Katherine Waston, the protagonist of this film, went to Wellesley College to teach at the art history department, with her great ambitions which made her life a difference. A free and forward thinker she was, she showed the girls grotesque and unorthodox paintings to teach them to open their minds and view the pictures in a new way but not confined by authorities’ opinions. What’s more, she encouraged her students to pursue their own dreams and ideational careers which was not acceptable at that time that ,acorrding to the contemporary social values ,women’s sole responsibilty was taking care of their husbands and children, no matter how well – educated they were. And it was also unacceptable at that college, the most conservative college in the country, which led to a lot of disputes and she was asked to change her lesson syllabuses. Women were not required and needed to find a job and had their own careers. At the same time ,because of their different opinions on marriage between her and Betty, a girl got married before graduation, their conflicts are increasing. The girls are deeply influenced by the traditional ideas that girls were born to be a good qualified wife and mother, a supporter of their husbands’ career. Finally , Katherine did not compromise to the traditions and the requirements of the authorities that she should teach as the school syllabus asked, gave up the post in the college. However, she won the respects and admiration of these brilliant girls who understood the importance of independent thinking, though they chose a different life style.

   Kathreine was afraid of marriage and refused a man’s proposal who has been her boyfriend for three months. In one respect, she was unwilling to sacrifice her indepenence as a women and career which could give a sense of success. In the other hand, she has suffered a great pain from her former boyfriend and didn’t dare to believe others easily. In the end of the film, she chose to travel alone and kept her own way of thinking and living. She is a new women, unique and brilliant ,compare with the contemporary women, is still a good example for today’s women. Today ,many women choose to be single all their lifetime and exert themselves to their career single – mindedly. For better or worse, it is their discision and their way of living and we should  accept this new phenomenon in a tolerate attitude.