Reviving Ophelia Response

Quite honestly, the most striking and true part of this reading is that we have become numb to the sexist way in which the media and our culture portray women. I went to a Catholic school in middle school and have very conservative parents, so I feel that these two factors helped me avoid the drugs, sex, alcohol, and violence that many of these girls faced. I was not allowed to see movies above my ratings and my parents had to see them first. While all of these precautions protected me from the more serious effects that accompany growing up, they did not protect me from the other struggles mentioned. I lost my interest in science, even though I had advanced to the regional level for science fair, I felt awkward about all of my physical changes, and I didn’t feel like I had a lot of close friends.

In fact, my changes in interest relates very much to a study I recently learned about in my personality psychology class. It has been shown that girls are more academically successful in grade school than boys, yet by the time they reach middle school, they have fallen behind, most notably in math and science. The cause for this shift was in part due to the praises and criticisms girls received. While boys were corrected or praised for their effort, girls received comments on their ability. This led girls to believe that their intelligence was fixed and that they could not get any smarter. Imagine, if it has been found that most girls feel this way about their intellect, what else do they feel this way about?

When I got to high school freshman year, I found the best friends I will ever have in the theatre department. I was known as the “sheltered one” because of the way I dressed, music I listened to, and the movies I had seen. While in most ways, I am grateful for the way that my parents raised me, I feel saddened that they had HAD to shelter me. Luckily, my high school experience was one of the best of my life, but I can hardly remember who I was in middle school. I do not know if that is because I have changed, or because I have remained the same.

In reading this, I also began to analyze my personal relationship with my boyfriend. I love him very much and feel that he respects me, but I wonder sometimes what the future will bring. I am going to college so that one day I can find success in a career. But how will I juggle the hopes I have of being there for my children with my own personal goals for larger success? His support with either decision is a given, but never have I heard mention of him planning on being a stay at home dad. The issue is always what will I do when we have kids...not what will he do.

I think it is very important that we fight the double standard that exists for women. While I admit that even I have connected feminism to being anti-male, I think that the simple approach of conscious awareness is best in eradicating this view. I want there to be more than four choices for women. We should have the choice to prosper, excel, and dominate, not just conform, withdraw, be depressed or get angry. If we allow our sexist society to douse these young women, we could lose some of the world’s brightest stars.