I felt that Leslie Marmon Silko furthers some of the ideas that Virginia Woolf made in A Room of One’s Own through her essay In the Combat Zone. In this essay, Leslie Marmon Silko addresses the issue of violence against women and essentially challenges the way that it is viewed. One of her statements that stood out to me, regarding the difference in violent treatment between men and women, is when she writes “Men who have been in combat know the feeling of being a predator's target, but it is difficult for men to admit that we women live our entire lives in a combat zone.” I think this essay is in complete alignment with what Virginia Woolf has to say. While Leslie Marmon Silko’s statements are more of a generalization, she is clearly implying that women are not given the same rights and security that men are given. She states that this unequal treatment results in women having less opportunity and hinders their ability to succeed, which is the exact same statement that Virginia Woolf makes in her writing.
Although this whole essay relates to A Room of One’s Own, one passage stood out to me the most:
“Many women I know, including myself, try to avoid going outside of their homes alone after dark. Big deal, you say; well, yes, it is a big deal since most lectures, performances, and films are presented at night; so are dinners and other social events. Women out alone at night who are assaulted by strangers are put on trial by public opinion: Any woman out alone after dark is asking for trouble. Presently, for millions of women of all socioeconomic backgrounds, sundown is lockdown. We are prisoners of violent strangers.”
The main point made in this passage that agrees with Virginia Woolf’s thesis is that women are robbed of opportunity both professionally and socially because of societal norms that are against them. This norm is rarely challenged but is upheld as an excuse for why violence occurs against women. In this essay, Leslie Marmon Silko challenges this belief and calls for change in the way women think of their own vulnerability. She argues that women should not have to sacrifice what they want, but should be entitled to the same rights that men have. These issues are extremely similar to those addressed in A Room of One’s Own, and that is why I believe that this essay completely aligns with the Virginia Woolf’s thesis.
Ryan-
ReplyDeleteI thought this was a well thought out analysis. I think your first reference to Silko regarding how women live their lives in combat zone can also be sufficiently referenced to The Yellow Wallpaper where the female narrator was essentially trapped in the room. Do you think if the writer was a male instead of a female, she wouldn’t be stuck in the confined room like she was in The Yellow Wallpaper? I nonetheless see the clear similarities between what Woolf was claiming and your analysis of Silko’s writing.
Another aspect of Woolf’s writing I think is particularly relevant to your claims is when she was reading through the various book titles at the Oxbridge library. By including book/article titles like “Weaker in moral sense than,” “Small size of brain of,” and “mental, moral, and physical inferiority of,” Woolf is clearly identifying how women are significantly inferior to men in her writing. Overall, I think you did an excellent job providing clear evidence to support your claim that women are robbed of opportunity both professionally and socially due to societal norms.