Until this day, being a woman is hard. We do not have any decision with everything that we want to do. One example is if you want to be a career woman, but they limit yourself with “You should work at home. I could finance you. You do not have to go out of the house. Also, home is the safest place for you. I don’t like you meet the men,” Men are too often saying this because they do not want their wife are smarter rather than them.
Once in a while, refusing their request is also hard. On the contrary, men could refuse what women want from them. On the other side, they merely need women to obey them, but when women deny what they need, the men could act violently. Men murder women because they deny what the men want from them. An example is when women deny his confession and refuse to have sex with them, and the men will murder them. Nevertheless, they think that they are a leader and have power. Furthermore, they can do everything that they want to do. Inequality is horrific.
I remember a novel entitled “The Makioka Sister,” which explained Japanese life in World War II from the 1930s until the 1940s. How women from the upper class lived, and those women did not have freedom like in this era. On the other hand, this novel also explains The Makioka Sister, who had a different character and had a different problem, but it was a huge problem too. Tsuruko had a financial problem, and Sachiko had to continue as Mrs. Makioka. Yukiko was already in her 30s but did not marry, and last, Taeko felt that her family obstructed her dream and decision.
Tsuroku is represented as a woman with two children with a financial problem, but her husband prohibits her from working because her husband thinks women’s work is weird. Whereas Yukiko was already 30s-year-old, she had to marry someone because most Asian think that being a ‘virgin’ at 30s-year-old is weird. Moreover, Taeko had a couple but could not get ahead of her older sister. In the end, she did something wrong and caused disgrace for her family. Hence, her family thought she was a freak because she did not follow the norm in Japan.
On the other hand, this novel also explains inequality in Japanese society. One example is malpractice in the hospital, which represents some doctors do not have good qualifications to be a doctor. Mostly, the doctor is men. In that era, men may have the privilege of continuing their studies. Furthermore, women had a good profession as doctors and lawyers seemed weird to them. When I saw Taeko and Yukiko, I remembered that many women want to tell their feeling. Still, it is hard because societal construction in Asia placed women in the second class.
Some people say that men have to chase women and women are chased by men. I don’t know who began the trend. Nonetheless, I believe starting a relationship obtains both to chase each other. Moreover, women should wait for men. Generally, in Asia, women 25 are already old, say some people. Afterward, women do not have any decisions to decide their life. If women deny everything to men, they will be victimized and murdered by men. On the contrary, men could deny a woman. Sadly, some people think that women confessing their feelings is taboo and not normal for them (also for women).
Taeko is represented as a woman that can decide her life, but she cannot decide on her partner because her family demand that she finds a partner that is equal to her. Another perspective is that she is better off learning about sewing in Japan because her family thinks she will cheat on her partner. Furthermore, her brother-in-law thinks career woman is weird and is not important to continue her study. Moreover, Taeko’s rebellion is represented her disappointment in Japanese society which limits her.
Some people are afraid to confess their feelings to someone that they love. Whereas, sometimes, confession is not about beginning the relationship but expressing their feelings to someone. If they like you, it is okay. Then, they do not like you also, and it is okay. The important thing is that we do not hide our feelings for them. From my perspective, hiding our feelings is dangerous because it makes us not focus on our present and bother our productivity. One example is that we wait for them to reply to our message, whereas they do not want to respond to our message. Implicitly, it makes us not do some activities. I will explain based on my personal experience.
Mostly, women are overthinking the men they love. “How about him?” Afterward, they do some activities to reduce overthinking as a coping mechanism. Nonetheless, if it already bothers you, you must tell your feelings. Furthermore, we cannot guess what someone thinks about the day. Hence, we can know someone interested in you.
A bitter truth, if they do not want to be with you, they will not. Moreover, if you are always hesitant about your feelings, they are not interested in you. On the other hand, overthinking about someone will kill you slowly because waiting without any certainty is the most regretful thing that you ever do.
However, people are afraid of ‘changing.’ Everything will change, but we can handle change. Could they handle their feelings and situation? If they can take is a good thing. Sometimes after being told the feeling, someone avoids interacting with them, but most of them become close rather than before. Nonetheless, some people think I’m cruel because I implicitly restrict my friendship to them. Moreover, I realize it burdens women. Sometimes, men want women still the same as before but disobey women as they want.
“The Makioka Sister” represented Japanese society from the 1930s until the 1940s, which explains how being a woman was hard in that era. Furthermore, the novel is good, but I had a read-slump because the page is thick.
If you can express your feelings and thoughts, it is liberating for you; let’s make yourself free with good communication.
