For this blog I chose to do Episode 2, “The Lady Vanishes”. During the podcast the reader, Malcom, discusses how individuals can open the door for not only themselves but for others. Although sometimes those individuals close the door behind them and ruin the opportunity for everyone.
Elizabeth Thompson was criticized for winning her nomination to the academy in 1879. The thought of a woman being better than a man is exactly what was not acceptable in society. This shows how much power men can have over women. It didn’t matter if she was an amazing artist, her being a female was the only thing others were focused on. Women were looked upon to be mothers/wives at home and nothing else. Elizabeth’s husband never even wrote about her and it could be because men only wanted to be in charge and women were almost forced to keep their mouth shut. Even most husbands back then didn’t want their wives working or becoming more successful then them because that would be looked at as embarrassing and degrading.
This shows how men’s power in society, especially in politics, over women back then was incredibly strict. For Julia Gillard she struggled having people take her seriously and showing her respect. She was being sexualized in the media and laughed at to her face by many of those who were against a female being in office. This reminds me of how Hilary Clinton was close to being the first female president but even today a female president sounds absurd to men. Hilary Clinton also gave herself a bad image by getting involved in lies which gives men and even women the opportunity to be stereotypical. They can use Hilary as an example for why women shouldn’t be in office and can even shut the door for other opportunities for other females.
It’s a shame that amazing women like Elizabeth Thompson and Julia Gillard struggled to get noticed. My sympathy goes out to Elizabeth for giving up on her dream and letting men’s power tell her what she can and can’t do in life. Gillard also had to deal with such a disgusting response from the men who looked down on her.
Thankfully we see a lot of more women in higher positions in today’s society. However sexism is still common in our current time and although women try their best at standing up for themselves, men still have the mentality that they did decades ago. It’s questionable if women will ever hold the same power as men but we should be proud of how much more freedom and power we’ve gained since the 1800’s. No matter what, females will continue to make even more history then we already have.
The Adult Life No One Told Me About 