I could not help myself but to believe that the author is portraying the idea the female role and maximizing it to the fullest.  (I feel this is very noticeable) I have only read Part One of this novel and three ideas of feminism struck me, and not in a bad way, it is just topical.  The first reason is the Apple commercial that introduced a woman in shorts that is around a large group of men.  I felt that the commercial was giving “ideas” of women in two ways: women are singled out because of being a woman (sexually) and/or women are strong and powerful against men. This commercial can be depicted either way.   Could she used this commercial to gain interest for the consumer of the book; strong women?  The second reason is using a woman as first person/third person.  I feel that she has done this to control the book.  Instead of giving Ethan a say so, she has allowed Roberta (hence the name) full control over his thoughts.  The author does not allow Ethan to give his personal thoughts on how he feels; she gives Roberta the full control over the narration.  The third reason is giving Ethan a negative vibe.  No one likes Ethan or if Ethan is liked then it is for other motives than being himself.  He is mean, seems closed minded, kind of masculine but rather geeky.  Ethan gives the typical stereotypes as a man would like we talked about in class.

 

I do not have a problem with feminism.  Feminism is important for women to show that we are not all a part of the stereotypical “emotional” “dainty” “crybabies”.  It is imperative to show that we are human with emotions just like any other human being.  Men are raised to cover up emotion, we as women know how to show emotion that is the only difference.

 

I have to share this about my life because I feel it is a perfect fit for this.  I have been with my husband for 11 years and only married for 5 of it.  We have been in love for quite some time up until lately.  It is not that we are not “in love” anymore we have come into different parts of life.  My husband has already graduated from Clemson (quite a while ago) and I am at Clemson.  He has a career and I do not.  Therefore, we are in different parts of our lives and it has brought us a part emotionally.  Where I am getting at? It is such a shame that this stereotype of men not being emotional has brought our relationship to a halt.  If he was raised understanding that it is okay to show emotion I feel that it would be much simpler to fix what “drama” we have created in our relationship.

 

Anyway, our society needs to correct the stereotype that women are emotional and men are strong.  Honestly, neither sex is either.  We are human and all humans experience the same feelings only at different times of our lives.