Her Dues of Allegiance

Jul 07, 2008 13:00

I've been reading Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery. It's the fourth time I've read this book. I love it dearly. It's about a young man, Eric Marshall, who meets Kilmeny Gordon in an old abandoned orchard. She's amazingly beautiful, but she's a mute. It's all about how Eric woos and wins her for his wife. It's such a beautiful story--it's like a fairy tale, only it isn't.

The last line I read was this, "[Kilmeny] was, though quite unconsciously, the woman to be wooed and won, exacting, with sweet, innate pride, her dues of allegiance." It's such a beautiful line. It sums up my idea of what womanhood ought to be, of how women ought to look at themselves. We are not objects to be ogled. Nor are we merely rivals for men, trying to outdo them in sports, education, jobs, and everything else. We are beautiful and we must be respected. We must demand that respect. No, not demand in so many words. I mean that our actions must clearly show that we expect the respect that is our "dues of allegiance."

It's so sad how our culture has forgotten this. Of course I don't mean that women are fragile creatures that should do nothing but sit around and sew all day long. If you know me, you know that I hardly do that myself. Indeed, I do have a number of more masculine interests, such as video games. What I mean is that women ought to be reverenced. I mean that a women should be treated with respect. Of course, I don't expect men to do this instinctively in today's society; women need to teach it to them again. In fact, women have to learn it themselves. Women today don't really respect themselves. We're too busy trying to be like the guys. No, I don't mean that girls shouldn't play sports. I do mean that we women need to learn that we really can't be just like men--we just aren't made that way.

I'm sick of Hollywood trying to shove this down our throats. I'm talking about post-modern stuff like Enchanted, in which the courageous princess must vanquish the evil dragon to save the captured "prince." Please. I firmly believe that if any women were to be perfectly honest with herself, she would not want that to be the case at all. What woman wants to have to rescue the man she loves? I'm not saying that women can't do anything, or that they shouldn't do want they can if their loved ones are in trouble. But no women (who hasn't been conditioned to) is going to dream of sailing in and rescuing a man? If there are any, they are precious few.

*sigh* I'm just so tired of "power" women in all their incarnations. Why do women have to raise children, climb corporate ladders, and donate time to the community? Why is it that a woman won't get much respect unless she works and raises her kids? Of course, she has to be sexy until the day she dies, too. There's far too much pressure on women these days. They have to do and be everything.

This turned out to be longer than I expected. I'm afraid I didn't defend my position very well, though. I'm still trying to understand my own femininity (believe me, it isn't easy in today's world), so many of these thoughts aren't fully developed yet. The mood took me to say these things, and I obeyed it. ;)

lm montgomery, beauty, modernity, women, feminism, ramblings

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