The F-Word

"What starts with F and ends with -uck?" 

What...

"Firetruck!"

I'm not talking about that; I'm talking about feminism. Here you see Rosie the Riveter, the epitome of feminism, the symbol of strong women worldwide. Many of the times I agree with many of the values feminist try to assimilate into the world such as women being the equals of men, however, sometimes I think that feminists are just looking for a reason to argue. Regardless, I do believe that eventually feminism will become obsolete as our society becomes more accepting over generations; there are just some ignorant bigots preventing that from happening.

"So what does this have to do with 'A Man in a Case?'" 

Be patient; I'm getting there. You see, feminism is, as Oxford Dictionaries defines it, the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. I don't see that at all in "A Man in a Case."

"But Varinka was freely riding around her bike without a care in the world. How can you not call that feminist? She's breaking the norm for women in her community. She's empowering herself to do what she wants and I think that's what feminism embodies." 

Yes, you can make the argument that it is a feminist piece because Varinka rides a bike, but so what? Varinka ends up getting scolded for riding that bike anyways. In Byelinkov and Varinka's world, men are superior and women have a place in society where they need to follow a strict set of unwritten rules about what they can and cannot do. So how could this piece be feminist? Varinka is not an strong, independent woman; she wanted a husband so that she can be normal and not stand out as a single, lonely woman. From what we read in class, I don't see Varinka being empowered at all; I saw her coming second to what Byelinkov wants.

"So what would you call this?" 

I don't really know what I would call this piece, if anything, but I sure wouldn't call it feminist. If it were truly a feminist piece, it probably would be a whole different story.