Cruel Cruel World

A Cruel Cruel World

The world we live in can be a horrible place.  There are problems left, right, and center.  An object of the world's horrific acts is, at many times, women.  People in the world (at least in some places in the world) have improved their views, however.  Despite this fact, some places are still under the influence that women are to be belittled and oppressed.  A Thousand Splendid Suns shows this to a T.  The idea that two women were treated so terribly, and whose lives were disrupted and destroyed is disgusting.  As shown in The Yellow Wallpaper, though, it has happened in "developed" and "better" countries in the not-so-distant past, like the United States of America.  The world that we live in is very flawed, but, as it seems, is becoming a better place.

In the past, the world was almost completely, if not completely, dominated by men.  As described in The Yellow Wallpaper, women were treated as less than humans.  They weren't treated equally to men, even though that notion was senseless.  It is disturbing that women couldn't express themselves much, if at all, as see in The Yellow Wallpaper.  Women being sent to places that were virtually prisons or asylums was plain wrong, but in that society, it was deemed fine and actually the right thing to do.  That world was cruel. The one we currently live in is still cruel, but in a different way.

Treatment of women is becoming better.  While far from being perfected, there is considerably more equality between men and women today, especially when compared to fifty years ago.  The plot of The Yellow Wallpaper may be outdated for America, but still has some truth in other parts of the world.  Countries in other parts of the world still believe that men are superior to women, and some may even go as far to say that women are barely human beings.  This is the plot of A Thousand Splendid Suns.  Mariam and Laila were treated as less than humans; neither woman married for love, but either out of necessity or because they were forced.  Once married, they were abused and belittled.  They were forced to hide themselves by their husband and their government.  What kind of world does this to its own people?  A cruel, cruel world.

Something is either innate in humans to make them act this way, or they were taught to be this way for some reason.  Whatever it is, it is very wrong.  It could be that power over other people is so appealing, or it could be an interpretation of a religion or belief system, or it could be a (however incorrect) notion that men were born "better".  There are many possibilities for these old-fashioned, out-dated, obsolete and demeaning ways of life.  The real problem is having to cope with it.  Change on a large-scale is extremely difficult and a long process.  The only way to completely change this world is through law, but that can only happen when the public opinion changes (or a tyrant or other dictator-type leader comes to power and changes it him-/herself, which seems to be unlikely).  To change the opinions and tendencies of people, sometimes the government steps in, but also requires popular support to do so.  This is a vicious and endless cycle, seemingly without end.

Humans were made with faults and flaws, some being much larger and of more importance and relevance than others.  The mistreatment of women was far-reaching enough to be considered a human flaw.  Humans are not likely to mention or acknowledge flaws about themselves, which makes correcting these flaws even more difficult.   The subject of equality for women has been a long-enduring one, and seems to be an oddly-difficult one to embrace for humans.  One day it will be settled, and hopefully soon. One day we can finally say "farewell cruel world."