The Livelihood of a WomanThroughout time, women throughout the world have struggled to be seen, heard, and taken seriously. In the book, Cassandra, Christa Wolf paints this picture depicting the struggle women face, occurring during the aftermath of the Trojan war. The story is told by Cassandra, a strong and intelligent young woman who wants to voice her opinions and stand up for what she believes in. The theme of Cassandra is boldly evident throughout the entire book: female strength and the importance of women having a voice. Cassandra refuses to cooperate with a plan to use Polyxena, her sister, to trap Achilles in the temple of apollo. Her ideas and input are dismissed because although she's royalty, she's a woman -a woman who is speaking out against the statements of a man, contradicting their arguments. Although Cassandra’s refusal of this ridiculous plan may seem that she is simply “being difficult”, or that she was standing up to a “superior”, it was so much more than that. Her refusal signifies a refusal for women everywhere. The refusal to follow the demands of a male who is attempting to abuse his power. The refusal to allow another man to take advantage of a woman, once again. The refusal to allow for the abuse of women everywhere. Not every woman has the strength and voice that Cassandra has to speak out against this war on women. Sadly, many women are unable to escape the grasp of their abusers and become the victim of domestic violence, or even worse, death. Given the events occurring in the US right now, this refusal Cassandra stands for is more important than ever. Cassandra spoke out for the women who couldn't-- women like Gabby Petito. If you are unfamiliar with the developing case of Gabby Petito and her ex fiance Brian Laundrie, you can click here to learn more information. You can also do your own research to form your own thoughts and opinions of what you believe happened with this case. To summarize, Gabby Petito and her boyfriend/ex-fiance went on a hiking trip in her van out west for a few months. After receiving a call about a domestic dispute, officers were called to the scene and approached the couple. In all of the body cam footage from the officers, Brian can be seen laughing and joking around with the officers, yet we see a distraught and sobbing Gabby Petito. The cops all believed that Gabby was the aggressor and that Brian was the victim, even though the initial 911 caller said that they witnessed Brian slapping Gabby (Looking at this footage now, it’s tragic to see that we did not recognize the red flags in the video). The two were separated for the night, and went on with their trip. A few days later, Brian shows up at home, in Gabby’s van, with no Gabby. He immediately “lawyers up” the second he gets home and refuses to talk to police, suspicious, right? Gabby is labeled as a missing person by her family, and shortly afterwards, officers find her deceased body. The case is particularly interesting to me because Brian, who is not yet in police custody, nor considered a suspect, goes “missing” suddenly. Not only did he go missing, but his parents weren't even looking for him. What parents wouldn’t panic when their son suddenly disappears with no form of contact… unless, they are simply throwing the FBI off of his trail to cover, because they are in on Gabby’s death as well (this has not been confirmed by any source but has been highly discussed across many social media sites). Gabby’s family is insistent on the fact that he is not missing, he is hiding -- based on the circumstances, I would agree. The FBI are currently searching for him. Clearly he has something to hide, I mean why else would he be refusing to talk to police and be insistent upon getting a lawyer the second he arrived home? And furthermore, why would he suddenly disappear? Now that you know some basic background information on the case and know a very condensed version of the tragic story, you can see the relevancy of men having power over women once again. We need to advocate for women and the importance of women having a voice. Cassandra speaking up about women empowerment needs to spark a much needed discussion; we must empower women and eliminate tragedies like this from happening each and every day. The police chose Brian’s giggly and happy-go-lucky story over the story of a distraught young female. Many believe that Gabby was trying to protect Brian when they were initially pulled over. Was she covering for him? It’s clear in the videos from the officers that Gabby is not okay. Brian’s nature is clearly narcissistic, and personally I’d even go as far to say sociopathic. How was she labeled as the aggressor and Brian the victim? How did they not ask her, a distraught and frantic woman, if she needed help? There are just so many questions waiting to be answered. How did we fail her like this? Because Brian had the power in the situation. HE remained calm and laughed off the situation, HE called her crazy...yet now her family is presented with a dead body and no answers. This is just one of the many instances of a males dominance and abuse of power asserted over a female. In the grand scheme of things, Cassandra refusing to be a part of the ploy was her way of speaking out for women everywhere. She spoke for women like Gabby Petito who couldn't get out of a toxic relationship and save herself, for the women everywhere that go missing each day, and for the women who fall victim to their abuser because they don't have the resources or are too scared to leave. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/style/gabby-petito-case-tiktok-social-media.html https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/147/abstract/christa-wolf’s-cassandra-different-times-different-views https://classicalstudies.org/annual-meeting/147/abstract/christa-wolf’s-cassandra-different-times-different-views
0 Comments
|
AuthorHi! My name is Alyssa and I am a fourth year Psychology major! When I'm not busy with work and school I enjoy cooking new recipes, and binging Schitt's Creek on Netflix. Archives |