This week, my group presented on "The Secret Woman" by Colette. In this story, there exists a strong binary between men and women. Men have been considered to be the more sexually open and driven gender as compared to the stereotypical view that depicts women as more censored and uninterested in sexuality. In the story, a man goes to an "Opera Ball" in the hopes of discovering his wife and her supposed lover. At the Opera, there seems to be a very open expression of sexuality and love, an environment that the man's wife had seemed utterly disgusted by when her husband had told her about it before. While at the Opera, the wife remains disguised like all the others, but her unique cough and snuff-box antique give away her identity to her suspecting husband who follows her throughout the night. The man watches as his wife changes from what seems to be pure in nature, to a more dirty behavior which is depicted in the change of his wife's hands that turn from pure to black throughout the night. Curious as to whether or not his wife has come to meet another man, the husband pursues his wife at the event, watching as she openly dances and kisses other men only to walk away afterwards as the disguised woman. After she dances away from a man she has just kissed, the husband realizes that his wife is not in fact here for another man, but is simply enjoying the freedom of casual sexual expression without the confines of an open identity. This seems to make the man more uncomfortable than the idea of her having a secret lover. This idea of presumed notion regarding women's closeted expression of sexuality is overturned and exemplifies the gender roles that have become engrained in the human psyche.
It appears that society may feel an uneasiness at a woman's sexual expression. Women in the past have been viewed as objects, serving the man's sexual needs rather the possibility of serving their own. This story represents the idea that women are not objects; rather, women are human beings just like men and, therefore, possess their own sexuality. The fact that the wife is in disguise throughout the night may serve to bring to light the belief that anonymity is necessary for women to express their sexuality in public without criticism.
I agree with your point that this story helps prove the idea that women, similarly to men, possess there own sexuality. I think that is argument is actually supported by the poll we took in class; the same number of women said that they would rather watch from afar as participate. These results in some ways help challenge the idea that women are objects.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that the story presents the idea that women need anonymity to express their sexuality. Although women being able to possess their own sexuality may be a step towards equal freedom of sexuality, the fact that anonymity is necessary for women to express their sexuality keeps women from being completely equal to men. I think that this reveals, like you said, that society is still uneasy about women's sexual expression.
ReplyDeleteI think you're right in concluding that the story suggests that women require anonymity to freely express their sexuality. This idea implies that women will be criticized for behavior like Irene's. In fact, Irene herself denounces the ball at the beginning of the story in order to maintain her lady-like reputation. I think your conclusion is relevant to the modern concept of "slut-shaming," which reveals that women who act promiscuously or publicly express their sexuality are scorned and labeled as sluts. Like Irene, women today feel social pressure to hide their sexuality and must resort to anonynimity in order to comfortably to express it.
ReplyDeleteDo you assert that a woman must be anonymous to express her sexuality or are you simply inferring that notion from the story? I ask because while I understand that that is what Colette was implying, I would imagine that there would be hope for women to become as comfortable with their desires as men are.
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