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Kim Cherisse Cruz

Professor Ditch
English 113B
08 May 2015
Super Women
In the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann
Shaffer and Annie Barrows, Juliet Ashton and Elizabeth McKenna step outside the
tradition women gender roles by being strong independent women. They break free from
the idea of femininity, which has been defined as a social construction of gender
performance. Social construction is how society groups people and how it privileges
certain groups over others. Although gender equality has improved in the world today,
Juliet and Elizabeth pushed boundaries to break free from the social construction of
gender performance by being strong and brave women that society limited them to be.
The socially constructed traditional gender roles of women in society are very
limited. Women are intended to stay home, clean the house and take care of the kids.
Throughout history women are expected to be feminine and they are to take up the roles
of being a wife and a mother. Because women are supposed to be more feminine it may
be odd to see them independent. For instance, Rhetoric for Radicals by Jason Del Gandio
states, Man is constructed as independent, superior, and foundational to humanity.
Women, by contrast, is constructed as dependent, subordinate and secondary (115). The
characteristics that are given to men and women are social constructions. Just like the
idea of women being weak while men are dominant. Society tells them what they are
supposed to be. However, not once did Elizabeth Mckenna and Juliet Ashton seem weak.

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They are dominant women whom made it clear that they are strong and brave. They
spoke their mind and put others before themselves. They are fearless and daring women
that made a real change in society. Judith Butler argues that gender is an objective natural
thing and it does not exist. Gender reality is performative which means, quite simply,
that it is only real to the extent that it is performed (278). Gender, according to Butler, is
not tied to body facts or biology but it is solely and completely a social construction.
Women were restricted to the roles of a wife and a mother, therefore they stayed home
since it was uncommon for women to work and make their own earnings. Because of the
fact that women could not work, they became very dependent on men.
Juliet did not feel she needed to get married; she pursued her dream of being a
writer before she did. According to an article, Revolutionary Changes and Limitations.
Back in 1940, time of World War II, the average bride was just twenty-one. But today, the
average age for a woman to get married is twenty-six. Since women got married very
young, women would be mothers before they turned twenty-two, therefore they entered
the life of motherhood and homemaking before they had the chance to think about what
they wanted to do with their lives. Juliet broke free from the tradition of marriage; she
was not fond of the thought of marrying someone just to get married. Juliet says, I dont
want to be married just to be married. I cant think of anything lonelier than spending the
rest of my life with someone I cant talk to, or worse, someone I cant be silent with (8).
Juliet is not like most women. She is independent, she has a plan laid out and marriage is
the last thing in her mind. If Juliet had not pursued her dreams as a writer and went
straight to being a mother and a wife then she would not be able to do what she loves
most. She is capable of living her life without a man by her side, but if she wants to get

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married, she wants to be loved for herself not for her beauty and intellect. Just like the
article My Hips, My Caderas by Alisa Valdes- Rodriguez, So when I want to be loved
for my body, I am Latina When I want to be loved for my mind, I flock to liberal
intellectuals She did not just want someone to love her for her big hips, yet for her
mind and for who she is. Juliet broke free from the tradition to follow her own dreams
and live her life the way she wanted. Women had one role, which restricted them to be
what they want to be. Today, not only is the husband working the wives are as well. It has
become more accepting to society to have the women work because it also means more
money. Husbands are more supportive with their wives pursuing their dreams and society
is more accepting of women following their dreams.
Society tells women what they should do but they always had the freedom to
make choices, they have their own free will. Hilary Bok, a philosopher at the Johns
Hopkins University defined free will as being capable of stepping back from ones
existing motivations and habits and making a reasoned decision among various
alternatives. Juliet and Elizabeth are daring women whom made brave choices, which
shaped them to be strong women. They do not feel the need to conform to the norm. They
werent just women that kept quiet and followed what everyone else did. They are leaders
that broke the social constructed norms of gender roles. Elizabeth always thought of
others before herself. While at Ravensbruch, Elizabeth spent two weeks at the
punishment bunker. The first week, she took the blame for a stolen potato. The second
week, she stole a rod from an overseer and got beaten up over the head for unjustly
punishing a bunkmate. During her second trip to the punishment bunker, she was shot in
the back of the head. Elizabeth broke out of the line in the concentration camp to defend

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the girl being beaten. She knew the consequences of her actions, but her braveness and
how much she cared for others took over, which caused her to fight and stand up for
herself. Elizabeth had self-control; she did things without anyone telling her what to do.
Because Elizabeth took control of her own actions, shows that women can be brave and
strong. When Remy Giraud explained Elizabeths death to the members of the book club,
But I must tell you how Elizabeth livedand how she held hard to her kindness and
courage (181). Remy wanted Elizabeths hard struggles and courage to be told, so she
told them about her brave actions that caused her death. Because there are certain things
in place that women are restricted to, it is hard to go against it.
For centuries, the role of women in society has been changed a lot in the last few
decades. Women were seen as wives who were supposed to cook, clean, and take care of
the children. They were limited from the responsibility of earning money for the family
because it was left to husbands. This stereotypical image of men and women, is still
found in many parts of the world, but has improved drastically from the last seventy-five
years. The world has changed in many aspects of gender related lifestyle. Feminism has a
huge impact on the gender role in our society. Feminists have been fighting for a long
time for power and control in this so called mans world. Women are starting to be
included in all aspects of public life. Times when woman used to sit at home and look
after the children are gone. Today, women have bigger roles to play in society. They are
allowed to go to school and get any degree they want. They work along with men in
providing higher a higher income for the family. Their roles in society are not so limited
anymore. However, they are starting to get caught up in a so called superwoman
syndrome. These women are constantly striving to accomplish everything possible in a

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perfect manner and have not learned how to put themselves as a top priority (Lewis). In
other words, it is the privileged class of women expecting to do everything. They are to
succeed at a professional career, marriage, and childbearing. Elizabeth and Juliet were
always putting themselves before others. They accomplished more for the goodness of
others than themselves. Women continue to break free from tradition gender norms,
which change the social construction of women. Today women continue to change
society and world as they become stronger and more independent.
A man that acts within his own gender role is praised, but a woman is forced to
stay within a certain barrier within her role. She has to be feminine but not too much,
sexual but not too much, and must have a career but also take care of the kids. Gender
roles in society have formed a socially constructed image of what each gender should and
is able to do. Juliet and Elizabeth have changed the way people should view women.
They broke free from the socially constructed norm of what women are limited to. They
proved that women are capable of doing what men are only entitiled to be and do. Today
things have taken its turn and both genders are following tasks that they werent meant to
do seventy-years ago. Women were called weak, submissive and dependent. But now
they are considered to be very brave, independent, and smart. They were treated as a
material possession rather than a human being that could think and act for themselves and
looked upon as a decorative member of the household. Today women are stronger, wiser,
and braver. They have shown people that there is more opportunities in their life than just
motherhood and a wife. Women are capable of doing just as much as men do, but better.
They should start being praised a super heroes rather than objects.

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Work Cited6
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology
and Feminist Theory." Performing Feminisms: Feminist Critical Theory and
Theatre. Ed. Sue-Ellen Case. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1990.
England, P. "Gender Inequality in Labor Markets: The Role of Motherhood and
Segregation." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society
Lewis, Dr. Madeline Ann. "Overcoming the Superwoman Syndrome." Overcoming the
Superwoman Syndrome. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2015.
"Revolutionary Changes and Limitations: Women." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall
Association, n.d. Web. 2 Apr. 2015.
Shaffer, Mary Ann and Annie Barrows. The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie Society. New York
Times. N.Y: Dial, 2008. Print.
Valdez-Rodriguez, Alisa. "My Hips, My Caderas" April 2000. Print.