Independence: the forbidden fruit
- renitazadeh
- Jan 14, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Jan 15, 2019
The women of Rwanda, much like the character Louise, in The Story of an Hour, are denied independence by the men in society as well as the men in their lives. Before 1994, Rwandan women lacked many basic rights: they were not allowed to speak for the public or even open a bank account without the authorization of their husbands. This is only until 800,000 Rwandans are murdered as a result of ethnic tension between Hutus and the minority Rwandan Tutsis. The awful genocide of mostly men results in the increase in the population of women to 60 to 70%. This means that more woman would appear in the workforce to help rebuild the country. This also means that Rwandan women are taking the first step toward independence.
In The Story of an Hour, when Louise hears about the passing of her husband, she experiences many overwhelming emotions. Although saddened by his death, she feels some other, stronger emotion–freedom. She then begins to dream out the window thinking of all the possibilities now that she is no longer oppressed by her marriage. When she hears that her husband is actually alive, she understands her independence will once again be taken away from her, making the thought of it unbearable enough to kill her. Louise is given the mere opportunity to dream of how she would use all her potential, unlike the Rwandan women who are given the opportunity to not only dream but to make their dreams reality.
It was evident at the time that the only hope for Rwanda to reshape their country was to involve women into positions of power. In 2003, a new constitution was passed to ensure that 30% of representatives at all levels of government be women. Since then, Rwanda has become one of the fastest growing economies in Africa with a stable, and corruption-free government. Today, women hold 61% of the seats in parliament–the highest in the world.
All that the women of Rwanda have accomplished is a real-life demonstration of what Louise dreamed of in her minutes of freedom. It is extremely unfortunate that such a horrendous event has to take place before women can become more involved in society. However, it can also be seen as an opportunity to show how crucial it is for women to be just as involved as men are. The Story of an Hour shows how long Louise–as a representation of all women–has longed for the forbidden fruit, while the Rwandans demonstrate what could happen when women finally get to taste it.
Citation
“Explained.” Created by Ezra Klein, and Joe Posner, season 1, episode Why Women Are Paid Less, Netflix, 5 Sept. 2018.
Excellent connection between the women of Rwanda and The Story of an Hour regarding how society views them. I agree that women have limited opportunities and basic rights due to discrimination. Not only does the country of Rwanda have this problem, but many other countries in the world specifically in the middle east. They always need to be accompanied by a male when they go out in public. I go against these restrictions as I believe these are rules should be dismissed even in 1994. I appreciate Rwanda’s actions to solve this problem with the passing of the constitution. Like Story of an Hour, it displays the lack of independence of a woman and how she desires it. Overall, goo…
In the 20th century sexism and gender inequality was a way bigger issue than it is now, but there are still many barriers that need to be taken down. It is wonderful to see such progress being made in a "third-world" country halfway around the world when we are unable to achieve such progress regarding government in our own country- a "first-world" country. It's astounding how we are unable to figure out a solution to the most basic issues such as equality in the workplace and stereotyping but we can do other seemingly impossible things like create cars that drive themselves. Although other countries have many problems which we don't have, I think we can learn a lot from them.
The women of Rwanda and the character of Louise from the Story of an Hour represent exactly how women were treated back then and the result of equality finally. In the Story of an Hour, Louise felt as if she was trapped and controlled by her husband. Meanwhile when he passes away, she finally feels free as if she can accomplish all her goals and dreams. This relates to the women of Rwanda because they were mistreated poorly for so long, and even were murdered due to racism. However, their country began to reshape and women were finally able to be on the same level as men, and weren't considered below men. It is tragic that Louise from the Story…