Societal Perception on Young Women
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Societal Perception on Young Women
In her essay “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been? Overview,” author Linda Wagner- Martin argues that “Connie is the victim, not so much of Arnold Friend as of her culture and its expectations for young women” (Par. 6). I do agree with Martin that Connie has been the main victim of the culture and its expectations in many ways. Connie’s story was written and based on life in the United States in the early 1960s, a period that was characterized with the cravings for the bad boy ideology and the increased influence of the pop culture. Due to this young woman became rebellious from their parents in an attempt of sexual curiosity. In my opinion, I tend to think that Connie’s vanity and naïve nature in collaboration with the societal expectations played a crucial role in making her an easy target.
Connie was a typical teenager at a time that the society was experiencing revolution, transforming from the conservative ways due to influences of pop music. Due to this, we expect to find a young woman mixed between the change in society as well as her individual conflicts. During that time Connie was much into music, boys, and looks, but she also tends to be very vain, manipulative and deceitful due to her attractiveness. Her vanity plays a crucial role in setting her up for Arnold Friend as he is able to get her attention through flattering. Considering that back at home Connie never got love and was treated by her mother as a stranger, she could easily fall for Arnold not just because he was longing for a bad boy but because she wanted to flee from home to escape her mother’s scolding. Women in that society are seen as having a lot of trust in men, and that is the reason as to why Connie at first doesn’t distrust Arnold. Connie’s inability to look past flattery plays a crucial role in luring her into getting into friendship with Arnold.
Young women in Connie’s society were expected to have manners, proper and studious and were basically expected to remain at home to take care of their children as well as their homes. Due to this most of the women were naïve as they were not out of the society in a significant way making them less exposed to what could be considered as bad and this made most of the women to be more trusting. All that the women could care as depicted by Connie and her mother at a young age was their looks thus they all set their mind to beauty to attract men. It is, therefore, true to say that the society at the expected the women to look more attractive in the face of men and this increased the desire for sexuality.
Apart from being attractive the society also expected the young women to be helpless, respectful and innocent. In the case of Connie, she is helpless in both her mother and Arnold Friend, and this is the reason as to why she doesn’t go against them. For her mother, despite her scolding’s she still respects her. The society is, and this makes the women feel helpless in the hands of men. In Connie’s case, Arnold Friend after learning that Connie is no longer interested in him, he issues threats of harming her family and therefore she doesn’t have an alternative rather cooperate with Arnold’s orders. Arnold is an excellent example of a bad boy who despite his old age has tried to look younger to seduce women who are vulnerable like Connie. Connie suffers more in the hands of Arnold Friend as she is helpless against him as women are weak in front of men in her society. Therefore, the societal expectations make Connie a victim than Arnold Friend.
