AlMazrouei 1

Eisa AlMazouei
Professor Corri Ditch
English 113B
3 May 2015

Women Can Be Strong On Their Own

In the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society written by Mary
Ann Shaffer and It can be see that Juliet Ashton is the main character who loses
everything. It was a time that had makes her think about a lot of things that will help her
in order to make her a better person. She searches for something that she could write
about as it relates it to her own experiences and things like that it would help her to make
it better. The writings that she writes makes her get replies from various islanders that
allow her to see the work that she has doing and the responses that she has been getting
from them. Juliet realized the fact that her literary work and the different islanders that
have written to her made it a peaceful place; irrespective of the gender aspect it was her
effort that led to making a mark in war. The characters try to construct gender norms to
the believes that they want to achieve something that they are capable of irrespective of
their gender, the people that write to her, go for their dreams thinking about it as fact that
can help them to get to that specified level, it is evident that none should be dependent on
anyone. Juliets character justifies the trait of belonging to a female gender, but
possessing the qualities of a masculine person.

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Juliet started to think of writing about the first meeting that they had with the club, it was
seen that the first meeting was something about the literary club. It was then that the Guernsey
Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society people met much more often and became close to one
another. It could be seen that Juliets decisions had made her to think about the literature work
and at the same time she was an orphan, it was a challenge that she had overcome. Belonging to
the female sex it was seen that she was dominant and masculine. Her female gender did play a
role in her life, but she made it look much more positive when compared to the others. By
proving a strong point that is being able to do things independently. As mentioned in the letters
of the book, Juliet talks about They want to address the practical, moral, and philosophical
value of reading-spread out over three issues and by three different authors(32). It can be seen
that there she was actually making progress in order to get the upper hand in the culture driven
society that was based on the genders ability to perform according to the role. Being able to take
the role of an opposite gender was extremely demoralizing, as no one would actually understand
the need to do so. It is very important to see that, there were different issues that had arose, but at
the same time it made her understand the value of things that were coming in her way.

Whether it is something that a person can look forward or can easily look behind, she
stood there with a certainty, which was to make her self believe in something that she could
actually get. She could also have left hope like others thinking about the challenges that an
independent women would perhaps face. It was also mentioned in the book 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. It is seen that the quotes
clearly justify the need of marriage and the thing that makes it interesting is the need of having a

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partner that would be a shoulder to the sorrow that one leads. It is a trait that usually men possess
about being married, but women on the other hand talk about various things that they could do
after getting married and being dependent on their husbands. But this is not something that Juliet
worried about and thought that it was something that helped them gain control over life and
made her to think broader, it is also explained Men are more interesting in books than they are
in real life, which makes one think about the gender stereotypes who think that men have much
more to offer and they are a superior gender over the women. She wanted to be completely
independent and not marry someone who would control her; even if he were rich and extremely
good looking it would come in between her achieving the goals. This makes it evident over the
fact that she wanted to do something on her own no matter what it took, even this is shown by
making the person believe in themselves, a quality of men, that is to take responsibility. It made
her focus on gathering experiences from the people that wrote to her.
At the same time even if the future were uncertain it would be the experiences and the
uniqueness of having to fight the situations that would lead her to think accordingly and go for
achieving her goals. It made her think about the necessity of focusing towards becoming a writer
and at the same time taking care of her loved ones. It was a crucial decision, as one would
definitely marry a perfect person who is capable of taking care of them. It makes a person get
tough, and take these challenges. Especially at that time where women were treated as
homemakers and thought that they would do as they were told to. They did not have much power
as they were not financially stable or could speak out their thoughts and feelings loudly. At the
same time the gender plays an important role as it effects people in every possible way. The stand
that Juliet took by not marrying, was to completely believe that she was capable of becoming a
person that no one could stop, that is to stay focused and achieve the goal that she had to become

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a writer. Even though during the world war, the womens image was completely different, it still
made her understand and overcome the challenges that came in her way for her to become
completely independent.
The. "Beyonc's Feminist VMAs Performance Got People Talking About Gender
Equality had written by Duberman, talks about the generation that is being grown and at the
same time how the gender has become equal. It was considered before, that there was gender
inequality, but at this time it is considered much of a thing that tells us about how one can justify
their needs completely if they would like to become successful. The Juliet character satisfies this
of being independent. It gives the reader a way to think and understand like how she wanted a
certain kind of person to be, she believed in her self. Was extremely confident. Felt the need that
she would not have to ask anyone before doing anything. She was not answerable to anyone.
Like the characters in the book, they try not to get the gender in between and try making it
specify the needs that are required. This connects with the novel that a person does not actually
need another person with a labeled logo that is called as marriage that would make them think
that without the companion they are not capable of doing anything. But if a person, irrespective
of the gender, tries to rethink the fact that they could achieve whatever the obstacles that come in
the way. It is definitely a challenging thing to do as the society thinks the other way around. It is
highly possible for a person to lose hope, but if one stands by their own side, they would
definitely achieve whatever they want to.
As mentioned in the article, "Talking about Gender" it can be seen that the world is
changing and there is more gender equality. Many people argue over the fact that gender
performativity is about something that tells people that a particular person can do a kind of job
and the job is completely based on the gender that he belongs to Just as the end goal of socialist

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revolution was not only the elimination of the economic class privilege but of the economic class
distinction itself by this it can be seen that there has been a distinction which was made due to
the different aspects of the gender that a human being belonged to, but as the time has changed
and the generation has grown it had led to the advancement of thinking of the people in a
broader way and make their thoughts to think about a particular subject much differently.
Moreover, it can also be seen in "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay
in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Even this article talks about the gender difference
being a social sign and can be seen that one plays a role in life to become something rather than
born something, it relates to the performance of the people who know how to think about a
certain identity. It is about the achievements one likes to get rather than repent for belonging to a
particular gender. It shows that women are capable of achieving a few things that they never
would think would happen. It made them rethink over the relations. In terms of sexuality or
homosexuality, it can be seen that during world war times, it was like many people
underestimated women as they thought of them just as an object that could be acquired for
personal benefits. They didnt think about how a woman could stand on her feet. Abide by the
law and then could take over anything that she willed. They did not at all think about them as
people who could do something in life apart from just treated as a sexual object. The gender did
play a role but rather the conformity is about how far and what can a certain type of gender are
capable of doing.
I think that it is important for one to not underestimate us depending on the gender that
one belongs to. It is not all the time the superior considered gender would evidently achieve
success. The underdog gender can also achieve success, it would definitely be challenging but in
the end they can make it. At the same time it is the need for one to accept the fact that they are

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capable of accomplishing certain goals without thinking much of the future and where it might
take us towards the end. Just like the character of Juliet, she was completely focused towards
getting to success and not being disheartened with the problems throughout the life that she had.
It made her believe in every possible way that a challenge that comes needs to be taken happily
and not just regret about it. This made it extremely difficult for her, but at the same time she was
capable of achieving what she looked for. It also made her realize the fact that marriage is
something that can be done later on, it is not like someone has to get married because the right
person is there and he might vanish after a certain period of time. Being independent is one thing
that everyone eyes in this world. Even being independent is a challenge that one needs to accept,
but at the same time it allows a person to understand and relate to the morals that one has been
taught, this would allow everyone to achieve the career that they are looking for. It makes one
understand and believe in them that everyone is equal and cannot be distinguished based on
gender. The main purpose is that one cannot change themselves the way that they are born, they
need to adjust to the situation and the time that they belong to, having done so would definitely
enable a persons thoughts and would help the person stay focused in the thing that he wants to
do.

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Works Cited
Duberman, Amanda. "Beyonc's Feminist VMAs Performance Got People Talking About
Gender Equality." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.

"Talking about Gender." Trouble and Strife RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Borrows, The Guersney Literary and Potato Peel Pie
Society.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology
and
Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519. Web.