ideas and her arguments would all be taken less seriously by everyone
because she is a woman. I think her silence is partially literal- she
chose not to speak often because she was not respected, but it was also
symbolic-her voice was silent.
The part of this chapter that affected me the most was the way that her
peace boys/ peace movement associates reacted to her after they found
out she had a history of prostitution. They ostracized her. They did not
try to help her get out of jail, they did not even want her to work with
them anymore after she got out, they completely abandoned her. They even
mocked her for her examination injuries, for not being able to "take
it". I might be really far off but I think that this was a turning point
for her. I think she begins to question why she is fighting to end a war
that she'll never have to fight in(vietnam), and realizes that there is
another war, a war of sexual oppression, and she is a wounded veteran. I
think the peace woman is a feminist, and the whole part about the peace
woman helping her speak, signified that the feminist woman showed her
that she does have "words" or a voice. The peace woman shows her the
other war, the war for equality, and a voice for women. Although she
does not stay with the peace woman, she has opened Andrea's eyes, and
sparked an idea. Even though Andrea runs away to europe at the last page
of this chapter, I believe that the peace woman has impacted Andrea in a
very strong way, and this impact will probably play an important role
later in the book.
For me, I think she comes to realize with the peace men is that there is an inherent injustice between the sexes. The peace men come to their fellow man's savior and bail their "brothers" out of jail while the women are left in jail to be abused, they are not deemed worthy of bail. She has worked so hard for the peace boys and has been arrested on behalf of their movement, yet when push comes to shove they don't care about her or what she has to say. The second Andrea as a woman becomes a burden to the boys and their movement, they want nothing to do with her, but when she is helping them fight for THEIR cause, they appreciate her help. It's a double standard in my eyes. Being there for someone means standing by them and good and bad and the peace boys wanted Andrea at her best and weren't willing to help her at her worst. pg 66 talks about how the peace men are bailed out to keep their honor intact. men of the peace movement could not be raped, but women of the peace movement however were not given the same consideration... again, an example of inherent inequality
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