What are we calling for when we call for equality between men and women?
Mona Lisa Smile, to some extent, deeply discussed the issue of women's freedom of choice.
The story was set in the United States in the 1950s, and there were conservative colleges for women. These colleges set courses to impart knowledge to female students. While the focus was riveted on how to be a good wife and mother in the future family.
Catherine, the mistress, arrived at such a college in autumn. She hoped to contribute to the emancipation of women's minds and help students pursue a more independent and complete personality, with the belief that women should remain independent and have the right to commit their own careers. Women were far from appendages to the family or men. This ran afoul of the philosophy of the college that women are eventually bound to return to the home.
The whole film followed Catherine's thoughts and actions as the main line, extending out of the story of different female students. Some of them were confined to their families and suffered a lot. They submit to men and take household affairs as their own duty. Some chose family and made a sacrifice. Their pride in learning vanished entirely in front of their families. As marriage represents their ultimate goal, studying was just reduced to a tool to kill time. This was the view of women in the old society, who learned the art of liberation but clung to conservative ideas. Fortunately, at the end of the film, the students, inspired by Catherine, stepped on the path they really aspired, rather than succumbing to the innate responsibility they were taught from childhood.
Some may say Mona Lisa Smile is a feminist film. From my perspective, this statement is half right. "Mona Lisa Smile" is not radical, but gently states that women's rights lie in the freedom to choose what they want in life. The focus is on the choice, not the content of the choice. It's not necessarily the best choice for her to run away from her family and pursue her career. The point is that she can firmly choose and clearly know what she really wants. For example, John finally put aside the admission offer of Yale Law School and returned to her family, not forced by her husband, but by her own choice. As an independent individual, everyone both has the right to think and choose independently and has the duty of being responsible for himself.
Our ingrained values can lock us in the same way that a woman wears a corset, hindering us from chasing our dream. So why not dismantle the conventional moral concepts?
When we call for equality between men and women, we are, in fact, we are calling for women's choice between family and career. It's just a right.
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