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Cynical Twists in SocietyCynical Twists in Society
by Thomas Ngo - 27 October 2004
"No one can make you inferior without your consent." These dynamic words spoken by Eleanor Roosevelt empower people (especially women) not to let others undermine them. To illustrate women’s struggle to find a voice in society, an episode of the television show Everwood reveals the confining setting of a male-dominated community. As though by second nature, the prominent men in this small Colorado town fail to recognize their dependence on women and force the women into subordinate class levels. Doctor Andy Brown, legendary New York surgeon and like most Everwood men, does not realize that his prejudices affect women’s lives in negative ways. Whether it is toward his daughter, nurse, neighbor, or lover, Andy’s condescending attitude only propels a superficial expectation of women: they are incapable without a man. Contradicting the men’s biased views and following the inspiring words of Eleanor Roosevelt, the women fight against inequality and promote an egalitarian community. Following chauvinistic social standards, the men in Everwood act superior to women forcing the women to feel insecure and unworthy; however, because the women reveal their importance to society and to the men, they liberate everyone from the collective prejudices.
The belief of male superiority hinders the progress of women’s lives. One of Andy’s main problems during his daily routine is properly raising his children. While Ephram Brown, Andy’s son, is in New York at a Juilliard summer program, Delia Brown, Andy’s young daughter, begins her journey into adolescence and her path towards womanhood. Growing her hair out longer and losing all her unfeminine apparel, Delia tries to get rid of her tomboy image by burning all her baseball caps. In what seems to be an attempt to prevent his house from catching fire, Andy extinguishes the barbeque pit in which the caps are burning. This scene illustrates the stereotypical male view that a damsel-in-distress needs a man to save her. Skeptical that women can protect themselves, men like Andy Brown must save the day by putting out the fire. There is a deeper and darker fear that seems innocent, which Andy shares with all fathers: his daughter is growing up. When Delia wears her caps, she proves that she can be just as good as the boys. On the other hand, the burning of her hats symbolizes Delia’s freedom from her past and her acceptance of her femininity. Rejecting Delia’s gradual liberation and independence which will come during adolescence, Andy refuses to let Delia burn her hats. Ironically, Delia’s attempt to become more feminine is a conditioned expectation of all young girls her age. As critic Jane Rosenzweig mentions in her essay “Ally McBeal’s Younger Sisters,” when girls reach adolescence, they “start downplaying their intellects and compromising their personalities in order to adapt to society’s expectations- to be attractive to boys” (Rosenzweig). While Andy, like most men, refuses to see his daughter grow into an independent woman, he is also responsible for her change because of the social standards set by men. In both cases, Andy (the man) must dominate and control every aspect of Delia’s (the woman’s) life.
Men’s undermining of women transfers itself from the home into the workplace. Edna Harper, a retired nurse, works in Andy’s clinic, which recently added a new partner—her son, Doctor Harold Abbott—and Harold’s assistant nurse. During their day, both doctors encounter many annoyances which cause them to take out their anger by slamming doors in their nurses’ faces and ignoring their messages. As though scheduled in his daily routine, Harold bickers constantly with mother. The conflict between Harold and Edna in the clinic reveals a disobedience that stems farther from the nest. Harold, in his personal life, does not respect Edna, almost loathes her, and always addresses her by the bitter sound of “mother.” Within the professional medical field, Edna is a nurse believed to be below her own son, the doctor. Consequently, Edna can never surpass her son in authority in the workplace because he is a doctor but, moreover, because he is a man. Using his social status (gained by his medical title and gender), Harold brushes aside Edna’s matriarchal powers in the household and positions himself above her in public places. Though Edna continues to fight with Harold and against her oppression, she cannot help but feel powerless and inadequate compared to her son.
Though it is insinuated that Edna is socially beneath a man because she is a woman, she proves in this episode that women easily surpass men in emotional strength and understanding. Recently, Andy finds out that Ephram’s old girlfriend, Madison, is pregnant; wanting to hide this fact, Andy tells her to leave town. During this episode, Madison writes back to Andy declaring the end of their contact because she regrets following his advice. When Andy confides in Edna for guidance on this matter, she sagely tells Andy to let Madison go. Edna’s advice to Andy is significant in two ways: Andy is showing men’s reliance on women’s powerful wisdom, and Edna’s underlying message is advocating for women’s liberation. Seeing Edna as a pillar of support, Andy comes to her in desperate need of help and hope. Men, most of whom are emotionally impaired, rely on their female friends, family members, and co-workers to provide insight on life. By trying to convince Edna that he is only protecting Madison and her baby, Andy hides his principal motivation: to protect his son’s life from being ruined. This egotistical view serves only to preserve Ephram’s reputation and prompts Andy to control and monitor Madison’s every move to hide the news from Ephram. Contradicting these actions, Edna knows only too well the suffocating restrictions that men can place upon women and argues against them. Slyly and unnoticed by Andy, Edna becomes a supporter of women’s rights to live their own lives without the interruption of constant male supervision. Edna, as a spiritually knowledgeable woman, epitomizes men’s dependency on women’s emotional intellect and proves that women are more than just mere servants.
Combining the reliance on female advice with the desire for social equality, Amy Abbott’s, Harold’s daughter’s, relationship with Ephram appears to be the most stable love affair in town. When Ephram returns from Juilliard, he acts strangely and avoids Amy’s calls. Amy ignorantly believes that he is going to break up with her. However, her fear slightly subsides when Ephram confides his secret of failing his Juilliard test at camp. Ephram then admits that he will need to work even harder to do better for the next test, which will allow bare minimum time for their relationship. Amy promises that “she will wait” for him but only for a certain time. In the end, Ephram chooses Amy’s love over practicing piano. Describing a new generation of women, Rosenzweig states that “pretty young things […are] completely defined by an inability to find a husband and have children” (Rosenzweig). Though Amy is still in high school and has no near-future plans to have a family, her reason in life is the same: to depend on a man. Based on Rosenzweig’s theory, Amy (the woman) cannot survive without Ephram (the man). At first, both Amy and Ephram show signs of following social expectations. Ephram is like every self-absorbed man who selfishly chooses work over a woman’s love. On the other hand, Amy acts like a voiceless woman who fears the abandonment of her male lover. Evident at the end, Amy and Ephram’s relationship is one of co-dependency; they rely on each other proven by Ephram’s final decision to stay in the relationship. Amy and Ephram deceivingly do not follow the trend and revolutionize the male-and-female relationship by depending on each other. Consequently, Ephram and Amy provide the solution to gender discrimination: to rely on each other instead of having men dominate over women. Co-dependency not only allows for equal status in love relationships, family environments, and social settings but it destroys all discriminations against women and men. Men no longer are the tyrannical controllers of the relationships and women are extricated from the deep levels of oppression.
By removing the narrow-minded social standards of gender roles, men and women learn to become co-dependent and free themselves from restricting social pressures. Age seems to be a key determining factor of positive and negative relationships. Edna, Harold, and Andy are all adults and Delia, Amy, and Ephram are only teenagers. Conjuring a storm of innovation, the teenagers realize the mistakes of the past and promote change for equality. Following tradition, the adults are almost stuck in their beliefs of gender discrimination. Perhaps affected by the new mind-set of the children, the adults slowly recognize this problem and transform their lifestyles to suit the call for egalitarianism. Against common conviction that children are ignorant in the ways of the world, the Everwood teenagers prove to be more understanding than the experienced adults when it comes to fairness in relationships. At the same time, the women break the mold of being submissive and learn to live as equals to men. Everwood defines the prejudices that still exist today and argues for social transformation.
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