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"The Confession" By Maureen Owen
"Confession's" by Maureen Owen, includes several examples which illustrate women using the automobile as a means for self-discovery. In the short story a woman wrecks her car as she is backing out if her garage just after her husband finished telling her that she is a risk on the insurance. She claim's that it is not her fault because the garage door is too short for her to back out of. However, she says that if a man had done the same thing she did, then it would be considered an "accident," but since she is a woman she gets the short end of the stick and it looks like she should not have been driving. She does not want anyone to forgive her because she feels that it is not her fault and it is not just because she is a woman that the incident occurred. Her not wanting any forgiveness from anyone shows how independent she is and how she can do things by herself. The woman had an inherent feeling within that made her have a sudden urge to get behind the wheel and go out to experience the road like her dominating male counter part. This story shows the general masculine perspective aganist a feminine perspective and how the road and automobiles generally are not considered to be feminine spaces.
Feminist Transition
When the woman got behind the wheel she immediately experienced a sense of empowerment and pure confidence she had never had the opportunity to wield before. This is a tremendous transition, from the traditional treatment of women to in the past where one is attempting to drive while displaying an independent attitude. In the short story the woman claims “since it is our car the roof can be half mine now and don’t forgive me!” (Owen) in this excerpt she is talking in an aggressive manner by claiming joint possession of the car and then she proceeds to claim ownership of half of the roof. The change from the position of women years ago, who were not able to possess any type of property, to that of women today, who claim something as being theirs, represents an example of how women are taking charge and becoming more independent.
Introduction to Feminism
Women have gone through numerous societal transitions over the past decades, challenging the preceding traditional standards of American culture. The image of women has taken a great turn, where women have become more independent and autonomous by fighting the remnants of the older societal values. Women traditionally were given the assumed role of being a housewife; this was the expectation for all American women years ago. The attitude of men towards women has also taken a drastic movement where men are now regarding a woman as more of an individual person. The automobile and the road have traditionally been equated as being the man’s domain. Women were dominated by men in all facets of living in the past. Gradually the women persistently fought their way into the workforce and eventually broke free of their husband’s grasp.
'Annotated Bibliography'
Baber, Kristine M. and Katherine R. Allen. Women and Families: Feminist Reconstructions. New York: The Guilford Press, 1992 Katherine R. Allen and Kristine M. Baber examine the role of women in families from a feminist point of view. This can be applied to the way women are perceived within Eudora Welty's short story.
Clarke, Deborah. “Domesticating the Car: Women's Road Trips.” Studies in American Fiction. 32.1 (2004): 101-128. Deborah Clarke examines the affects of travel on women as well as women's literature. She asserts that since women have begun to travel, much has opened up for them socially as well as literarily. She argues that travel has not only opened women up to new experience and empowerment but also changed women's literature through their new-found freedom.
Owen, Maureen. “The Confession.” Ladies Start Your Engines. Ed. Elinor Nanuer. Boston: Faber and Faber, 1996. In this poem, Owen expresses thoughts regarding women’s independence and autonomous ideals relating to women’s travels. The conceptions of women and how they are perceived by men are also examined in the text.
Pollock, Mordeca. The Women’s Movement. New York: Halsted Press, 1972. Each woman must come to terms with herself as a person. American society and social movements of women’s liberation are the main topics displayed in the text. Relevant to the topic is the historical treatment of women in juxtaposition to their changing role in today’s society.
Sahai, S.N. Women In Changing Society. Delhi: Mittal Publications, 1985. The text deals with all women in current society fighting the remnants of the older societal values. Also, the text explains women at their positions in general society. Relevant to my topic, is women’s constant struggle to function and survive in the world by today’s standards.
