The pressures of society

 There is kind of a lot to unpack here. First, her as solely a mother and then her role in society. Because I kind of understand wanting to re-start her life and live it how she wants to, which makes sense (kind of). But like she has a child which makes this decision a lot more complicated. In my opinion, I think society does put too much pressure on what it means to be a good mother. Because we’ve turned it into almost a consumerism thing. Making sure you buy the right and best things, and putting your kid into the right schools, and such. But there isn’t much focus on the actual love you give them. But this is kind of extreme, and harsh on a child. When you want to leave and completely 180 your life is very hard on the kid, especially if you aren’t providing any consistency in your life in a time that is already hard on your kid. 

Now, I’m not saying that she should lose all custody but I do think it is kind of appropriate for the father to be concerned about her role as a mother to her kid. And by getting rid of all of her things, like what are you supposed to provide to your kid. I think if society didn’t put as much pressure on individuals in general to conform to norms, then maybe she would've lived the lifestyle she wanted from the beginning. But just like societal expectations as a mother, there are societal expectation and judgements on how to be a woman. And the proper way to live is to settle down and be a mother and live the conventional way. But her whole act is an act of rebellion to society and traditional norms. 

Using another sociologist Judith Butler and their theory “imitation and gender insubordination” in which it is argued that gender is not something you are born with, but something you perform repeatedly through behaviors, styles, and social expectations. Which is why there is such a pressure to fit into a norm and fit this lifestyle that we created for every role. So to answer the question asked in the video “ Is this a new Constance Debré, or the return of the real Constance, long buried under the superficial detritus of social convention?” I will say that I think that it is a return of the real Constance that was buried away due to the constraints of social norms. And all her acts of throwing away things and having nothing is her rejecting the consumer pressures of society and rejecting the constraints that society had put on her. 

Comments

  1. Tolu1 April 2026 at 18:25

    Hello,
    I agree that this can be harsh on a child. At the same time, I think that she was also harshly punished. I think that the standards were so high for her as a mother, and that its so sad that she was not given grace in her journey.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UBCdave4 April 2026 at 01:08

    i agree with you that her wanting to start a new life with the father taking main custody of the kid is normal. usually it's men in that situation and they get crap for it so the author wants to see will readers ascribe the same feelings to a woman? judging from the student blogs, women are finding it hard to do!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Josh Tan4 April 2026 at 12:39

    Hi Olivia, I agree with many of your points. To respond to your question I don't even know if we can say she is returning to her real self, because what is the real self? but maybe the subtraction of excess makes her end up as solely a series of present actions

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daniel Orizaga5 April 2026 at 21:05

    Thank you for your blog post this week. Don't forget to leave us a question for discussion!

    ReplyDelete

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