Greetings Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing back home on planet Turbo?  I am doing great here on Earth!  Things are going very well for me as a Planet Exchange Student.  Some days are better than others, and I do get homesick now and then, but overall, the experience has been very enjoyable.  I have met many new people and made fast friends with other Planet Exchange Students, but one thing that is very difficult for me to deal with here in America is the role of women in society.  Women here are expected to remain quiet, obedient, and submissive to males.  It is very much a male dominated society, which I am not familiar with.  Back home on planet Turbo, I enjoy having a voice to freely speak my feelings and have input on important issues.  Here, the women are not allowed any input.  I know, it sounds crazy, but it’s true, and it’s difficult for me to understand.  I also think it affects the way women feel about themselves. This idea of a male dominated society is shown through the writings of three of my closest friends here on Earth: Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman.  All three of these great ladies are writers, and they do an excellent job of expressing their feelings on the issue.

My friend, Anne Sexton, is a confessional poet, which means she writes about issues that deal with, “subject matter that previously had not been openly discussed in American poetry. Private experiences with and feelings about death, trauma, depression and relationships were addressed in this type of poetry, often in an autobiographical manner” (Academy of American Poets).  When I first met Anne, I was struggling to understand poetry, so she was very gracious, and took time out of her busy schedule to study with me and help me better understand.  She showed me one of her poems entitled, “Housewife.”  When I read the poem, I was struck by the melancholy tone that overshadowed the poem.  In the first line of “Housewife,” Sexton states, “Some women marry houses” (l. 1).  I was curious to keep reading because I thought that was a funny statement to make.  Usually, women marry men.  As I continued to read, Sexton went on to say, “The walls are permanent and pink./See how she sits on her knees all day/faithfully washing herself down” (ll. 4-6).  This last statement really put things into perspective for me, and I was beginning to understand what Sexton was trying to convey. Here on Earth, women are to be submissive to men, and the men are in charge, which is why Sexton states, “Men enter by force, drawn back like Jonah” (l. 7).  Women “marry houses” because that’s where their work is.  They are required to keep the place in tip-top shape, and do what is necessary to please their husbands.  Sexton describes the walls as “permanent” because she doesn’t get out much and is forced to stay home.  I shared this poem with a fellow planet exchange student, Lindsey, and she commented that, “Sexton says "The walls are permanent and pink"; it's a cry for help to open the doors from a certain depression that hides behind the surface of its pretty first impression” (Lorsung, “Sexton”).  I agree with Lindsey, and feel that Sexton is feeling a sense of helplessness. When one thinks of pink walls, one would get the impression of a happy place, but that is not the case that my friend Anne describes.  Sexton is looking for a way out, but struggles with how to go about it.  Sexton’s poem really solidifies the fact that men are in control and women must obey and be accommodating to a man’s needs.

When I had finished working with Sexton, I met up with my friend, Sylvia Plath.  She, too, is a poet and a very good one at that.  Plath, like Sexton, realizes the discrepancies between men and women in society, and doesn’t approve.  She writes about her struggles of a male dominated society in her poem, “Lady Lazurus.”  She feels stuck and unable to better her life, so she resorts to multiple attempts at suicide, “I’ve done it again./One year in every ten/I manage it—“ (ll. 1-3).  At certain times within the poem it sounds like she is proud of herself and happy with what she has tried to do, “Dying/ Is an art, like everything else./I do it exceptionally well” (ll.43-45).  This concerned me and I became worried for my friend Sylvia, so I sought some help and insight from Margaret Dickie, a scholar.  Dickie helped me to put things into perspective and states, “The impulse of the speaker is the overwhelming desire to control the situation” (Dickie). I hadn’t thought of it like that, but it does make sense.  In life, people sometimes make jokes of themselves to hide their insecurities or to control a situation, and I think this was Plath’s attempt to lighten the situation of her attempts at suicide.  Dickie also states, “She speaks of herself in hyperboles, calling herself a "walking miracle," boasting that she has "nine times to die," exclaiming that dying is an art she does "exceptionally well," asserting that "the theatrical/ Comeback in broad day" knocks her out. Her treatment of suicide in such buoyant terms amounts to a parody of her own act” (Dickie)  I, too, felt like she was making fun of the situation, but I think that goes back to the feeling of being in control.  I know my friend Sylvia is a smart and talented lady, so I hope she can work through the struggles and overcome her thoughts of suicide in this male dominated society.

I wish you all could meet my friend Mary E. Wilkins Freeman!  We have a lot in common because she loves to tell stories; just like me, only she is much better at doing so!  Freeman writes a short story called, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” in which she clearly describes the inequalities between men and women.  In “‘The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” Freeman writes what is known as a regional story.  It can often times be tricky deciding if a story is classified as regionalism or realism, but Donna Campbell says it best when she says, “One definition of the difference between realism and local color is Eric Sundquist's: "Economic or political power can itself be seen to be definitive of a realist aesthetic, in that those in power (say, white urban males) have been more often judged 'realists,' while those removed from the seats of power (say, Midwesterners, blacks, immigrants, or women) have been categorized as regionalists" (Campbell).  In “The Revolt of a ‘Mother,’” the main character, Sarah Penn, is a woman who has been removed of her power and is determined to gain it back.  The story begins with Sarah questioning her husband to see what the men are doing in the field, “‘Look here, father, I want to know what them men are diggin' over in the field for, an' I'm goin' to know" (Feeman).  Her husband responds with, “‘I wish you'd go into the house, mother, an' 'tend to your own affairs,” as if it was none of her business (Freeman).  When Sarah questions her son Sammy about the situation, she asks if he knew about it and he says, “‘Yes, I s'pose I did’” (Freeman). When she questions how long he has known, he responds, “‘Bout three months, I guess’” (Freeman).  The fact that the son knew about the barn before his mother signifies the lack of power Sarah had in any big decisions that were made concerning the family and their life.  Sarah has been a faithful, obedient wife to her husband of forty years and has never complained.  She works hard, takes care of the children, and always provides meals for the family, almost as if it were her duty.  Watching those men dig the new barn on the land where Sarah was going to build her house was horrible for her.  That land symbolized hope, newness, and freedom for her, and when the barn went up in the place of her house, she felt betrayed.  When the barn is almost finished, Sarah says to her husband, “‘You're lodgin' your dumb beasts better than you are your own flesh an' blood. I want to know if you think it's right’” (Freeman).  To which her husband replies, “‘I 'ain't got nothin' to say’” (Freeman).  The father’s stubbornness bothers Sarah and forces her to take matters into her own hands.  When the father is away for a few days, Sarah moves the family into the barn.  When father returns, he is not pleased, but realizes that Sarah was serious, and she is not going to remain silent anymore.  Another planet exchange student, Rylee Erickson, states that, “Sarah Penn is a very strong female character” (Erickson, “Sarah Penn”).  At first glance, one may not see her as a strong character when she is to be submissive to her husband, but in the end she shows her strength, and her undying desire to break free of her husband’s oppression. At the end of the story, Adoniram sits on the front steps weeping, and Michael J. Cummings says it well in his study guide when he says, “At the end of the story, Adoniram sits weeping outside the barn. But he cries ambiguous tears. On the one hand, they could represent long-overdue regret for the way he has treated Sarah and for his postponement of her wish to have a new home. On the other hand, they could be a manifestation of injured pride. After all, he had allowed his wife to trump him. In an age when men ruled the home, Sarah had become queen for a day” (Cummings).

I know this letter may seem a little “long-winded” to some of you, but I really want you to understand some of the things I am experiencing here on Earth. Many of us could learn a lot from my friends Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, and Mary E. Wilkins Freeman who were bold enough to write about the oppression of women in society at this time in history, as they dared to be different and stand up for what they believe in.  It’s been a very eye-opening experience for me here on Earth, but I’m doing well, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you very soon!

Sincerely,

Maren Undersea

(aka – Krissy Overland)