"Madwoman in the Attic" in Today's Society

Gerry, you said that a 19th century model woman was pure and submissive, completely on one side of the spectrum. However, I feel like a model woman has changed to have a balance of the good traits of each side. For example, being pure and self-sacrificing, along with passionate would fit more of the standard, rather than being passionless.

Reshma, even though your question is directed towards Josh, I think that women who don't follow standards in society aren't necessarily shunned. In fact, society might view them as the exact opposite and associate these women with originality. With the refusal to conform to society's standards, the general population these days will most likely also respect them more so than women who pretend to be someone that they're not and get multiple plastic surgeries as well as botox injections.

In the media today, we see that many celebrities whose plastic surgeries surface and become known to the public are actually shammed. This could be society's method to try to persuade women to ignore standards and ideals, and instead focus on more important things, such as personality and self-identity. In addition, celebrities who have never gone under the knife and seem genuine tend to receive more favor and support from their audience. This is very interesting because in the nineteenth- century, people usually looked down upon women who didn't adjust their personalities or appearance to meet the demands that society put on women. Now, society applauds women who stray along the borders of accepted behavior for women and view them as role models. Even though many women in the kpop industry, as Gerry said, continue to try their best to fit the "model woman" role in Korea, in general society has become more lenient and accepting towards those who are different. These days, many people appreciate women who are unique and don't resort to artificial means to achieve beauty standards or alter their personality to fit in with all of the other high-spirited and bubbly people in the entertainment industry.

Today, many people mock beauty standards which they deem to be ridiculous, such as getting lip injections to achieve fuller lips like Kylie Jenner. Some women who may not have the means to get these injections have resorted to trying the "Kylie Jenner lip challenge" to temporarily get lips similar to Kylie's (which aren't natural anyway). The disappointment from the general public is seen all over social media, where many people voice their disapproval and ridicule women who have attempted this challenge.

Gerry, I think that the idea of a "model woman" will eventually coincide with a "model person". In the time period when Jane Eyre was written, a model woman as viewed as pure and angelic. In the time when Wide Sargasso Sea was written, the idea of a "model woman" had changed drastically. Today, I think that a "model woman" is more similar to the idea of a "model person". In today's society, I feel like there is less of a gap between the roles of women and men. For example, in Victorian England, women were expected to stay home and take care of the man in the family. But today, either man or woman could work while the other takes care of the family, or both could work. This changing of roles represents a shift towards equality in the roles of women and men.

Nick, I think you made a good point about how today's idea of a "model woman" is becoming more similar to the idea of a "model person". This may mean that society is converging the roles and ideals of women and men into one. Today, the standards for women have shifted from those in the nineteenth century and are now entirely different. As Olivia said, the ideal woman today is someone who is driven and hard-working. This is very different from what women were expected to be like in the times of Jane Eyre. In Victorian times, the ideal women was fragile, submissive, and self-sacrificing to their husbands. However, today's ideals have changed from characteristics that are quite shallow to those that demand perseverance and strength from women. This current standard can be not only applied to women but also to men, representing the gradually shift towards equality in the standards of men and women.

It's important to note that standards and ideals will never fully dissolve from society since people are naturally inclined to criticize the categorize others around them. However, with the convergence of male and female ideals, it shows how society is no longer viewing women as weak individuals. Instead, they are seen as people who are capable of achieving similar levels of success as men, which explains why the "model woman" has shifted to the "model person".