Feminist Literary Synthesis WILD

                  Feminist Literary Synthesis WILD 

When analyzing Cheryl Strayed’s book Wild, it’s very clear that she challenged both gender roles in her experience as a hiker.  Cheryl struggles with the weight of her pack, but along the way, she builds the strength to manage her necessities on her back. When the men she met on the trail were shocked at the sight of “monster”, you get an understanding of how repulsively massive it is. So many comments were made that defined her as weak, or incapable, because she is a woman.  

       

    “We were taking bets who’d arrive first. You or the boy’s back east coming up from behind you      

    “Who won?”

    “No-one”, he said and boomed with laughter. “None of us bet on you.” (p.207)

Cheryl always seems to surprise the people she meets throughout her hike, always getting the comments of how unexpected it is that she is doing this. Doing it as a woman. Doing it alone. I think that she is an inspiration to women who enjoy outdoor activities, and her stories enlighten women’s thoughts on being capable of such an adventure in the wilderness.

      

    “I was dying to meet them of course- but I wanted to meet them as the woman who’d left them in her dust instead of the woman they’d overtaken.” (P.190)

Learning she has two men following short behind her, started around the same time, and coming from the south, Cheryl automatically wants to be seen as a woman who can hold her weight. In this experience, Cheryl pushes herself to beat the boys to camp, her expectations of being perceived as strong, influenced her to pick up pace.

I think a lot of us agreed in class, that when creating the lists of men, and woman traits, we found most of the women’s associated with a degrading, and weak characteristics. I have to say, I think there should be some kind of balance in the gender traits between both sexes. I know that in my relationship, we share a mix between the two lists, and it helps to understand one another’s feelings in situations. My significant other is more “compromising”, and “verbal”, as I am more “stoic”, and “stubborn”. Together it fits like yin, and yang, two opposites, creating a whole. I think we need to be more understanding of mixed gender traits in today's society, because today, these mixed traits are become a norm. Seeing a women as bread winners, with business success, or a stay at home dad, with household chores. These are more common today, and should be more understood, because they are becoming today's norms.