Coming Of Age In Samoa Analysis

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Reach your loving point A great success story lies in the trials and tribulations that we face; the happiness we gain through our sorrows ultimately grant us our success. The patriarchal social structure that defines the strength of humans limit the movement of woman ultimately casting them as material objects left to be controlled. Patriarchal systems turn women into materialistic objects. By following the rules that men create and woman silencing their individuality for the appeasement of men, unconsciously in life women will give up their control to men out of adoration and love or lack thereof. In "Coming of age in Samoa" by Margaret Mead we see adolescents begin to …show more content…

With "Love and Marriage by Karen Horney we see women stretch themselves to fit in the same "Life" they tried to save themselves from at the very beginning. Does the love for a man constitute for the loss of thy self? The role of women described by Bell, Horney and Mead from the ending of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century answers this pertinent question of self-identification. Indirect and subtle, unintentional yet discriminatory, Men, micro-aggressors of our society: they will be the first person a little girl loves and will be the first person to break a woman's heart. Men are indeed very powerful. From a young age, girls are told what to do, rules hold the girls back from being able to control the most intimate part of themselves: their individuality. In “Coming of Age in Samoa" Horney discusses the role the high chief has over his daughter. Mead says” the high chief guards his daughter’s virginity as he guards the honor of his name" (Mead, 71). It is really disturbing to know that a man so highly regarded by his people, by his family will treat his daughter as she was nothing more than an object. The daughter does not get to decide what she wants to do with her body. Her body, her virginity, her …show more content…

With culture comes rules and expectations that can be unrealistic and limiting. These limited choices are forced by cultures ability to be a framework in the lives of individuals. Culture dictates what is right and wrong and impacts the growth of individuality. Take for example Samoan culture and its approach to womanhood In Samoa, they marry young and “ virginity definitely adds to a girl's attractiveness, the wooing of a virgin is considered far more of a feat than the conquest of a more experienced heart, and a really successful Don Juan turns most of his attention to their seduction”( Mead, 69). A child is already looked at as a prize to win from the beginning of adolescence. Culture from the start put girls in compromising situations to be mentally taken advantage of. As she gets older she is pressured into another box of responsibilities and she never gets a moment to decide a life for herself. By the time a women is in her twenties she has started looking for the “one”. By the time she is thirty she should be already married with kids but the truth is in your twenties life has just begun. A woman's life or any life must not be scripted into perfection; unable for her to choose her destiny Culture tells us what is right from wrong and if one cannot abide by those aspects it is not possible to be accepted. Horney mentions that ” To be without a man, never to have had anything to do with one, to have remained

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