The Womens Room: A Novel by
Marilyn French
A Classic That Would Be Required Reading If It Was By A Man
The twenty-one-million copy bestseller-available again for a new
generation of readers Originally published in 1977, The Womens Room
was a novel that-for the first time-expressed the inner lives of women who
left education and professional advancement behind to marry in the 1950s,
only to find themselves adrift and unable to support themselves after
divorce in the 1970s. Some became destitute, a few went insane. But
many went back to school in the heyday of the Womens Liberation
movement, and were swept up in the promise of equality for both sexes.
Marilyn Frenchs characters represent this wide cross section of American
women, and her wry and pointed voice gives depth and emotional intensity
to this timeless book that remains controversial and completely relevant.
Personal Review: The Womens Room: A Novel by Marilyn
French

For all the "Surrendeded Wife" types who think women should go back to
being submissive, this book shows what it was really like. Ideally, people
think of traditional roles as being protective and chivalrous toward women,
but in the book, chivalry has nothing to do with it, and women are shown
as being used- they do all the chores, they are told what to do, they are
neglected (a lot of the ways the husbands treat their wives are now
considered abuse), and finally, many of them live in poverty when their
husbands find someone else. I think this is true of a lot of traditional
societies- the ideal is protection, but the reality is different.
This book really shows the story of not one generation but two. Mira comes
of age in the 50s and she ends up being a homemaker. I got an in-depth
look at the lives of housewives. It showed that there were some joys in that
life, but it also described the problems that people tried to keep under the
surface. I am sure that there were also plenty of relationships that were
better than the ones in this book, and there are plenty of women who were
happy back then, but the problem is the insistence that every woman
should be like this and only this.
Gender roles are of course based on biological differences, and in a few
places this book lashes out not only at society, but at nature. The problem
is that the roles apply even when the biological differences are flexible, and
biology is used as an excuse to put both men and women into inflexible
molds. The book shows that gender roles effect both sexes and the men in
this book have problems of their own- for instance not being close to
anyone in their own households.
But after getting divorced, Mira goes to college in the 60s and experiences
the turbulence of that time period. I really liked Mira as a character and
was happy to see her growth as a person. Her divorce was certainly for the
better. I also liked her interaction with her sons. I also loved her closeness
with her friends. The group of friends puts friendship at a higher priority
than most people do, even daydreaming about living together as friends.
This reminds me of the friendships that I used to have and the way I felt
about them.
At first I thought that maybe men could read it, but I'm sure their reaction
would be similar to my reaction to Omar Tyree. The only difference is, the
author of this book at least showed why her characters grew to hate men.
Early on, anger toward men or whites was understandable, but after
establishing more rights and equality, it usually is counter-productive and
just causes backlash. Of course, there is usually backlash even before full
equality has been achieved.
I don't feel the same way that most of the characters end up feeling, and
that's a good thing. This book can show you how many changes have
occurred in a few decades, and can remind you not to take it for granted.
Many women are in charge of their own lives and are excelling in their
careers. Sexism sometimes effects men and in some cases it is in

women's favor. Both women and men have progressed in the past
decades. In my life I have been angry toward womankind as well as
mankind.
But then, in some areas sexism is still abundant, and women still have to
worry about sexual assault (more than men do). And early on, when Mira
got married, she describes the feeling that it's the easy way out and it will
keep her from having to make decisions about her life, it reminded me of
me a lot.
For the whole book I was wondering who the narrator was. Her
monologues were very cerebral and they were probably the part I liked
least about the book. At the end of the book, Val comes to believe that all
men are rapists, but that seemed more like her reaction as a character and
not necessarily the author's opinion. The book makes men to be the
problem, but in my experience, women are treacherous to each other and
there are also plenty of decent men that get treated badly. There is maybe
one example of women's backstabbing (Bliss) and maybe Martha was the
woman who treated her husband badly, but mainly the book focuses on
society being stacked up against women, showing every character being
victimized in some way by a man, covering every possibility almost like it's
from a checklist. Also, even the men that seemed decent ended up being a
disappointment in the end, with the exception of Mira's sons.
Well, I guess that's a pretty big criticism for a 5 star rating, but I still really
liked this book. It brings to light the similarities and differences between
then and now. It has some wonderful characters and shows a lot of
different points of view and thought patterns. It was very in-depth and I was
totally engrossed in it.
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