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The Wonders


"A surreal and exotic thing, a finely wrought interrogation of the ways we ...
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Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

Created: 01/28/15

Replies: 6

Posted Jan. 28, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

Kathryn has been reviled, then both adored and feared. O'Reilly has stated in an interview that the reaction to Kathryn is specific to her gender. What do you think O'Reilly meant? Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?


Posted Feb. 10, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
lorik

Join Date: 08/25/14

Posts: 19

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

Absolutely. Christos ' character was strong and off-putting in some of the same ways that Kathryn's was. She was powerful, sarcastic, a diva in ways similar to Christos, but she was treated as a sexual object differently than Christos was treated. Some of this was part of who she was, but it was enhanced in the style of her performances with The Wonders, and in the way her first husband used her to his gain.

She also suffered abuse in her life, was seen as weaker, and I think that the climactic shift toward the end of the book would have gone down differently had Christos or Leon been chosen.

As a woman, I connected with Kathryn because she is at times snarky, at times comforting, and she sees herself as beautiful now, when she felt anything but that before The Wonders.


Posted Feb. 11, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
LindaB.

Join Date: 06/11/14

Posts: 80

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

I think that she was treated differently being of a different sex and so beautiful as well. Her character went between being "snarky" (as Lorik mentioned; love that word) and being very insecure. There was a time early on in the story where I thought that she and Leon might end up together.


Posted Feb. 11, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebajane

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 320

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

Well, that's an age old question. I felt throughout the book that she was more fragile, as well. I think it was more the circumstances of her life than being a woman


Posted Feb. 12, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Suzanne

Join Date: 04/21/11

Posts: 281

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

I thought the fact that Leon was turned onto her in the beginning and was even showing the result, was a statement that very early on she was being treated differently.


Posted Feb. 13, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
joyces

Join Date: 06/16/11

Posts: 410

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

I think it is because she is a woman. Historically we all know women were both the objects of sexual abuse as well as frequently considered a lower life form than men. In general people were either attracted to her or found her repellent which are both feelings that provoke strong reactions. Also the two guys were rather buff so they were more threatening and therefore left alone but Kathryn, was small and vulnerable looking.


Posted Feb. 16, 2015 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
donnac's Gravatar
donnac

Join Date: 03/26/14

Posts: 139

RE: Why do you think Kathryn is treated differently because she's a woman?

Kathryn is treated differently because women are treated differently. Period. In different parts of the world in the 21st Century women are: not allowed to drive a car, not allowed to go out alone, not allowed to make their their own reproductive choices, not allowed to become priests, not allowed to dress as they choose, and so on and on, just because they are women. For no other reason. We like to think we have made strides but in reality we are very far -- in some cultures, moving farther -- from treating women the same as men. That is, without holding them to the same standard as we hold men.


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