My characters are Gloria Steinem, Kate, and Betty from the movie “Not without my daughter”. In the dialogue Gloria will be speaking about women’s rights generally and how they should be similar to men. Kate is directing a side where you have to be treated different and be a good wife for your husband. And Betty is standing in the way where she fights for her own freedom as a women mostly for her country.
If I would put myself in this dialogue I would say women should be treated different than men. God made women and men humans, but why did he make women and men? why didn’t he make only men? or why did he make a women different than men? Women are women and men are men. When there is a heavy job we say, we need a man here, why don’t we say we need a women here? But when we are at home and cooking and they are stuck, they say we need a women here. Why does that happen?
For this project we did a dialogue instead of a monologue, and it was easier because you can see different people, perspectives, easily because of the different voices.
Here is my speech enjoy it:
They are all sitting on a table. None of them know that each person has a deep story about women’s rights.
Gloria: Hello guys how do you feel life changed from 1991 to 2012? 1591 to 2012?
Kate; well the whole entire world had changed especially women’s.
Betty: yea I agree women and the world mostly changed a lot from the experience I had with my previous husband, but thanks god I got out with it.
Kate: Oh that is the same thing with me, but I had a confusing/successful life with my husband
Betty: How? tell me the story?
Glorie: That is really interesting I want to hear more about this since I have worked with women’s rights my whole life. Since you both had experience with your husband, tell me if women are supposed to be treated equally to men?
Kate: Oh that is cool, here is my story. So I was such a stubborn person that is mean and everyone hates in the city, I was a vex person, I was mostly jealous from my quiet nice sister. From my stubbornness I had to marry a man that wanted my money only. He made me taste everything I have done to others before. We got married and he started punishing me, not respecting me, he just treated me like a slave in his house.
Glorie: and how can you not speak up or get divorced?
Kate: If I got divorced no one would want to marry me, I used to be a horrible person. I started to like my life though, because my husband made me see all the things I did for others. Towards the end I understood that I have to respect my husband. “Even such a woman oweth to her husband; and when she is forward, peevish, sullen, sour, and not obedient to his honest will”
Betty: this is the same experience I had with my husband but my story didn’t end like yours
Glorie: Kate you were not supposed to stand with your husband’s abuse, you are a woman and you have rights no matter what period of time it is. Betty please tell us how is your story different than kate’s?
Betty: Well I was married to an Iranian man, and we had a little girl. He knows that
I am against going to Iran but “he swore to me on the quran that we will go there just for two weeks so they can see our little girl.” me and him have been married for 7 years and we always had trust between us. I was afraid of going there but I wanted him to be happy so I went with him. When we went to Iran it was such a different culture and different people there. But the biggest problem was when my husband came and told me that he wants to stay in Iran forever.
Glorie and kate on the same time: WHAT!!
betty: Yes I could not believe that but I realized that I had no rights as an american women there. Getting married to an Iranian man means that I am an iranian citizen now. That was the hardest thing to believe I had to do all he wanted me to do but behind the scenes I was planning how to get out of the country without him knowing. The people I had to work with was they always told me to fetch and bring more papers. I am an American not an Iranian. I don’t care that I am married to an Iranian man. I want to be free again. The only legal way I had to get out was leaving my daughter and getting divorced. I can not leave my daughter I have to take her with me, my husband would kill me. Till I got to the U.S and saw the flag I felt that I was a queen again, not a slave.
Kate: WOW! that was a hard story to live but I think you should have stayed with your husband no matter what
Gloria: So here I was a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. I traveled a lot as an organizer and lecturer and am a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. I am mostly glorious from all the work I did with women’s rights. Both of you had experiences with your husbands in the past. And one of you thinks we should care about who we are and where we are from and not being forced by anyone no matter who, and the other one thinks that we should stay with your husband no matter what and do what they want us to do . Well I think that women are no different than man. How would the world be without us? My whole life I fought for those women who didn’t speak up who were afraid. You both should live as a respected wife with a husband that knows and appreciate what he has. You should never leave your husband, you should never live like a slave with your husband. I am not saying that the use of wife rule is to take over your husband’s job. be a respected women outside in the street, in your job, at your home, between your friends, with your husband, kids. The future depends entirely on what each of us does everyday.
Kate: what if you did not accomplish those goals and the only way you had to live is to do your work as a wife only?
Betty: What if the man you trusted was a liar? what if the only way to live is to live the way other people I don’t know chose my life for me, and they want me to be like them and forget about who I am and where I am from?
Gorie: then would you both rather live as not well respected women? live your life with no husband? Do you both wanna live a bad life?
Everyone just looks at her and just shocked and decides to end the conversation in that moment. Here is the surprise. kate’s daughter calls her and tell her to come and pick her up from work.