Being self and maintaining one’s identity is essential to one’s happiness, but some social biases can place limits, interfering with joy and freedom. Examples of restrictions can be found in real life and reflected in the literature. Chopin’s “Désirée’s Baby” and Kobabe’s memoirs are stories that will help to understand better the problem of prejudice and its impact on individuals. Despite the negative influence of stereotypes and biases, they continue to exist in society.
Depending on the circumstances and personal characteristics, individuals consider their success differently, and society can significantly influence this vision. Désirée, in Chopin’s story, feels successful when her husband Armand is happy – she is glad that she gave birth to a son and that her husband is proud of him (Chopin, 2017). Racial prejudice brings conflicts when it becomes clear that the child has black ancestors. Since the characters live in a patriarchal society, the blame for the child’s race falls on the Désirée. Moreover, due to society’s vision of the female gender, the character sees no other meaning in life than her husband’s happiness and obeys him when Armand tells her to leave. The woman cannot succeed with hard work; in success assessment, she focuses on her husband and society.
Although society has changed since the period reflected in the story about Désirée, many restrictions remain. Kobabe (2019) sees success in understanding that there is more than choosing between two paths involving defining oneself as lesbian or gay in a female body – it is in recognizing oneself as non-binary. Society imposed various restrictions on this author – the choice of clothes or hairstyles because of gender or identifying a specific sexual identity because of crushes. Nevertheless, Kobabe went a long way in understanding themself, their own preferences, and their identity and therefore achieved success through hard work.
Thus, while society supports biases, the fight for rights can overcome them. The considered stories demonstrate two different positions of individuals faced with restrictions. In the story of Désirée, prejudices over gender and race have destroyed the happiness of the characters, and the woman sees no opportunity to fight for herself. In Kobabe’s story, the author worked a way to understand her own identity and feel free to express it, and such an example inspires society to support LGBTQ+ rights.
References
Chopin, K. (2017). Désirée’s baby. In R. S. Levine, M. A. Elliot, S.M. Gustafson, A. Hungerford, & M. Loeffelholz (Eds.), The Norton anthology of American literature (2nd ed, pp. 442-446). Norton & Company, Inc.
Kobabe, M. (2019). Genderqueer: A memoir. Wernick & Pratt Agency.