The Edible Woman

The Self of women, of Marian Mc Alpin’s time – the 1960’s, is reduced to purchasable goods. The beauty of women is celebrated in terms of the riches that are comparable to her: her eyes are blue sapphires; her brow is ivory; and her lips are ruby. She is not only available for sale, but also for consumption: her skin is white as milk; her lips are sweet as honey. This consumer emphasis in the …

…should have decided to fight against the prejudice that married women could not work. In the mid 1960’s, women comprised only 25% of all workers, by the early 1990’s, the figure was 45%. These vast improvements are due to women refusing to accept that they were not equal to men. Marian let herself be made into a victim. It was not Peter’s fault that she rejected her role as a consumer, the fault was her own.