Feminism in Opinions

There’s so much on my mind related to the status of women. Though period dramas are oftentimes not historically accurate, they do lend an insight into the centuries gone by. These days, I am watching “Magnificent Century”. At first, I watched a few episodes on Sultan Suleyman and now I am watching the episodes chronicling the life of his great-grandson Sultan Ahmed. I can’t help but notice how normal the concept of a harem was. Women were abducted from places near and far and sold to the harem. They were presented as gifts. Even the queen mothers maintained a subservient facade in front of the ruling monarch. The most powerful of female figures had to resort to trickery and intrigue to get what they wanted. I sometimes wonder if any of the harem women ever got a chance to write her biography. Such a document would provide a glimpse into the psyche of the women of that time. They made the idea of mating the king so tempting. No matter how beautiful and costly a cage is, a cage nevertheless, is a cage. Over the course of time one does get accustomed to it, but getting used to something negative doesn’t automatically make it positive. Even animals get conditioned in captivity. Does that make captivity desirable?

But so much of popular literature has made it look desirable. I remember reading novels by Johanna Lindsey. A lot of her novels were about noblewomen getting kidnapped by some noble man or pirate. Eventually, after getting raped by them, they ended up falling in love with their captors. Much of vampire lore and tales of werewolves spin around the same concept. A woman is desired by them and then taken. She has no agency, no say in the matter. These tales in themselves are so seductive, I remember getting pulled into them. I remember the urge and desire to be desired as strongly. Now, when I am older, I can’t stomach them.

This leaves me to wonder about something a bit off-topic. What is the place of good values and good manners if they prove to be utterly useless otherwise? A well-mannered person is one who is non-confrontational (or so I have been told). Hurrem must also have been schooled to not seduce men but she got what she wanted by seducing (at least in the drama). If she had stuck to being a “good girl” who does only what she is told, she would never have become the queen. I have observed so many times in my life that people who are rude have easier lives. They say the truth always wins, I have seen lies score resounding victories time and again. It really is difficult to stay between the lines for the sake of a God that one can never see and an afterlife that one can just barely imagine.