Prof. Jessica Penner | OL05 | Fall 2020

Jozelyn Santos, Anonymous Critique

Anonymous’ work, had my attention throughout her piece from her opening statement all the way to the end. Her use of words to describe the terrible incident with her husband ,the man he was, her mindset and also how society works. First, I must applaud her for being a mother, wife, teacher and also an author who published many books. It shows that she has the ability to be organized throughout her life and stay creative with her work. I believe creativity comes in many ways, whether it is sad, happy, horrific or exciting, a writer can always paint a picture for their readers through their use of words.

I enjoyed feeling connected to Anonymous’ work as she shared her story and her mindset with us. Not because of what she experienced with her husband but because of mentioning of toxic masculinity. She is correct to say that male violence is learned and it comes about when they feel intimidated by another’s secure. In her case, as a women who has the ability to cook, clean, nurture as well as publish more books then her spouse, his insecurity became threatening to him. I agree with her statements that often men can not handle their significant other being more successful or even providing more for the family. She bought a car that was best fit for the safety of her family and instead of seeing it as love, her husband saw it as a threat which is truly saddening.

Another thing is that I love that the author chose to stay Anonymous. Some may see it as hiding, but I see it as a powerful statement. Women who either have a similar role/ lifestyle to the author or not, can go through being mistreated by a significant other. It is something that is unfortunately seen, repeatedly. I believe someone who is reading her piece and can relate, can almost read it in their voice since it is anonymous. That is extremely powerful to me. She did mention that there are article that speak about how men feel insecure when women are more successful in them but they do not mention how it puts women at risk. My question to the author would be “Why does she think articles that speak about this topic, have the tendency to leave out how a woman’s life may be in danger if she is more successful then the man in the household?

1 Comment

  1. Luzmery

    Hi Jozelyn, I totally agree with your last paragraph, just like you I admire how she decided to remain anonymous so that other women who are going through the same thing and read her story can relate to her. It is so sad so to see that there are still men who donā€™t accept the success of their wives and see that as an excuse to mistreat them. The way she finalized the story saying ā€œtell them, Iā€™m still writingā€ made me feel so proud of her because after everything she went through she did not give up but instead became more determined.

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