Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel was pretty interesting to me. The issues that women faced in the play was pretty similar to issues that woman face today. Obviously the issues are not going to be exactly the same, being that the play takes place in 1905 and its 2014. One thing that I found to be similar was the fact that Ester wants to find a guy and she is getting older. Woman today are like Ester in that way because Ester has been working since she was seventeen and she really has no time to meet guys. Then when she gets the letter, she is hesitant about it.
Another way that the play is like the world today is because some women cant have kids like Mrs. Van Buren thought. I think it was probably more important to have kids back then than it is now, but women still face that problem today. Actually I’ve been hearing about women and their inability to have children for a very long time. I suppose it was a bigger problem back then because there are suppose to be ways around it today, which is a bit weird because it seems very unnatural.
Another thing is how insecure woman can be about themselves. For example, How Ester thought she wasn’t good looking enough, but thought Mrs. Van Buren was beautiful. Even Mrs Van Buren questioned it when Ester told her. This is interesting because I guess this is a bit of a timeless problem because most women will never really be content with themselves. It sometimes doesn’t even have to do with the way you look. Its just kind of mental sometimes.
Another issue is sexism. The issue was most likely a bigger issue back then because of the time period, but we still see it today. I actually don’t think that men and women will ever be seen as completely equal.
I completely agree, the issues women faced back then are still similar to todays issues that women have been going through. I do believe women of today are much more independent and out going versus the women from back then, but are still both extremely busy. By not having a good amount of time for themselves could put a strain on their social life and relationships just like Esther. You also made a point of it being more important to have kids back then than now, which I believe is true as well. I think that’s one of the issues that put a strain on Mrs. Van Buren’s relationship with her husband since she wasn’t able to reproduce.
I agree with you and notice that while reading too, how insecure Esther, and women overall. Many women are critical of themselves physically, and Esther is no different. It was sad to see that she was willing to accept his behavior because she so badly wanted him to love her. Mrs. Van Buren’s inability to have children was also very relevant to society today, as people will often ask married couples “when are you having children” without knowing that the woman may be infertile.