"A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle," written by Gloria Steinem reaches the height of what it means to be an independent woman in both today's society as well as the past. For centuries, women have been assumed to depend on men to have a happy and complete life. Decades ago, women were automatically expected to be desirable just for men, then get married and take his last name, have his children and spend the rest of her life cleaning and cooking for him. If those expectations were not met, women would have to deal with being looked down upon by many because their life choices did not match up with what was originally forced upon them. Over time, with the preset standards in tact, men were able to keep their ego's and identities …show more content…
The girls spend the majority of their childhood years learning how to do household chores and how to be desirable for a man. This teaches them majority of the acts they commit will be because they should fulfill their husband's wishes. This has a severe effect on the relationships between men and women because if a woman learns she is to constantly provide for him and put his needs before hers, over time, she will learn her place in society is meant to be limited and inferior. This is very detrimental to women because their identities are lost, along with their independence. The differences between how girls and boys are raised also affects how men behave in a relationship. In result of women losing their identities, men knowing how women have been raised to think everything they do is for them could result in them thinking women are property and meant to be constantly pushed …show more content…
Earlier in the story, Angela and her family leave town after Angela's husband, Bayardo, finds out she was not a virgin before their marriage. The other townspeople also figure out Angela's secret, which forces Angela and her family to leave out of humiliation. When the narrator comes to visit Angela to see how she is doing, Angela shares this: "'I didn't do any of what they told me," she said, "because the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it was all something dirty that shouldn't be done to anybody, much less to the poor man who had the bad luck to marry me"' (Márquez 91). It is clear Angela is filled with guilt about what happened back in her hometown. Her guilt is another damaging result of how girls are taught to lose their originalities. As a consequence of being taught to do everything for a man, Angela feels she is to blame for everything that has happened to her and Bayardo. Her feelings emphasize how society has pushed these feelings onto her because women are expected to keep their virginity until they get married and their husbands are supposed to take it from them on their wedding night. In result of everyone being taught this concept since young ages, the community will look down on women who do not keep their virginities, which causes them to feel ashamed and humiliated for the rest of their lives because they are seen as disgusting and a disappointment by everyone, as