“I believe that I am a human being just as much as you are.” A line you can hear ringing clearly from the mouths of women across America and our world. Here’s the kicker, though, this is a line taken directly from a play written in 1879. So why do women still feel as though they can relate to this line?
"A Doll’s House" is a play by Henrik Ibsen which criticized marriage and gender norms of the 19th century using the female role of Nora Helmer. This play is currently in production and about to start its second weekend of shows at the University of Kansas. Having this play and topic reopened has created for a lot of talk among the residents of Kansas. The question has been brought to our attention, Why do we still relate to the 19th century character?
“Nora represents any woman who feels trapped in a loveless marriage in which her husband is clear dominant figure. She also symbolizes how many young women are reduced to sex objects and mothers merely on God's earth to procreate, mind the children, and serve her husband. Sadly, this shortsighted treatment of women still exists today,” Says KU director of "A Doll’s House," Peter Zazzali. The sad truth of the matter is that while we have made great steps for gender equality over the past 100 plus years, we still relate to Nora and that means we still have a long way to go.
“Women generally earn less money and have fewer positions of professional authority than men,” Zazzali says, “Moreover, they continue to be sexually objectified. The play therefore remains relevant some 135 years after that first production.”
Yes, we have come a long way, but we still have far to go. Equality is more important than ever and is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is always talked about within classrooms, especially now with a female candidate so close to the presidency, but talk and action are two very different things. We love to talk about these issues, but we haven’t had the drive to do much about them. A painfully eye opening event like the performance of "A Doll’s House" might be just what we need to kickstart us into gear and start trying to make a difference. Professor Zazzali words this thought to perfection, “Theatre may not be able to change the world, but it can, in fact prompt discussions and sentiments that function as a catalyst for rethinking our societal values.”
We must use every resource we have to raise awareness about this issue. It is time that equality become number one on our agenda list in regards to gender, race, sexuality, everything. We are all human and it is time that we started getting treated as such. Before we chalk this one off as a feminist rant, though, let me say this: equality should be just as much a concern for men as it is for women. We are here to bust out of the stereotypes, each and every one of us.
Professor Zazzali thinks this is just as big an issue for all people involved, “In order for all of us to progress and reach our maximum potential as "human beings" (to borrow from Nora), we must be willing to transcend these stereotypes. In that sense, gender equality is every bit as much a matter for men as women.”
It is time we take action and begin paying attention to the inequalities of our world. A production like "A Doll's House" is exactly what society needs right now. A visual of the oppression to make our fellow society members really open their eyes to what is happening around them in regards to inequality not only among genders. As "A Doll's House" heads into its final weekend (Nov. 19 to Nov. 22) this realization is becoming crystal clear to each individual who ventures out to see the production.
