Blog #3--Mona Lisa Smile

This past week in class we watched “Mona Lisa Smile.”  This movie is based on 5 women and their struggles they face in the 1950s at an all girls university, Wellesley University.  In the movie these women struggle with the challenges that they are brought upon.  In the 1950s it was quite unheard of if a woman went to college.  In the 50s women’s sole role was to be a good housewife, not a college graduate.  These women’s worlds are turned upside-down when a new art history professor comes to Wellesley and tries to change how these women view their own lives.  Katherine Watson is a thirty something professor from California that does not believe every woman has to be married.  Professor Watson tires to get these girls to think differently and help them believe that they can be something bigger and better than just an average housewife. 

I have seen this movie before, but watching it with a critical eye this time really made me think about it differently.  I could never imagine getting out of college and immediately marrying a man, much less marry in college, like the main character Betty does.  I think it is really silly that women once thought they couldn’t go on to college and be as successful in life as their husbands.  Personally, I would absolutely go crazy if I had to stay home all day and cook, clean, and do the laundry.  Women have a much greater purpose in life than just raising the kids and taking care of the house.  Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that we should do all of those things, as women, but we also deserve to have a job and contribute just as much as the man of the house does.