Even the Queen

Even the Queen was the most interesting piece of writing I believe I have read in class up to this point so I would like to focus on it in particular for this post. In the story I found myself relating to the main character Perdita. Not entirely with what she is going through but with the structure of her family. Much like her I cannot learn without experience. She defies her parents to go off and join the cyclists who well, want to have all natural menstrual cycles even though there is a drug to prevent it. In the end she goes back to her mother and exclaimed that the mother didn’t tell her that it would hurt. I cannot learn from someone simply telling me that something is a bad idea. I have to try it for myself.

What I found most interesting in the story was the power relationships between the men and women. There was only one man in the story who had a very minor role. For the most part in Even the Queen it was almost like men were this otherworldly force who’s only goal is to repress and control women’s reproduction. Yet, the men are not seen at all repressing anyone. The family wants Perdita to go back on Ammenerol, a drug that makes it so women have no periods. But Perdita believes there are bad side effects and that it represses their womanhood. The older women in the family are trying to convince Perdita back into conforming to their beliefs. There are no men running around shoving these pills down women’s throats.  In the end, Perdita realizes that Ammenerol isn’t perhaps such a bad thing. This can be seen as either her agreeing to conform, or the realization that men aren’t this huge repressive force. The older women in the family state that “There are some things worth giving up anything for, even your freedom, are worth giving up your freedom for, and getting rid of your period would definitely be one of them.”

So in the end does Perdita fall into just conformity and become brainwashed by the male patriarchy by not agreeing to join the cyclists? Or was she wrong in believing that it was the agenda of men to control women’s reproduction rights to begin with? After all, women had to fight for the “liberation” and their right to not have periods. It’s up to the reader to decide.