Week 6: Woman on the Edge of Time

In the novel Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy depicts how the medical system is complicit in eradication of female autonomy and the dangers of that. Throughout the lives of the women present in Connie’s life, medical decisions are made by the men. While at times they may be happy with these men, ultimately, it seems as if their lives get worse as they lose more and more of their freedom. The novel is set up to show the gradual loss of liberty that begins when one gender is given the freedom of autonomy within the medical field and one is not.

Piercy wrote this book during the second wave of feminism, in which the feminist movement focused on disputing the various laws and ideals concerning woman’s reproductive rights, domestic violence, and sexuality. All of these issues are integrated in Piercy’s novel in which the present day characters struggle for their autonomy. The dangers of lack of autonomy are illustrated in Connie’s and Dolly’s dependence on men for their happiness. Dolly relies on male pimps to provide for her and in return gives them her obedience. In contrast, Connie relies on men for her emotional well-being, remembering all the times her life was pleasant when she had men in her life. However, it is important to note that while they both rely on men for their happiness, men are usually the cause of the maladies in their lives. By placing the responsibility of their contentment in other people, they lose the authority of their own autonomy. All of their happiness is contingent on men, and as a direct result, all of their sadness is too. It is therefore little wonder that in Luciente’s world monogamous relationships are seen as destructive as when Luciente explains to Connie; “People of your time confuse me, for they seem neither strongly inknowing nor strongly outgoing. Except in couples. Unstable dyads, fierce and greedy, trying to body the original mother-child bonding.” (Piercy, 117).

The choices in both Dolly and Connie’s lives are made by men, the choices of whether they keep their children, whether they have freedom, and how they are medicated are all made by the men in each of their respective lives. They do not have the option of choosing, in contrast, in the short story Options by John Varley, set in the future women, like men, have the freedom of choice. This story set in a future where it is easy for men and women, through medical procedures, to slip into other genders or alter the sexual characteristics of their gender, yet, gender roles are still prevalent in society. The focus being Cleo’s husband’s discomfort with her sex change, in a future where gender is apparently fluid, males are still the decision makers. When Cleo goes to inquire about experimenting with her sex she is told by the attendant that her husband’s uneasiness is to be expected as the process usually “brings out castration fears in men who didn’t even suspect they had them.” (Varley, 5). It seems as though even within the bounds of science fiction, where anything is possible, gender equality is not. Is it any wonder then that Connie cannot comprehend a future within which women no longer need to fear men? Piercy writes about a women in the 1970’s having difficulty conceiving a world where women are safe in their daily lives, she writes that Connie “imagined herself taking a walk at night under the stars. She imagined herself ambling down a country road and feeling only mind curiosity when she saw three men coming toward her” (Piercy, 201). Yet, sadly these fears are still an active part of women’s daily lives in 2014.

Additionally, in the novel, any freedom allowed is contingent on men. All of the doctors performing the procedure, the doctors who declare Connie unfit as a mother, Geraldo, Luis, make decisions regarding women’s health. After Connie attacks Luis and is taken to by him to be institutionalized, her pleas and cries of innocence do not matter, Dolly’s and her bruised and battered bodies do not matter. Luis’s battered face, however, matters a great deal and is a crucial detail that allows him to commit Connie as “Man to man, pimp and doctor discuss her condition, while Dolly sobbed.” (Piercy, 11). A woman who attacks a man is rendered incapable of functioning in society while men are not held to that same standard. Additionally, all of the patients chosen to participate in the experiment are female with the exception of Skip, a gay man. The only ones allowed the privilege of autonomy in society are heterosexual males.

The way in which Marge Piercy chose to end her novel, with Connie’s medical records, leaves the reader wondering if Piercy wants us to believe that Connie has seen the future or if she is indeed delusional. All of the reports in the medical records begin by stating that Connie is a “35 year old Mexican-American Catholic women” (Piercy, 372-376), and based on them, it seems plausible that she is schizophrenic. However, Piercy leaves the reader doubting whether to trust the medical files as they have come to know Connie. The story follows a woman who struggles to free herself from the decisions made by the men in her life. Her brother Luis, her partners throughout her life, her nieces pimp, and doctors all come to the conclusion that she is not a well woman. By telling this story from Connie’s perspective, Piercy demonstrates just how difficult it is to live without autonomy.