How we cite our quotes: (Part.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Little Whileawayans are to their mothers both sulk and swank, fun and profit, pleasure and contemplation, a show of expensiveness, a slowing-down of life, an opportunity to pursue whatever interests the women have been forced to neglect previously, and the only leisure they have ever had—or will have again until old age. (3.4.1)
On Whileaway, motherhood means having five years of leisure, whereas in Jeannine's and Joanna's worlds, it can amount to a lifetime of domestic servitude. How do the experiences of Whileawayan mothers compare to the experience of a woman like Mrs. Dadier? What social conditions make these experiences so radically different?
Quote #5
At twenty-two they achieve Full Dignity and may either begin to learn the heretofore forbidden jobs or have their learning formally certificated. They are allowed to begin apprenticeships. They may marry into pre-existing families or form their own. (3.5.17)
On Whileaway, "dignity" isn't just an abstract concept, it's an indicator of social rank. Children achieve "Middle Dignity" when they graduate from school, they achieve "Three-Quarters Dignity" when they enter the workforce, and they earn "Full Dignity" at twenty-two, the Whileawayan age of adulthood. On Whileaway, social rights and privileges relate directly to the contributions that Whileawayan women are expected to make to their society.
Quote #6
Then he said I must understand that femininity was a Good Thing, and although men's and women's functions in society were different, they had equal dignity. Separate but equal, right? Men make the decisions and women make the dinners. (4.11.1)
When Laura's school psychologist uses the word "dignity," he means something very different from what the term means on Whileaway. What does women's dignity look like in Laura's world?