Recommended Reading: Rose Madder

 Topic: Recommended Reading: Rose Madder

Today we will be discussing the Stephen King novel Rose Madder, published in 1995, and its message of female empowerment.

Rose Madder is one of the few King novels never adapted to film, which is a shame, because it would make a great movie. It is about Rose McClendon, a woman ensnared in an abusive marriage who finally makes her escape, travelling to a new city and taking back her maiden name. But she is being hunted by her husband, Norman, a police officer who also happens to be a savage brute intent on punishing her for daring to leave him. Rosie discovers within herself the power to be free of him in the end, in a way I will not spoil for you.

This book is also one of a handful of King novels with a rational rather than supernatural antagonist. Although he ends up going through his own transformation at the end, Norman is, for the most part, just a man. A dangerous man, yes, and a kind of monster, but not in any supernatural sense. This humanization makes him more possible, and therefore even more terrifying than just about every other King villain, with the sole exception of that damned clown.

The surface lesson of this book is that we can escape from the monster, but we must be careful not to become a monster ourselves in the process. Sometimes the victim of abuse will become abusive toward others later on as a reaction to trauma. It is up to the individual to take the necessary steps to prevent letting your suffering inform your decisions. (On a personal note, this is part of the reason I am seeking therapy.)

Along with that lesson is a second message: A woman does not need a man to come to her rescue; she can save herself, and sometimes ends up saving the man, too. There is a love interest in Rose Madder, which bothered me when he was first introduced, but he does not save her from Norman. Quite the opposite, in fact. As a survivor of domestic abuse, with the PTSD to show for it, both of these messages strike a chord with me. There are very few examples of women saving the day in television and cinema. Try to think of three female superheroes with their own film. Most of the time, it is a man who saves a woman, usually winning her heart along the way.

We do not think about what stories teach us and our children, but they sometimes reinforce damaging gender roles. Women and girls should not be told that their sole purpose in life is to be pretty enough and quiet enough and helpless enough to attract and please a man, or that the man who rescues her should by default be rewarded with her affections.  Girls are also taught that they are not self-sufficient entities unto themselves, but that they need a man in their life to be happy. When we teach our daughters these damaging lessons, they end up in toxic relationships that they are often afraid to escape from.

What could be even worse is what this is teaching our sons: That all they have to do is save a woman from something, or just be nice to her long enough, and she will eventually fall in love with them. When that does not work in real life, they do not blame the media, they blame women for failing to live up to their expectations. These ideas have real-world consequences: There have actually been mass shootings committed by young men with that exact mentality, who were angry at women for choosing not to offer them sex.

While there is and should be a certain level of escapism when we consume stories, we must be Mindful of the lessons they teach us and the effect they have on our expectations. For a more lighthearted example, Disney movies led me to believe that wild animals will come in and help you wash the dishes if you sing at them. They will not.

Can you think of any other examples of stories about women and girls who save themselves?