I love to read books, but sometimes certain books and roles that women have in them make me uncomfortable and question if women are really taken seriously. The first time I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I was 14. I thought it was a great book, but when I read it again at 17, I still loved the book but I saw that the way women were treated in the book made me uncomfortable and questioned if women are truly taken seriously. 

In the book The Perks of Being a Wallflower, it’s about a freshman in high school who joins a friend group and finds himself. But in the book, his love interest had opened up to him about being molested when she was younger, and the main character brushes it off and dismisses it. When I first read the book, I didn’t go through a lot of life experiences and also didn’t know that his response wasn’t okay and wasn’t even the bare minimum. But when I had read the book again, almost 4 years later, I realized that what he did wasn’t okay and that made me start questioning if women’s life experiences and traumas were seen as important as I do. 

(The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

The same situation and thought process happens to me when I watch movies that do the same thing. Movies like “The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “500 Days of Summer”. Both of those movies include men brushing aside women’s mental health and hating them or having high expectations for them because they ignore their mental health.

(The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

(500 Days of Summer)

When I read books like that or watch movies like that, it makes me uncomfortable and sad because I’ve gone through those situations as a woman, and to see the media not think anything is wrong with it or doesn’t show the women’s perspective, shows that maybe a lot or some men truly don’t care about women’s mental health and trauma because it doesn’t benefit the man in any way. I have had men hear the things I’ve been through, and they usually have brushed it aside or haven’t made sure I was okay and asked if they can do anything to not trigger me. But even when I have told them that certain things trigger me, they don’t listen and still brushed me aside when I would have mental breakdowns or panic attacks due to them not listening to my mental health and certain needs I have. This makes me think that maybe it’s because they see the same things in the media but they don’t see how it impacts the woman, so they think it’s fine what they’re doing and how they’re acting. Since they have bad examples of caring for a woman’s mental health after they’ve had past trauma, it’ll reflect on how they treat women and impact women’s mental health more and could possibly traumatize them more.

I don’t intentionally read books or watch movies that involve that situation, but when it comes up I always want to see how it’ll turn out. And most of the time it’s how I predicted. I feel like someone should come out with a book or movie that’ll show what’s wrong with those situations in the media, and show the women’s perspective and how they feel when they’re treated like that. 

In conclusion, sometimes certain books and roles that women have in them make me uncomfortable and question if women are really taken seriously, and the media doesn’t think anything is wrong with it or doesn’t show the women’s perspective.