_Committed_ by Elizabeth Gilbert
_Eat Pray Love_ fans may not enjoy _Committed_ as much, but for me in the phase of my life I’m at right now, I thoroughly appreciated Elizabeth Gilbert’s research and discovery on marriage.
Taking up where the love story ended in her previous novel, Gilbert shares the struggles she and Felipe face when he runs into trouble flying in and out of the US post 9-11. While there was never a moment of doubt in her mind that they would get married to solve their problem, it is understandable to follow her journey to coming to terms with the idea of getting married again. Though we can only appreciate her arguments from a female perspective, since we don’t know exactly how Felipe felt through the whole process, we can get a sense that her research is not just for her sake alone. It takes two to tango, after all.
I appreciated the parts where she talks with women in Laos, trying to understand the concept of “The One” or knowing that he was the right man to marry. The women in a small village merely laughed at her suggestion that emotions had anything to do with the fact that they married their men. It was about having babies and continuing the genetic lines. The reality is that men do their thing, women do theirs and the two only mix when it comes to getting busy for the sake of procreation. The completely unromantic nature of it sounds strange and sad to the Western romantics.
Yet, she doesn’t give up on her romantic notions, but comes to realize that (I think) it could be worse – we could marry for no emotional reason at all. π I fully appreciated her discussion about children. Gilbert shares that there is 10% of many female populations who do not have children. These women fulfill a very important role of “Auntie”. Aunties tend to have more money because they don’t have children, which can be used to help others out when in need. Aunties tend to be more attractive for children to confide in or use as an outlet when the parents are just too much. Sounds perfect to me! My lack of desire to have my own children totally confirms that I’m not a crazy, unloving, selfish woman. Rather, I’m meant to be a great Auntie! π
So, while I know that this is not for everyone to read, I enjoyed it and felt good after reading it. So, I guess that’s all that matters!
More to come…
-T
