Nan is truly a woman making it on her own in the big city. She lives up to the Mary Tyler Moore ideal: she works, pays for her own apartment, is finishing school, has a man-friend, and deals with all of the crazy shit in her life with the help of her friends and sometimes her relations bail her out when she is desperate. But still Nan can’t help giving into her motherly instinct, that is, she is always looking out for Grayer’s interests and makes serious sacrifices in her life for his well-being.
Yet I find it interesting that the other women in the class didn’t like her (please respond if you have beef with this statement). Some have complained that she is a doormat, which I do agree with in some instances. Still, why can’t we approve of someone who like us is trying to pay her way and wants to be a successful person because lets others boss her around at times?
What if Nan just dropped the family. Would we have approved of her any more…or would we just accuse her of being a quitter/unable to handle her responsibility? Also, we agree that Mrs. X is a bitch, which of course she is, but also, she asks for what she wants, and she gets it! Shouldn’t we be commending that if we are condemning Nan’s doormatness? I feel like we looking for a role model somewhere in between – perhaps someone more like our moms?
On a related (sort of) note, CNN did a thing on Anderson Cooper called “Stand By Your Man” about the political wife standing by her man’s side when he is indicted for a sex scandal i.e. Elliot Spitzer. What do you women think about this? Is Mrs. Spitzer an incarnation of Mrs. X? Should these political wives show solidarity with their husbands? Did they know about these affairs all along? According to experts on the CNN program, during press conferences, the women stare at the floor or their husbands confessorial notes! (see news program Anderson Cooper March 12, 2008) because they can’t bear looking at reporters. In my opinion, mostly it’s just really sad and it shows that people have to make a lot of sacrifices in their marriages to stay together.
