Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying

The first essay I read was Women and Honor: Some Notes on Lying by Adrienne Rich. The author was among the most influential poets and essayists of the late 20^th century. She was also a massive women’s rights activist and a very prominent writer in the lesbian community. The essay was written in 1977. At this time heterosexuals were less accepted then they are now however not shunned. This essay is a hodgepodge of advice and knowledge on the reasoning and meaning behind lying. It includes many reasons people lie, how society causes and creates lies, habits of liars, and what trust means in relationships. Rich directed this essay to women, particularly in relationships. Because she is writing about lying, she is given a lot of pathos. She discusses that the society lies about heterosexuality through silence and suppression and states that she spent “half a lifetime in the lie of that denial”. Rich was married with children before she came out of the closet. Not only does Rich have pathos but she also establishes logos. Rich states that women lie because of fear, not fear of anything in the world like racism or capitalism but fear of something within them. Rich uses Virginia Woolf words calling this “the dark core”. Rich uses Woolf, a popular writer, as credibility. The authors use of an anaphora helped me better understand her message. Rich states that in a relationship the truths that can be shared must be refined. The repetition of the phrase “it is important to do this because…” draws attention to the significance of the action being referred to. The many ideas talked about through the essay all contributed to how and why women lie in this day and age, which was Rich’s purpose. Ways that women lie span from plucking eyebrows to being happily married. And reasons they lie go from survival in their world to fear and the need to control. These ideas were all discussed separately in the essay however in the end they could be put together in a meaningful way.

Title: Make-up Before and After
This is just one of the many ways women lie, although it may be unintentional.
It is not always this extreme however the after picture is not her true self.
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