Elizabeth Gilbert – Committed Review, to all the independent women out there

Firstly, let me say that this is the second part of the famous Eat, pray, love and although I only saw the movie of the first part, I got curious and knew I had to continue with reading it.

The love story between Liz and Felipe continues, but the American state has a word in determining them to get married. Felipe’s often visits to America are suspicious and the authorities who declare that, unless they get married, he won’t be able to come back anymore. The book revolves around the months of struggling to accept the idea of marriage and making sure the authorities have all the documents they need.

We get landscapes and life stories in this part too, but they are mostly given through the perspective of marriage. Basically, Liz is asking women around the world, from grandmothers to young married wives, what made them take the decision, if they regret getting married, the traditions and responsibilities that come with it.

 In the transitional world we live in, the older are sure that happiness and a fulfilled life has marriage in the center if it, while the younger generation tends to postpone the event. Of course, it wouldn’t be that simple, it is way easier for a man to stay unmarried than it is to a woman. The so called aunt's brigade life is exposed; there is light shed upon these apparently lonely souls. Truth is, there were always women who didn’t get married; everyone has their reasons for choosing so, but there are a lot of ways we look at unmarried women. Are they lacking something and that’s why they weren’t “chosen”? Are they proof of their capabilities, strong, independent women who can provide for themselves and live happily? Is a woman less if she’s not married? Those were a few of the questions this book makes you think.

The resources for a complete debate are provided by the various studies mentioned in this book. The solitude of unmarried women has been studied and some of the questionable results are presented. Throughout the book we witness Liz trying to comply with the idea of getting married again and what to do in order not to mess up.

Things I learnt from this book:

• the world would have been so different if men and women were to be considered equal.
• the reasons why some women chose not to get married are none of our business.
• we shouldn't desconsider an unmarried woman.

Each marriage has its destiny, some are happy some are not, it depends on people and how much they try, I don’t know. I’ve never been married and can’t give an opinion on that. However, the perspective of not being able to choose if I want to live my whole unmarried or not, discourages me to believe in gender equality and the rights of women and how they are looked upon in society.

All in all, it was an enjoyable reading, but more than that, it was educational to considerable extent. How else would we know that women weren’t allowed to open a bank account without the husband’s consent or that slaves weren’t allowed to get married? As a girl nowadays, it seems I have taken some things for granted and I only thank to all the aunties out there for making my independence more livable.