does, those are having consciousness, optimizing the opportunity to be educated and working.
1. Gaining Consciousness
Gender discrimination is unconsciously believed by the society as something that commonly happens. The society believes that women are inferior. Women who
suffer from discrimination only take it for granted without having further thought that they are being oppressed by men in many different forms. Women are unconscious if
they are violated, marginalized, stereotyped and subordinated by men. If women still do not realize that they are discriminated they will live their lives under
discrimination. For this reason, women need to gain their consciousness to take real action and fight against it. Women’s consciousness helps women realize about their
problems and trigger them to gather their power to fight back. Thus, gaining consciousness is one of the struggle forms that women can do to escape themselves
from gender discrimination. In Cookie, there are three forms of struggle done by Beauty after she gains her consciousness. They are leaving the house, making
decisions and expressing her opinion.
a. Leaving the House
Gender discrimination happens towards women in both, domestic as well as public spheres. In a domestic area, wife and female child are discriminated by
husband and father. They are discriminated in many different forms, it can be
violence, subordination or stereotyped. These discriminations make them suffer every day. This condition still continues to happen if women do not use their efforts to stop
it. One of the struggles that women and female children can do to fight against it is by leaving their house. House which is the domain of domestic sphere, is a dangerous
place for women. It can be the source of gender discrimination. Therefore, if they leave the house they can be free from the discrimination since they stay far away
from the oppressors. As a child who lives under patriarchy control, Beauty faces many problems.
One of the problems is when she lives in her luxurious house with her father. Inside the house, her father’s rules intimidate and violate her. This condition triggers Beauty
to take a real action to fight against it. Her action has a purpose, to make her and her mother free from discrimination that occurs towards them. In the novel, Beauty
leaves the house with her mother to be free from her father’s discrimination.
‘Ready, babe?’ said Mum. She’d got her suitcase packed too. She carried them both out to her car.
‘Let’s go now, Mum, while Dad’s still round the back.’
‘No, we’ll say goodbye properly,’ said Mum. Wilson, 2016: 188 Beauty shows her consciousness by agreeing to leave the house with her mother. She
packs her clothes and her favourite things in the suitcase and tells her mother to go immediately. Beauty asks her mother to go when her father is not around Wilson,
2016: 188. Beauty becomes conscious that her father is an oppressor who makes her and her mother suffering. Therefore, she does not want to meet her father when she
leaves. Realizing that her father is the oppressor, Beauty understands the way she can gain her freedom is by leaving the house.
As a female child, the decision to leave the house is not an easy decision to do. When many of her friends live happily with their loving parents, Beauty who lives in
a rich family should suffer from discrimination. She has to receive threats and insults from her father. In her age, where she still needs guidance and love from both of her
parents, Beauty have to leave the house and her father. ‘I don’t care where you end up,’ said Mum.
‘Don’t worry, I’d sooner live in a pigsty than one of your Happy Homes. Goodbye
.’ ‘Goodbye, Dad,’ I whispered. Dad was still shaking his head, looking
utterly baffled, as we walked out of the house. Wilson, 2016: 189
The datum above shows that Beauty determinedly wants to leave the house. She says
goodbye to her father who is still confused with what Beauty does. At the end, Beauty and her mother step out from the house and leave her father. Beauty’s action
indicates that she already gains her consciousness towards her problems. She struggles by choosing to leave her house because she realizes her house is the source
of all of the oppressions. Women can do many forms of struggle to free themselves from discrimination because women also have the rights to be treated equally.
b. Making Decisions