From The Italics are Mine by Nina Berberova

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From The Italics are Mine by Nina Berberova

“In the strong desire to have a profession ‘for life,’ to have something that would grow with me like an arm or a leg, and be a part of me, I now see a kind of compensation for what I lacked as a girl.” (69)

Berberova has a drive that comes from deep within. Her search for a career is not out of pettiness or anger, but from a deserved sense of entitlement that allows her to think of her options without being held back by the trivial opinions of others. She is allowed to think this way, because she thinks like a man would. Women often doubt themselves; I am guilty of this as well. I think this doubt is placed on women by others. People feel free to remind women of their career options or their expectations for women, but it seems men have limitless options. This phenomenon of people overstepping and underestimating a woman’s potential happens still today. 

Many women today still choose careers that are considered feminine such as teaching or nursing, which are wonderful to pursue, no matter what gender you are, but hearing about women crossing a frontier into male dominated fields inspires me greatly. 

“So I wrote a long list of possible professions on a piece of paper, completely disregarding the fact that I was not a boy, which meant that such professions as fireman and mailman had properly to be excluded.” (69)

When I was little I always saw images on television of “the working man” and wanted to be like him. I dreamed of going to work, suitcase in hand, drinking my coffee, and trying to come home around 6pm to see the family for dinner. This role was always a man, but why not a woman? After thinking about that, I made my decision to pursue a career in business. My decision was not made out of “envy nor a feeling of misfortune” (68), just like Berberova's decision. I chose my career path rather to prove to myself that I can work in a male-dominated atmosphere and feel perfectly at home. Thoughts of being different than men intellectually are meaningless and hold women back from being pioneers in fields that could benefit greatly from their presence.