Lucky Girl - Completed

I had a feeling where this chapter was headed when I read the word Catholic. From the start I should say I have a fraught relationship with organized religion and the devout. I am part of the LGBTQ community so you can imagine what it's like. I was not the least bit surprised at the things Evie's mom said. The patriarchy is religion's creation. Any country as old and deeply rooted in the Catholic Church, or any denomination, as Ireland is it's not surprising to see how blasé the older women are to the men's behavior. Women are told by the church that they are lesser than men and are expected to be unquestioningly subservient. That plays into the ages old belief that a woman is nothing if she doesn't have a man. No doubt Evie has been bombarded with those messages her entire life, subtly and overtly.

And you never question the church. So here's Evie with all these very normal thoughts, that hey, wait a minute, who says I'm lesser than a man. At the same time she's a people pleaser and pushing back against these norms being thrown at her by people she wants to please causes anxiety and stress. She wants to break free and be her own woman, but she feels a misplaced obligation to be the young woman other people want her to be. The people pleaser aspect of her personality makes it difficult to break free of the specter of Kelly. She doesn't really care what Kelly thinks of her but it still gnaws at her that a relationship went wrong. So she keeps trying to figure out why, instead of accepting that sometimes friendships really weren't meant to be, or it was the other person that changed or was a user and a false friend.

There is so much more to unpack in this chapter. It is one of those that I need to read and reread more than once to try and take in all the nuances. This is a marvelous chapter and so well written with so many layers.