Sanders conveys his thoughts on how the men he has seen throughout his life have little to no say in the direction of their future, he supports this by explaining how men have to go through life slaving away, working difficult, dangerous jobs. There were really only two life paths available for men at the time this was written; becoming a factory worker or a soldier, Sanders knew that he was destined to go down one of the two paths that were given to him, ultimately leading him to the conclusion that women live much easier, and simpler lives. Throughout this writing Sanders seems to become quite covetous towards women, but later rephrases and further expands on these feelings, “I was slow to understand the deep grievances of women. This was because as a boy, I had envied them” (Sanders).
Throughout his childhood years Sanders never really thought about what women had to experience. Years later Sanders begins to engage with women, socializing among them, exposing the true nature of the hardships they’ve had to endure; because of this he believed he had become a companion to these women, but that was not the case, they saw him as an enemy. This causes him to realize that the issue does not stem from the class one is raised in. The women were raised to believe that no matter how hard they tried they could never surpass, or even be equal to men, they would always be below them.
