Writing
as Resistance: Patriarchal Power and Identity Formation in Educated by
Tara Westover
Parmjeet Kaur,
Assistant Professor of English,
SCD Government College Ludhiana,
Punjab, India.
Abstract: This paper delves into the patriarchal power dynamics and
identity reclamation explored in Tara Westover’s memoir, Educated. Raised in a secluded,
patriarchal family, Westover faced restricted access to education, autonomy,
and self-expression. Her relentless pursuit of education stands as a profound
act of resistance against patriarchal authority, which sought to control her beliefs,
choices, and self-perception. Through intellectual awakening, critical
reflection, and learning, she dismantled the imposed ideological structures.
The memoir itself becomes a creative intervention, allowing Westover to
reconstruct her experiences, reclaim her voice, and assert her identity. By
chronicling her transformation from obedience to self-awareness, she subverts
the power structures that confined her identity. Ultimately, this analysis
underscores the radical power of education and storytelling in resisting
patriarchal domination, redefining identity, and embodying the principle that
creation is resistance.
Keywords:
Patriarchal authority, Identity reclamation, Educational resistance,
Self-awareness, Storytelling, Memoir, Creative resistance
Introduction
Tara Westover’s Educated (2018) serves as a vivid illustration of the concept of
patriarchy as defined by sociologist Sylvia Walby. She argues that female
oppression is perpetuated through an intricate web of social structures,
encompassing the domestic sphere, paid employment, and cultural institutions.
This systemic approach provides a critical lens through which to interpret the
pervasive gendered violence and institutional control depicted in Westover’s
memoir Educated where
Tara recounts her upbringing in a strict survivalist Mormon household in rural
Idaho, where patriarchal authority dictated every facet of family life. Her
father, Gene, wielded absolute control, rejecting formal education, modern
medicine, and government institutions, by refusing to register his children for
birth certificates, vaccinations, or schooling, isolated them from the outside
world and reinforced his patriarchal dominance. Gene’s authority exemplifies
Walby’s concept of patriarchal control over household production and family
structure. Tara and her siblings were
forced to work in the family junkyard under dangerous conditions instead of
attending school, demonstrating how patriarchal power regulates labour and
suppresses individual autonomy.
Furthermore, patriarchy operates through epistemic violence, restricting
access to knowledge. Gene Westover rejects formal schooling, labeling it
corrupting and leading children away from God.
When Tara had some time for reading after work, Gene would try to
distract her from books, thinking that if he could just distract her for a few
years, the danger would pass. He created
jobs for her to do, whether they were necessary or not. Gene justified this
control through religious rhetoric, presenting himself as the family’s
protector against a corrupt external world. He claimed public school was a ploy
by the government to lead children away from God. He said, “I may as well surrender my kids to
the devil himself, as send them down the road to that school (12). In his view,
it is his job to protect them from the wicked world. These claims mask
domination as protection, reinforcing a system where obedience to the patriarch
became a moral obligation. Tara’s lack
of formal education illustrates how patriarchal systems control cultural
institutions, particularly knowledge and learning. Gene’s rejection of schools
and universities prevented his daughters from accessing intellectual
independence, reinforcing traditional gender expectations that prioritized
obedience over education.. As a result, Tara grows up without basic academic
knowledge. Tara’s pursuit of higher education becomes an act of resistance
against this patriarchal structure, symbolizing a struggle to reclaim autonomy
and identity. She starts secretly preparing for the ACT exam. It becomes a
radical act of resistance against the patriarchal system that controls
knowledge and intellectual development. This restriction on education
highlights how patriarchal authority seeks to limit women’s autonomy by
controlling cultural institutions like schooling and knowledge production.
The memoir also exposes the workings of patriarchy
through repeated acts of male violence, most notably embodied in Tara’s brother
Shawn Westover. Shawn’s abuse is both physical and psychological and becomes
normalized within the family. In several instances, he violently grabs Tara by
the hair, drags her across the room, and calls her degrading names. One
particularly disturbing incident occurs when Shawn shoves Tara’s head into a
toilet, forcing her face towards the water while mocking and humiliating her.
At other times, he chokes her or pins her down, asserting his physical power
over her. These assaults are not isolated moments of anger but repeated
patterns of domination that create a climate of fear and silence. Despite the
severity of the abuse, Tara’s attempts to seek support are dismissed by her
father, Gene Westover. Instead of confronting Shawn’s behaviour, he downplays
Tara’s suffering and reframes the incidents as misunderstandings or
exaggerations. His refusal to acknowledge the violence reinforces the hierarchy
of male authority within the family, where the male voice is trusted and
protected while the female voice is doubted or ignored. As a result, Tara is
pressured to question her own experiences and remain silent about the abuse.
The internalization of patriarchal power
structures begins early, shaping gendered subjectivity in ways that appear
“natural” yet are deeply constructed. As Tara reflects, “From the moment I had
first understood that my brother Richard was a boy and I was a girl, I had
wanted to exchange his future for mine. My future was motherhood; his,
fatherhood… To be one was to be a decider. To preside.
To call the family to order. To be the other
was to be among those called” (245). This articulation reveals how authority is
structurally aligned with masculinity, while femininity is relegated to
compliance and participation.
This dynamic
exemplifies Kate Millett’s concept of “patriarchal ideology” as outlined in her
1970 book, Sexual Politics. Millett contends that patriarchal system
legitimizes male dominance while portraying female resistance as deviant or
disruptive. In Tara’s case, Shawn’s violence is tolerated because it aligns
with the prevailing belief that men hold authority within the family. Women are
expected to endure and remain submissive. Consequently, Tara’s attempts to
resist or speak out are misinterpreted not as legitimate self-defence but as
acts of disobedience. Through these experiences, the memoir vividly
demonstrates how patriarchal ideology operates not only through overt violence
but also through silence, denial, and the normalization of female suffering
within the family structure. Thus, Educated vividly illustrates how
patriarchal power functions as a set of beliefs and a lived social system that
shapes women’s bodies, voices, and opportunities. Tara’s mother, Faye,
exemplifies women’s complicity in patriarchal structures. She gradually accepts
her husband’s authority despite witnessing Shawn’s abuse of Tara. Faye urges
Tara to maintain family harmony and accept male authority, insisting that the
father’s word is final. This reflects how patriarchal ideology normalizes
within the household.
In Educated, Tara Westover also portrays identity
reclamation as a gradual process shaped by resistance and self-creation.
Identity reclamation refers to the reconstruction of one’s sense of self after
it has been suppressed by dominant authority. Feminist psychologist Jean Baker
Miller argues in her book, Toward a New Psychology of Women
that women reclaim their identities by rediscovering their
voices and experiences after years of silencing within patriarchal structures.
Tara’s journey illustrates this process as she gradually resists the
restrictive ideology imposed by her father and constructs a new identity
through education and intellectual awakening. Tara grows up under her father’s strict authority, whose
survivalist beliefs and distrusts of
institutions shape the family’s worldview.
In this environment, her identity is defined by obedience, loyalty to
her family, and submission to male authority.
Without formal schooling and taught that schools, hospitals, and
governments are corrupt, her understanding of the world is limited and shaped
by her father’s ideology, leaving little room for independent thought or
self-definition. Tara’s journey towards
identity reclamation begins with acts of intellectual resistance. Despite her lack of formal education, she
secretly prepares for the ACT exam by teaching herself basic subjects like
mathematics, grammar, and history from borrowed books. Her determination to take the exam and
eventually gain admission to Brigham Young University marks a crucial moment of
defiance against the patriarchal authority that had confined her intellectual
growth. By choosing education, Tara
challenges the belief that knowledge outside the family is dangerous and begins
envisioning a life beyond the ideological boundaries of her upbringing.
During her university days, she undergoes a profound
awakening to the limits of her knowledge. A pivotal moment occurs during a
history lecture when the professor discusses the Holocaust. Unfamiliar with the
term, Tara raises her hand to seek clarification. Her classmates’ shocked
reactions reveal the isolation of her upbringing and the depth of the knowledge
she had been deprived of. Although the experience is deeply humiliating, it
becomes a turning point that motivates Tara to read extensively and fill the
gaps in her understanding. Through this process, education transforms from an
act of resistance against the intellectual restrictions of her childhood into a
tool for constructing a new intellectual identity. As Tara progresses
academically, education becomes a means of self-creation. Her opportunity to
study at the University of Cambridge exposes her to fresh intellectual and
cultural perspectives that foster critical reflection. In this stimulating
environment, she begins to examine her past more critically and question the
patterns of power that shaped her childhood. Through academic study and
mentorship, Tara acquires the language and analytical frameworks necessary to
comprehend the dynamics of authority, control, and silence that permeated her
family.
This new perspective becomes particularly significant
when Tara starts to question the abuse her brother Shawn Westover inflicted on
her. For years, she had been conditioned to view Shawn’s violent behaviour as
normal sibling conflict. However, exposure to new ideas and supportive voices
enables her to recognize these incidents as abuse rather than misunderstanding.
When she eventually confides in others about Shawn’s behaviour, their reactions
help her realize that the violence she experienced was neither acceptable nor
justified. This realization challenges the patriarchal narrative within her
family that had normalised male dominance and female silence. The process of identity reclamation reaches a
critical point when Tara confronts her father about the abuse. Instead of acknowledging her experiences, he
denies the violence and insists that Tara must seek forgiveness for accusing
her brother. Faced with this ultimatum, Tara had to choose between loyalty to
her family and loyalty to her own memories. Accepting her own interpretation of
events becomes an act of resistance, as it requires her to reject the authority
that had long defined her identity. Although this decision brings emotional
pain and the risk of estrangement, it also affirms her intellectual and
personal autonomy. Moreover, Tara’s journey demonstrates that identity reclamation
involves both resistance and reconstruction. Her efforts to educate herself,
confront gaps in her knowledge, reinterpret her experiences of abuse, and
challenge her father’s authority all contribute to the gradual formation of a
new identity. Through education and intellectual curiosity, Tara develops a
sense of self grounded in critical thinking, independence, and personal agency
rather than obedience and silence. In this way, Educated reveals that
reclaiming identity within patriarchal structures is a complex and often
painful process that requires both the courage to resist oppressive authority
and the determination to create a new understanding of oneself.
Another pivotal moment in Tara’s journey of identity
reclamation comes when she begins to view her father’s behaviour through the lens of
psychological understanding. During her academic studies, she encounters the
concept of BipolarDisorder and starts noticing similarities between the symptoms
described in psychological literature and the extreme mood swings exhibited by
her father, Gene Westover. In her own words, “Fourteen years after the incident
with the Weaver, I would sit in a university classroom and listen to a
professor of psychology describes something called bipolar disorder. Until that
moment I had never heard of mental illness. I knew people could go crazy-they’d wear
dead cats on their heads or fall in love with a turnip but the notion that a
person could be functional, lucid,
persuasive, and something could still be wrong had never occurred to me.” Throughout her childhood, Gene’s behaviour was marked by
intense paranoia, apocalyptic predictions, and sudden shifts between affection
and anger. As a child, Tara interpreted these actions as
divine inspiration and unquestionable authority. However, her exposure to
academic knowledge allows her to critically reconsider these experiences. Realising her father’s behaviour might be linked to
mental illness helps Tara separate her identity from the unquestioned authority
he once held. This reinterpretation is crucial because it enables her to
understand that the worldview imposed upon her was shaped not only by ideology
but also by instability and fear.
The culmination of Tara’s journey of resistance and
self-creation is her achievement of a doctoral degree from the University of
Cambridge. This PhD represents far more
than academic success; it signifies a complete transformation of Tara’s
identity. A girl who grew up without
formal schooling and isolated from mainstream knowledge ultimately becomes a
scholar capable of producing original research and contributing to intellectual
discourse. This accomplishment reflects the full extent of her identity
reclamation. Through education, Tara reconstructs herself not as a submissive
daughter within a patriarchal household but as an independent thinker and
academic.
Tara’s doctoral achievement represents the pinnacle of
self-creation. By embracing knowledge and critical inquiry, she transcends the
limitations imposed by her upbringing. The PhD is both a personal triumph and a
symbolic victory, signifying the triumph of intellectual freedom over silence,
curiosity over fear, and self-definition over patriarchal control. This
transformation is accompanied by a profound internal conflict. Tara must choose
between loyalty to her father’s worldview and her intellectual independence.
After completing her doctoral studies, she establishes boundaries with her
family, symbolically rejecting the identity imposed by patriarchal authority.
Thus, Education serves as a powerful form of resistance against patriarchal
control throughout the memoir. Even before university, Tara secretly studies
for the ACT exam using borrowed textbooks, defying the prohibition against
schooling that governed her childhood. Her intellectual journey continues at
university, where exposure to literature, philosophy, and history enables her
to critically evaluate the ideological structures that shaped her upbringing.
Through dialogue with professors and peers, Tara begins to dismantle her
father’s binary worldview, which divided the world into righteous believers and
corrupt outsiders. As her knowledge expands, Tara experiences increasing
self-awareness, viewing her past from a new perspective. She recognise how fear, religion, and patriarchal authority controlled
her life, allowing her to reinterpret traumatic memories as manifestations of
abuse and domination. Education becomes both an intellectual and emotional
tool, empowering her to reconstruct her identity on her own terms.
In the memoir, Educated, Tara Westover also
presents writing not just as personal storytelling but also as a means of
reconstructing memory and truth. French feminist theorist Hélène Cixous, in her
1976 work The Laugh of the Medusa, argues that women must write their
experiences to challenge the silence imposed by patriarchal cultures.
Westover’s memoir embodies this idea by transforming fragmented memories into a
coherent narrative that questions who holds the authority to define reality.
One of the most striking aspects of Educated is
Tara’s struggle with conflicting memories. Throughout the memoir, she
frequently acknowledges that her recollections differ from those of her family
members. For instance, when she recalls the abuse inflicted by her brother
Shawn Westover, other family members either deny the incidents or claim they
remember them differently. Instead of presenting her memories as absolute
truth, Tara openly reflects on the uncertainty surrounding them. She notes that
some family members insist certain events never happened. By including these
contradictions, Westover reveals how memory itself can become a contested space
where power determines which version of events is accepted.
This tension is particularly evident when
Tara revisits childhood incidents involving her father, Gene Westover. Gene
often reinterprets past events to reinforce his authority, presenting himself
as a protective and divinely guided patriarch. However, Tara’s memoir
challenges this narrative by presenting alternative interpretations of the same
experiences. For example, she describes dangerous accidents in the junkyard
where family members were severely injured but denied medical treatment due to
Gene’s distrust of hospitals. While Gene framed these decisions as acts of
faith and independence, Tara’s narrative reveals the fear and risk that
accompanied them. By revisiting these events through writing, she exposes the
gap between ideological justification and lived experience.
Another crucial aspect of Westover’s
storytelling is her openness to portraying uncertainty and doubt. Rather than
presenting a fixed or authoritative narrative, she repeatedly questions her own
memories and acknowledges the challenges of reconstructing the past. This
approach underscores that memoir isn’t just a record of events but an attempt
to understand and interpret them. Through this process, writing becomes a space
where Tara navigates competing versions of truth and gradually forms her own
understanding of her past.
The memoir thus demonstrates how storytelling can serve
as a site of epistemological resistance, challenging dominant narratives and
creating space for alternative perspectives. By documenting experiences
previously dismissed or silenced, Westover asserts her right to interpret her
own life. Writing becomes a way to preserve memories that might otherwise be
erased or distorted within family discourse. Ultimately, Educated
demonstrates that memoir writing is not just an act of self-expression but also
a powerful tool for reclaiming truth. By confronting conflicting memories and
acknowledging the complexities of her past, Westover transforms personal
recollection into a critical examination of how knowledge and authority are
constructed. This memoir effectively shows that storytelling itself can challenge
systems that control whose voices are heard and whose experiences are believed.
Educated: A Memoir ultimately affirms that education and narrative expression
can dismantle oppressive systems.
Tara Westover’s journey from an isolated childhood in rural
Idaho to becoming a scholar illustrates how intellectual inquiry enables
individuals to question and transcend inherited structures of domination.
Through education, Westover develops the critical awareness necessary to
confront the ideological constraints of her upbringing. She says,
“You could call this selfhood many things.
Transformation. Metamorphosis.
Falsity. Betrayal. I call it an education.” (309-310)
Writing her memoir allows her to reclaim
authority over her own story, embodying the principle that creating is to
resist. By transforming personal experience into narrative, Westover challenges
the silence and control that once defined her life. Her story extends beyond
personal memoir, demonstrating how knowledge, self-reflection, and creative expression
can become powerful tools for resisting patriarchal authority and
reconstructing identity.
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