It was my choice....

Compare and Contrast?

Mona Lisa Smile-----Set in 1952

Katherine Watson: It says here that you're pre-law. What law school are you going to go to?
Joan Brandwyn: I hadn't really thought about that. After I graduate, I plan on getting married.
Katherine Watson: And then?
Joan Brandwyn: [confused] And then... I'll be married.

My Living Room---yesterday

Friend: Where did you take the Bar?
Me: Maryland....I decided I needed to take the Bar before changing my name.
Friend: Why would that matter?
Me: If he moves, I'll follow. I'm a military wife first.
Friend: When did THAT happen???

Joan Brandwyn: It was my choice, not to go. He would have supported it.
Katherine Watson: But you don't have to choose!
Joan Brandwyn: No, I have to. I want a home, I want a family! That's not something I'll sacrifice.
Katherine Watson: No one's asking you to sacrifice that, Joan. I just want you to understand that you can do both.
Joan Brandwyn: Do you think I'll wake up one morning and regret not being a lawyer?
Katherine Watson: Yes, I'm afraid that you will.
Joan Brandwyn: Not as much as I'd regret not having a family, not being there to raise them. I know exactly what I'm doing and it doesn't make me any less smart. This must seem terrible to you.
Katherine Watson: I didn't say that.
Joan Brandwyn: Sure you did. You always do. You stand in class and tell us to look beyond the image, but you don't. To you a housewife is someone who sold her soul for a center hall colonial. She has no depth, no intellect, no interests. You're the one who said I could do anything I wanted. This is what I want.