On the topic of International Women's Day
Literary thought, related to several recent bits of reading matter on how biased the world's approach to women is and how vital feminism still is:
"I could bring you fifty quotations in a moment on my side the argument, and I do not think I ever opened a book in my life which had not something to say upon woman's inconstancy. Songs and proverbs, all talk of woman's fickleness. But perhaps, you will say, these were all written by men."
"Perhaps I shall. Yes, yes, if you please, no reference to examples in books. Men have had every advantage of us in telling their own story. Education has been theirs in so much higher a degree; the pen has been in their hands."
- Captain Harville and Anne Elliot, Persuasion, Jane Austen, 1816
Progress still required, undoubtedly, but we have come a very long way in 200 years.
posted by skittledog @ 2:06 pm
4 comments
4 Comments:
but we have come a very long way in 200 years.
Have we? Ok, so you are not your husbands property anymore, but you are far from equal.
Right now female council employees who are suing for backpay over years of unequal payment are being represented as greedy selfish harrigans out to ruin local communities.
Teaching has become a less esteemed profession since the numbers of female teachers started rising. A nice example of this are primary teachers, who are regarded as slighly stupid people waving glue sticks and glitter. 200 years ago a primary teacher was male and highly respected. Today they are female and belittled.
The profession that currently undergoes a bit of a devaluation process is General Practioner. I am sure it is a coincidence that the number of female GPs has risen significantly.
Yes, the obvious traps of female subjungation have been removed, the same way as slavery has been abolished. The discrimination is alive and well. Or in some cases, well hidden.
And then you have people come along with platforms and grrrrrlpower, proclaiming everything is cool 'cause they are grrrrrls and they can make money from being pseudo-role models. If it weren't so damn sad I'd laugh.
[/unexpected rant]
*subjugation and harridan.
I need edit functions
Biped, you clearly need linking to the blog that started these thoughts in the first place: http://www.myspace.com/clairejmcgowan (a girl I know from Oxford, and a damn fine (if depressing) writer). The latest three entries are the important ones. Go feel that your rants are shared.
I don't deny any of it, but still, when I was reading that...the idea that all books, all media would say that men are constant and women are fickle...is an extremely odd idea to me these days. In modern culture it's accepted that it is the men who sleep around. And yes, that's quite chauvinist too, but it's different...even if I can't quite find the words to say why right now.
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