*please excuse my pathetic attempt to add a bit of birthday cheer to Mary Wollstoncraft's portrait. at least the cake looks excited..
While it's debatable whether her birthday marks the birth of feminism as we know it, it's fair to say the late Ms Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797) put women's liberation on the agenda with her treatise "A vindication of the Rights of Women" (1792) and as modern day women with access to a proper education and equality under the law, we owe her alot (I'm appealing to our female readership here. If there are any guys reading, here's a -admittedly slightly biased- male view on things: Wollstonecraft husband Thomas Godwin wrote "If ever there was a book calculated to make a man in love with its author, this appears to me to be the book." Take what you will from that)
The thought provoking smh article "Let Women be Enlightened" pretty well sums up in a nut shell what a radical and remarkable woman the late Ms Wollstonecraft was and the continuing relevance of her ideas. recommended reading!
So what do you guys (in the neutral sense) think? Is the brand of rational, 'whatever you can do, I can do just as well' feminism that Mary Wollstonecraft espoused still alive and kicking (as opposed to the more out-there 'who needs men?' strands of feminism)? Would you identify yourself as a feminist or do you find the label "feminist" slightly alienating?
Oh! and lastly- slightly unrelated to feminism, but definetly related to Mary Wollstonecraft's fighting spirit - having looked at the comments on Hurley Who's post on gay marriage and asylum seekers, it was quite dispiriting to note how cynical some of you are *cough d.read cough*.
I mean, we're the young people of this city/nation/world- if ever there is a time to be idealists and to believe however deludedly that we can change the world, it's now! Save disillusionment and bitterness for middle age. Yay for hope!
C.L.
6 comments:
haha County Lucifer, that's the epitome of my 'absent minded genius'... speaking of mary wolly, her daughter defs inherited her radical streak as the more i think of frankenstein the more worried i get about mary shelley's mental health....
anywhoo, hurrah for deluded optimism - the world needs more, esp because of a certain word starting with R which will not be mentioned because im keeping this comment optimistic. what will be left of us if we don't BELIEVE??? in ourselves, in our govt (although there may be reason not to), in our friends, in the economic system hehe
in response to this post: of course i am a feminist - i mean, who DOESN'T think women deserve equal treatment? the 'alienation' that comes from being labelled 'feminist' is a definitional issue and one which should be sorted out, then we will be free to say I AM I FEMINIST AND NO I DON'T BURN BRAS AND YES I SHAVE MY LEGS!
go the wolly! i agree in that everyone should be a feminist, damn it. unfortunately the cynic in me has awoken from its slumber to remark that if i said this in any sort of public forum a large number of people would look at me with severe distaste. and as for optimism, are you implying that beneath my beautitious and youthful exterior lies a rotting octogenarian?
eUgh, I keep typing Wollstonecraft wrong, it's getting annoying ><. And if anyone was asking, yes, I AM disappointed that no one has really made a film based on her life and/or works.
Lol, I like that... everyone should seriously be feminist. I'd find it hard to live with someone who didn't believe in gender equality. Thing is, when I ask people whether or not they're a feminist they say: 'Yeh yeh, I'm all for equal treatment of genders and that both sexes are equally capable etc. But I'm not a feminist.' But when I ask them what makes you NOT a feminist... they can't answer. It's definitely a definitional thing. But here's where some people veer a bit in outlook (which btw is not criteria for feminism).
I think I've said this a million times, but it still surprises me how many people who have the same education as we have, the same exposure to the media, the same political foundations will say to you, all in earnest, that they would drop any other aspirations to start a family and be a full-time mother ASAP. On an intellectual level - I can reason that this is a valid choice for anyone, whoever they may be. But confronting this argument, my first "emotional" response is: w-w-why!?
I don't think being a full time mother is anything to snub your nose at. It doesn't mean you have a lack of education, or are unable to maintain a career - on many levels it's probably more fulfilling than a variety of careers.
I know that's not what you meant Pate - but I think that even if you are an bright, intelligent woman, feminist if you will, it does not mean you cannot see the value of raising your family. I would say that the "feminist" attitude, whatever we are calling it, has probably resulted in the stress of the many expectations of the modern-day woman - to hold a job and be successful, to maintain the household, to raise a family... it's no wonder so many supermums have breakdowns.
Of course, the man could always do the domestic duties. If you're lucky to get one that can.
ps CL - why did you have to bring up any reference to P&P and Weldon?
[feel free to delete my previous comment if anonymity is an issue. I'm an idiot.]
I don't think being a full time mother is anything to snub your nose at. It doesn't mean you have a lack of education, or are unable to maintain a career - on many levels it's probably more fulfilling than a variety of careers.
I know that's not what you meant Pate - but I think that even if you are an bright, intelligent woman, feminist if you will, it does not mean you cannot see the value of raising your family. I would say that the "feminist" attitude, whatever we are calling it, has probably resulted in the stress of the many expectations of the modern-day woman - to hold a job and be successful, to maintain the household, to raise a family... it's no wonder so many supermums have breakdowns.
Of course, the man could always do the domestic duties. If you're lucky to get one that can.
ps CL - why did you have to bring up any reference to P&P and Weldon?
Jester - anonymity is not an issues, as we all clearly know each other anyway so, but anyway I agree with:
"I think that even if you are an bright, intelligent woman, feminist if you will, it does not mean you cannot see the value of raising your family." True. It's easy to assume that women educated to the superlative degree are somehow throwing away all that education but their 'contribution to society' is as important if not more - people don't realise that education allows them to bring up their children in a way which will allow for the perpetuation of valuing education. It's all very well that, as members of the female sex, we have been given this opportunity (I'm not complaining) but we're not going to live forever, and I think that passing on that sense of the importance of education is equally relevant. If a full-time mother's job is to nurture well-rounded open-minded individuals then what they do should certainly not be dismissed. Who are we to decided that simply 'staying in the house' is against the policy of feminism? It's an acute decision that plenty of women make. Nothing to do with repression or misguided intentions or passivity.
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