The Political Woman
Changes in womens roles in society took place during the eighteenth and nineteenth century. These changes manifest themselves in the importance attributed to female agency, the repercussion of which led not only to the redefinition of the females role within the private sphere of the family but also in the inclusion of women in the different fields in the public sphere. The changes in the eighteenth and nineteenth century thereby enabled the creation of the political woman. In line with this, the following discussion traces the creation of the political woman as well as the roles associated with her based on Fanny Ferns Hints to Young Wives and A Law More Nice than Just, as well as Judith Murrays On the Equality of the Sexes, and Catharine Sedgwicks Hope Leslie. The discussion extrapolates on the argument that the creation of the political woman from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century manifests itself in the works of women writers such as Fern, Murray, and Sedgwick as their texts portray the redefinition of the family, gender, and social roles of women during the period of their works publication.
A political woman is an entity that strives for the attainment of both freedom and equality. She is an entity who recognizes the different forms of unfreedoms and inequality in society and strives to change the factors that enable this condition. She is a woman who recognizes that agency, which refers to the capability to practice ones freedom rationally, can only be authentic if women are not merely relegated to the private sphere of the family and as such are also recognized in their capability to participate in the public sphere of society. A political woman in the period of the eighteenth and nineteenth century is thereby a woman who opts to redefine the family, gender, and social roles of women during the period. These roles are interrelated with one another since sex was the primary determinant for ones roles in society during that time-frame. This adherence to the role of biological characteristics in determining ones capacities and capabilities affected the roles of women since their capacities and capabilities were determined and delineated to their reproductive traits. Along with this, women were stereotyped as irrational beings incapable of self-regulation and hence incapable of practicing autonomy. Within the private and public spheres of society, they were considered as inferior to men and hence must necessarily be subservient to men within the private domain and banned from the participation in the political domain of the public sphere. This stereotype associated with women and the different means of combating and ending the injustices caused by this label is apparent in Murray, Fern, and Sedgwicks texts.
Murrays On the Equality of the Sexes provides a counter-argument for the association of a womans capacities to her biological capabilities. The text, in itself, is divided into two distinct parts wherein the initial part takes the form of a poem that provides the gist of her argument whereas the later part of the text takes the form of an essay that provides her justifications for her argument. In her poem, she introduces her rationale for arguing for the equality of the sexes as she posits that although the members of the sexes are dissimilar in their biological characteristics, rationality which is a quality of the soul is independent from biological traits and as such is also present in women (Murray 1253-1254). In the poem, she states,
Who this distinction to the sex ascribe,D As if a woman s form must needs enrol,D A weak, servile, an inferior soulD And that the guise of man must still proclaim,D Greatness of mind, and him, to be the same D The soul unfetter d, to no sex confin d D (N)ature with equality imparts, D And noble passions, swell e en female hearts. (Murray 1253-1254)
Murray provides several propositions to support her argument within the later part of her text. First, each individual is in possession of mental capacities irrespective of hisD her sex (Murray 1254). Second, there are differences between each individuals mental capacities apparent in the distinctions of their utilization and development of their imagination, reason, memory, and judgment (Murray 1254). Third, sex is an irrelevant factor in the distinction of individuals mental capacities (Murray 1254). Fourth, an individuals mental capacities are determined by the quality of hisD her soul (Murray 1256). Finally, the quality of an individual s soul is determined by hisD her education (Murray 1255). In line with these assumptions, she further argues that the rationale behind women s seemingly irrational nature is also due to the limited opportunities given to them (Murray 1257). She states, The exquisite delicacy of the female mind proclaimeth the exactness of its texture, while its nice sense of hounour and prouncenth its innate, its native grandeur... (A)fter an education which limits and confines, and employments and recreations which naturally tend to enervate the body, and debilitate the mind (Murray 1257). In order to end this, it is thereby necessary to introduce women to the same education given to men (Murray 1257). She claims, (O)ur minds are at full liberation for reflection that imagination may exert itself in full vigor and that if a just foundation is early laid, our ideas will then be worthy of rational beings If we are allowed an equality of acquirement, let serious studies equally employ our minds, and we will bind our souls arise to equal strength (Murray 1256-1257).
Murrays text, in this sense, redefines the roles associated with women during the period as she questions the foundational beliefs that allowed the perpetuation of these roles. Although her argument ends with an appeal to pity to the members of the male species as she specifies that the changes in womens mental capacities are only possible with the help of men, by virtue of their brute strength in comparison to females, it is important to note that this recognition on Murrays part merely emphasizes the role of social consensus in enabling changes in society (Murray 1258). Such is the case since although certain beliefs may be proven to be false, in light of the analysis of the arguments supporting these beliefs, the changes in the practices enabled and perpetuated by these beliefs also entails the recognition of unsoundness by the other members of society. This was also emphasized by Fern in her different texts.
Fern, whose real name is Sara Willis Parton, implicitly points out the necessity of changing hegemonic beliefs associated with womens biological characteristics and their mental capacities. This is apparent as most of her works address the different forms of injustices in society. As opposed to Murrays text discussed above which debunks the foundational assumptions behind sex inequality, Ferns works focus on the different forms of sex inequality by satirizing its different manifestations. Examples of this are apparent in Hints to Young Wives and A Law More Nice than Just. Both texts emphasize the gender roles associated with women. These gender roles determine what is considered to be the acceptable decorum of women towards one another and even towards men. Consider for example, in Hints to Young Wives, Fern emphasizes the subservient role of wives towards their husbands. She describes it in the following manner, The minute she sees her husband coming up the street, she makes for the door, as if she hadnt another minute to live... Poor little innocent fool She imagines thats the way to preserve his affection. Preserve a fiddlestick (Hint 2257).
Within the context of the private sphere, a woman thereby takes the role of an upper servant or a housekeeper (Hint 2258). The injustice of this position is further made apparent by Fern as she notes that this servitude is recognized with a husbands ingratitude. She claims, (T)he truth is just this... (H)e is your humble servant, but the very second he finds out (or thinks he does) that he has possession of every inch of your heart, and no neutral territory-he will turn on his heel and march off whistling Yankee Doodle (Hint 2257-2258). Other manifestations of gender inequality were identified by Fern in A Law More Nice than Just. In the article, she questions the existence of unsubstantial laws by satirizing the arrest of a woman who dressed in a mans suit. In the beginning of the article, she claims, (M)en who make the laws, make them to meet all... little emergencies (Law 2262). These laws however reflect a form of inequality in society as it hinders women from experiencing the same amount of liberty men experience. Although, it is not explicitly stated in the article, Fern points out that the restrictions to womens lives are not only evident in the laws as they are also evident in the customs and the wardrobe forced upon women.
Think of the old maids (and weep) who have to stay at home evening after evening, when, if they provided themselves with a coat, pants and hat, they might go abroad...Think of the married women who stay at home after their days toil is done, waiting wearily for their thoughtless, truant husbands, when they might be taking the much needed independent walk in trousers, which custom forbids to petticoats. (Law 2262)
The petticoat thereby represents the social restriction on women as it forces them to adopt and be accustomed to restricted actions.
This same emphasis on the effects of customs and beliefs specified on the texts discussed above in creating and enabling the perpetuation of womens irrational stereotypes that led them to adopt subservient roles in society is also emphasized by Sedgwick in Hope Leslie. The text discusses the issues of racial equality and gender equality as it portrays the persecution of Anne Hutchinson. As opposed to racial equality, Sedgwick emphasizes the greater importance of gender equality. This is apparent since the persecution of Hutchinson is largely due to her adherence to a particular race as opposed to a specific gender. By emphasizing this, Sedgwick was thereby able to show that even if American society is unable to handle racial equality, the issue of gender equality can be addressed if only there is the recognition of female autonomy or personal autonomy in all individuals in society. The problem with this view however is evident since adherence to equality requires the adherence to all forms and not just a single form of equality. Despite of this, Sedgwicks text still contributes to changing womens roles in society as it shows a females capability to practice her freedom.
Within this context, the texts discussed above present the creation of the political woman as they aimed to change the stereotypes associated with the female body as well as the female mind. By doing so, they were able to pave the way for changing the family, gender, and social roles associated with women. Murray provided the foundational arguments for the necessity of these changes and along with this enabled the change in the social role of a woman as she perceived women as capable of participating in the public sphere as long as she is given the same educational opportunities given to men.
Categories:
0 comments:
Post a Comment