Feminism
Howard, Anna Holyoke. “A Woman’s Business.” The Woman’s Magazine. Brattleboro, VT: June 1888. 530-533. Harvard University Library. Web. 5 March 2014.
The Woman’s Magazine was a magazine directed towards young women in Vermont. Anna Holyoke Howard writes a strongly charged feminine article urging the retention of the female character while also advocating for change in the workplace. She focuses largely on a woman’s profession. Women should make other’s happy. Not to do so, would betray selfishness, vulgarity, and a lack of good breeding. Howard even goes as far as to say it is the “duty and privilege of every woman to do good, to scatter sunshine in dark places” and to help those who need it as well as make the world a better place. While all women should do this, Howard wants to expansion of possible occupation for women. She critiques male clerks, calling it feminine for them to cut and measure ribbon, and even goes as far to talk about the many deaths of young women because of want of employment. Howard’s article is largely filled with feminist propaganda and an interesting glance into the issues and women and work at the time. AG
http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/2705837?n=90&imagesize=2400&jp2Res=0.5&printThumbnails=no
The Woman’s Magazine was a magazine directed towards young women in Vermont. Anna Holyoke Howard writes a strongly charged feminine article urging the retention of the female character while also advocating for change in the workplace. She focuses largely on a woman’s profession. Women should make other’s happy. Not to do so, would betray selfishness, vulgarity, and a lack of good breeding. Howard even goes as far as to say it is the “duty and privilege of every woman to do good, to scatter sunshine in dark places” and to help those who need it as well as make the world a better place. While all women should do this, Howard wants to expansion of possible occupation for women. She critiques male clerks, calling it feminine for them to cut and measure ribbon, and even goes as far to talk about the many deaths of young women because of want of employment. Howard’s article is largely filled with feminist propaganda and an interesting glance into the issues and women and work at the time. AG
http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/2705837?n=90&imagesize=2400&jp2Res=0.5&printThumbnails=no
“Woman’s Rights—National Woman’s Rights Convention.” New York Times. New York (October 18, 1855). Web. 5 March 2014.
This article is written from a biased first person point of view. The author is describing her experience at the Cincinnati Woman’s Rights Convention. A large portion of the article is about the introduction of the first speaker, Lucy Stone Blackwell’s, husband. Mrs. Wright inverted his name, calling him Mr. Blackwell Stone. This name reversal caused “merriment” among the crowd. The article largely mixes sexism with progress. Mr. Blackwell’s major points are that men have larger brains than woman because they are more highly cultivated, that men had the right of the vote because of power, and that they were incapable of legislating for women. The article also touches on free love, calling the representative “victorious.” AG
This article is written from a biased first person point of view. The author is describing her experience at the Cincinnati Woman’s Rights Convention. A large portion of the article is about the introduction of the first speaker, Lucy Stone Blackwell’s, husband. Mrs. Wright inverted his name, calling him Mr. Blackwell Stone. This name reversal caused “merriment” among the crowd. The article largely mixes sexism with progress. Mr. Blackwell’s major points are that men have larger brains than woman because they are more highly cultivated, that men had the right of the vote because of power, and that they were incapable of legislating for women. The article also touches on free love, calling the representative “victorious.” AG
“Female Emancipation.” The New York Times. New York (February 10, 1860). Web. 5 March 2014.
This article focuses on the forward progressing New York State, and the act of 1848 in which women were allowed to keep their property after marriage. While women were allowed to keep their property as well as gifts they receive, but not the wages they earn from labor. The tone of the article is highly malleable, switching from anti-male to frustrated male. In the beginning the author criminalizes husbands as drunks, idles, or vagabonds who “seize” and retain their wives’ wages. However, later on there is a clear anger or frustration in the tone; the author states that men have done as much as the can do for women’s liberties, and that women must do the rest. Mrs. Lucy Stone is again mentioned in this article, but with a far more negative tone. The author states that she would have to wage war against human nature or the ordinances of Heaven in order to remove what he determines as “hardships” and “grievances” women suffer. The article ends with patriarchal condescension. AG
This article focuses on the forward progressing New York State, and the act of 1848 in which women were allowed to keep their property after marriage. While women were allowed to keep their property as well as gifts they receive, but not the wages they earn from labor. The tone of the article is highly malleable, switching from anti-male to frustrated male. In the beginning the author criminalizes husbands as drunks, idles, or vagabonds who “seize” and retain their wives’ wages. However, later on there is a clear anger or frustration in the tone; the author states that men have done as much as the can do for women’s liberties, and that women must do the rest. Mrs. Lucy Stone is again mentioned in this article, but with a far more negative tone. The author states that she would have to wage war against human nature or the ordinances of Heaven in order to remove what he determines as “hardships” and “grievances” women suffer. The article ends with patriarchal condescension. AG
“Impracticable Rights.” New York Times. New York (February 6, 1860). Web. 5 March 2014.
This article advocates against women’s suffrage, while overlooking Mrs. Lucy Stone’s “long list of female wrongs.” The author follows a Mr. Beecher’s argument, who says that men are allowed to vote because that is the best means of securing tranquility, order and government. In allowing women, negroes, resident aliens, and underage persons to vote would be to detract from the community. It is only for the betterment of society that only white males are allowed to vote. Mr. Beecher also claims that only bad and corrupt citizens would be the ones to vote, and therefore corrupt society. AG
This article advocates against women’s suffrage, while overlooking Mrs. Lucy Stone’s “long list of female wrongs.” The author follows a Mr. Beecher’s argument, who says that men are allowed to vote because that is the best means of securing tranquility, order and government. In allowing women, negroes, resident aliens, and underage persons to vote would be to detract from the community. It is only for the betterment of society that only white males are allowed to vote. Mr. Beecher also claims that only bad and corrupt citizens would be the ones to vote, and therefore corrupt society. AG
Powell, Aaron M. “Woman a Voter.” Women’s Advocacy. 1.1 (January 1869) n.pag. Emory Women Writers Resource Project. Web. 5 March 2014.
Powell writes a well versed article speaking about the importance of the ballot. He states that in the ballot is power, which must be divided between men and women as equals. Powell seems to be looking at women as wholly equals, without any sexism in his tone. He begins by speaking of the inequalities between men and women. Women are unequally and inadequately compensated for work, their education is inferior, and even at home in the designated women’s “sphere” women are still subordinate. The ballot gives the holder a since of authority, and is representative of both opportunity and responsibility—properties of both men and women. He finishes his article urging women to action in contacting their state legislatures for action. AG
Powell writes a well versed article speaking about the importance of the ballot. He states that in the ballot is power, which must be divided between men and women as equals. Powell seems to be looking at women as wholly equals, without any sexism in his tone. He begins by speaking of the inequalities between men and women. Women are unequally and inadequately compensated for work, their education is inferior, and even at home in the designated women’s “sphere” women are still subordinate. The ballot gives the holder a since of authority, and is representative of both opportunity and responsibility—properties of both men and women. He finishes his article urging women to action in contacting their state legislatures for action. AG
Littlefield, Louisa J. G. “The Consequence of Woman’s Learning the Alphabet.” Women’s Advocacy. 1.4 (April 1869) n.pag. Emory Women Writers Resource Project. Web. 5 March 2014.
Louisa J. G. Littlefield looks at the evolution of women’s learning and social practices in attesting women’s right to vote. She talks about how at one point men had a right to chastise his wife for disobedience, and thought when that law was repealed men though that the cornerstone of the family was gone, now women is the companion She likens this to Jesus, and how he made woman his companion and equal. This is a strong point as many of the men opposed to women’s right were religious men. Littlefield also talks about how “teachers of religion” are slow to take on causes. She compares their hesitance on women’s suffrage to that of their hesitance on abolition. Her article continues in a well thought out, non-aggressive tone, speaking about the different ways society, and men, would positively adapt to women sharing equal rights and the vote. AG
Louisa J. G. Littlefield looks at the evolution of women’s learning and social practices in attesting women’s right to vote. She talks about how at one point men had a right to chastise his wife for disobedience, and thought when that law was repealed men though that the cornerstone of the family was gone, now women is the companion She likens this to Jesus, and how he made woman his companion and equal. This is a strong point as many of the men opposed to women’s right were religious men. Littlefield also talks about how “teachers of religion” are slow to take on causes. She compares their hesitance on women’s suffrage to that of their hesitance on abolition. Her article continues in a well thought out, non-aggressive tone, speaking about the different ways society, and men, would positively adapt to women sharing equal rights and the vote. AG
McKinley, Blaine. "Free Love and Domesticity: Lizzie M. Holmes, Hagar Lyndon (1893), and the Anarchist-Feminist Imagination." Journal of American Culture. 56-62. Ebsco. Web. 11 Mar. 2014
This article looks at the feministic ideals of Lizzie Holmes, an anarchist feminist, who wrote the serialized novel Hagar Lyndon which sought to give a fictional voice to Holme’s political beliefs. Ultimately, the problem with Holmes’ novel results in Holmes’s understanding of the practical limitations of change. While she hoped that her heroine would voice her ideals against the economic exploitation and gender domination of women by way of marriage, ultimately, her heroine surrenders her sense of self out of necessity in order to establish a place for herself in society. Although the understanding of a woman’s political, social, and economic limitations were certainly not unheard of in fiction at the turn of the century, most heroines (Kate Chopin’s Edna Pontellier, Edith Wharton’s Lily Bart, and Stephen Crane’s Maggie) commit suicide when they fully comprehend their limits. Ultimately, Holmes’s desire to depict women’s dilemma truthfully became more important than writing a “falsely reassuring” tale of women’s freedoms and free love. (jvg)
This article looks at the feministic ideals of Lizzie Holmes, an anarchist feminist, who wrote the serialized novel Hagar Lyndon which sought to give a fictional voice to Holme’s political beliefs. Ultimately, the problem with Holmes’ novel results in Holmes’s understanding of the practical limitations of change. While she hoped that her heroine would voice her ideals against the economic exploitation and gender domination of women by way of marriage, ultimately, her heroine surrenders her sense of self out of necessity in order to establish a place for herself in society. Although the understanding of a woman’s political, social, and economic limitations were certainly not unheard of in fiction at the turn of the century, most heroines (Kate Chopin’s Edna Pontellier, Edith Wharton’s Lily Bart, and Stephen Crane’s Maggie) commit suicide when they fully comprehend their limits. Ultimately, Holmes’s desire to depict women’s dilemma truthfully became more important than writing a “falsely reassuring” tale of women’s freedoms and free love. (jvg)
Lewes, Darby. "Middle-Class Edens: Women's Nineteenth-century Utopian Fiction and the Bourgeois Ideal." Utopian Studies. 4.1 (1993): 14-25. Ebsco. 12 Mar. 2014.
Lewes’ article discusses the emergence of utopian novels penned by women in the nineteenth-century. The fictionalized middle-class utopian worlds that female authors created served to give women a voice, an authority, and a world where they were not marginalized. Women’s Utopian fiction helped give voice to the imaginings of what men and women would be like in an idealized society. Interestingly, though, the utopian worlds that these female authors created were based largely on Victorian ideals. Disturbingly, too, is the repeated occurances of racial and class elitism and disdain for those that could not function within the “norms” of the middle-class. Although thought to provide an idealized place of equality for women, these fictional middle-class utopias served to strengthen both the values and marginalization of middle-class Anglo-Saxon women. (jvg)
Lewes’ article discusses the emergence of utopian novels penned by women in the nineteenth-century. The fictionalized middle-class utopian worlds that female authors created served to give women a voice, an authority, and a world where they were not marginalized. Women’s Utopian fiction helped give voice to the imaginings of what men and women would be like in an idealized society. Interestingly, though, the utopian worlds that these female authors created were based largely on Victorian ideals. Disturbingly, too, is the repeated occurances of racial and class elitism and disdain for those that could not function within the “norms” of the middle-class. Although thought to provide an idealized place of equality for women, these fictional middle-class utopias served to strengthen both the values and marginalization of middle-class Anglo-Saxon women. (jvg)