Woolf for Women

Today in class we read Professions for Women by Virginia Woolf. In this essay, Woolf used her own personal hardships she faced being a female writer to illustrate the challenges of being a working woman in a time when women were expected to be docile objects in their homes. I have a great admiration for Woolf because she expressed a serious problem that was happening during her time and she did it in such a way that showed that she was resolute and eloquent in her stance.

One of Woolf's beautiful examples of oppression was the Angel character that she used. This Angel was described as being the ideal woman of her time. She described her as

"...in short. She was so constituted that she never had a mind or a wish of her own, but preferred to sympathize always with the minds and wishes of others...her purity was supposed to be her chief beauty...".

The descriptive language paints a perfect picture of what this imaginary Angel would look like to Woolf. This image of the Angel can be tied to societal standards today. Women are always expected to be docile and be walked over by men. They are constantly interrupted without apology, are punished for being modest but then berated if they are dressed provocatively and have to go through life with unfortunate instances of sexism and fear at the hands of a man. Woolf was showing that this oppressive figure in her life was keeping her from being true to her writing. This was an injustice to both Woolf and her audience, so she got rid of the Angel. I also love the way that she described getting rid of it.

"She died hard...it is far harder to kill a phantom than a reality. She was always creeping back when I thought I had despatched of her. Though I flatter myself that I killed her in the end, the struggle was severe;...Killing the Angel in the House was part of the occupation of a woman writer".

Woolf used the Angel as a figure to describe the oppression and pressure she felt as a writer to conform to society. This battle that she had with the Angel was set in her bedroom. It makes the battle seem more courageous when the reader realizes that these pressures of conforming can creep into an intimate space such as a bedroom. I am glad that she included that part because it shows that even though Woolf was a successful writer, she could never escape how society wanted her to be. Many women have to face that kind of daunting challenge every day, so it was like Woolf was writing a letter to women past and present that gives them the recognition and appretiaiton they deserve for persevering in their craft in the face of adversity.

Ah, Yes. Cannibalism.

This was, by far, the weirdest thing that we have ever read in class. The article in question is A Modest Proposal, written by Jonathan Swift. While the title makes it seem like this will be a polite article about taxes or ways to save money, it was actually about cannibalism. Child cannibalism, to make matters worse. However, this article is a prime example of satire. Satire, by definition, is "the use of irony or sarcasm to critique society or an individual". By using these tools in his article, Swift was able to put new spins on his satirical writing that added a humorous shock value to it.

Swift was able to establish his ethos by using outside sources that vouched for his credibility. "I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food..." By mentioning his American friend (whom I later found out was the Donner group) approving of his plan, it establishes his credibility to speak on the topic at hand. He also establishes ethos by creating multiple points towards an arguement supporting his idea. He mentions many factors that go into taking care of a child, the costs, the economical standpoints and the way that he used research to come to these conclusions. While his preposition is gruesome, one cannot argue that he did not fully stand up for his ideals and that his research bore some good explanations and solutions to the problems in Ireland.

Swift uses many examples of logos throughout his satire. "I have reckoned upon a medium that. A child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, will increase to 28 pounds" and "The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about 200,000 couple whose wives are breeders...there will remain 1700,000 breeders..." Are two examples of the numerous amounts of logos used in this article. This helps his pretend arguement for cannibalism because by showing the actual statistics of the population and what his plan would affect, it shows the reader that Swift has put some serious thought into making this as believable as humanly possible.

Pathos was a big one in this article. The beginning paragraph is all about the female beggars and their starving children. As the essay builds from this point, the reader is always stuck with the image of these poor people and are more than willing to listen to what Swift has to say in order to help. By drawing the reader in by using imagery and sympathy, Swift causes the reveal of his real plan to be shocking and morbidly humorous. He also makes a very bold statement, saying that "...let no man talk to me of these and teh like expedients, till he has at least som eglimipse of hope that there will be ever some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice". Swift is practically daring his readers to practice what they preach and only judge his actions if they can find some plausible reason for it.

Eloquence is Problematic

"We love eloquence for its own sake, and not for any truth which it may utter, or any heroism it may inspire". - Thoreau

I absolutely agree with this quote. I do find it a little ironic coming from Thoreau, seeing as his writing is very pretentious and he sure does practice what he preaches with his essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. This essay was tough to get through in class, I'm not going to lie. I found myself drifting off and completely indifferent to what Thoreau was trying to say. Because while I appreciate and love eloquence with all my soul, I tune out as soon as I hear it in an arrogant way. And that is all I heard coming from this essay.

I think that eloquence is something important towards our diction and can affect how we carry ourselves. I have found in my own experience that when I speak more eloquently, I find that I am more grounded in my stance on different topics and that I am more in control of a conversation or debate. When I am more casual with my language, it is easier for my words to be overlooked and for my points to not be taken seriously, hence why I reserve my eloquence for adults that disregard my opinion right off the bat. So when Thoreau wrote that we enjoy eloquence for its own sake, I can agree because using eloquence myself causes me to feel more confident in myself and my opinions.

I want to use an example of eloquence gone wrong. I find the writings of John Green to be...problematic in some ways, and I think that it stems from his form of eloquence. Now, do not get me wrong, I find him to be a very successful writer and I cried along with everyone else when I went to go see The Fault in Our Stars at the movies. Twice. (Anthony and Other will remember Dave and the Sour Patch Kids from one of these movies). Anyway, I find his eloquence to be the only reason why people really read his books. He is a man of pretty words and profound statements that apparently shake the core of every reader out there with its deepness. Or something to that extent. I will take Paper Towns as an example. In this book, the main character Quentin builds up a false image of popular Margo Roth Spiegleman. She leaves, he chases after her with his band of misfits, and at the end he realized that he never needed her at all and that she was something broken instead of beautiful. One way that he emphasized this point was with the line:

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person".

Now, that's a beautiful quote and is basically the whole plot of the book. But if one looks at this quote, it is just a glaring truth in everyday life that was twisted around to look profound and lovely. All this did was romanticize distorting another person and their flaws into a perfect being when that isn't possible.

Declaring Equality for Women

I honestly thought that today's lesson would be a tad bit boring because we were reading over the Declaration of Independence (something I had not been forced to read even in history class with Kenny K) and The Declaration of Sentiments, written by a woman named Elizabeth Cady Stanton. We got through the Declaration of Independence with a few bumps along the way, considering the formal word choices and difficulty with translating old language into something we could understand.  Then we reached The Declaration of Sentiments and I fell in love with Elizabeth Cady Stanton for being an amazing woman and an immediate role model for feminism. 

These two essays began with the same beginning lines: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty  and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". This is pretty straightforward in the way it was written. Jefferson, who originally wrote this tidbit, was describing how the Americans came to see themselves as a separate body from England's rule and wanted to have their own independence and standards of equality to be recognized and respected. I personally think that the Declaration of Independence dragged on because they wanted it to sound so formal that they overdid it. It seemed like when one needs to write a 1,000 word essay and then you pull out random things to drag out your point as long as possible, like so:

But anyway, I digress. Cady's essay, The Declaration of Sentiments, used these beginning lines as well. But she focuses specifically on how the Declaration states how an abusive and wrongdoing government can be abolished by those governed and be rewritten in fairness for all, and how women have had to suffer under an abusive government since America gained its independence. She goes on to describe how women cannot be involved in government and political affairs without it being seen as improper. She even calls them out on giving the rights of elective and political freedoms to "the most ignorant and degraded men--both natives and foreigners". Cady bashes the "common man" and how he has systematically restrained the rights of women under the pretenses of women being an object to own instead of a free-thinking human being with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. She promises that there will be women reinforcing and pushing for this movement of equality to spread throughout the nation. Thus: feminism was born in America.

What I loved most about this essay was that there are (unfortunately) clear parallels between the sufferings of women in 1848 and 2016. Once a woman has married her ideal husband, she is expected to settle down with her white-picket-fence-dream-house and however many children her and said husband decide to have. I am not bashing this certain lifestyle; I respect women that are able to take care of children and raise them in a way that makes them feel loved. However, I hate that it seems to be the only option a woman has. Cady points out that "In the covenant of marriage, she is compelled to promise obedience to her husband, he becoming, to all intents and purpose, her master--". Just looking at the word "master" gives me the creeps. It just keeps pushing this idea that women are the servants to men, that we must offer our ambitions and dreams up for the wants and needs of a husband. If one is a single woman, whether she be a business owner or not, she is only valuable if she is contributing back to society. There is this constant pressure to adhere to a social mold of obedience and toxic double standards at every turn. Cady was, as Ms. Amodie said, "ballsy" to point out these glaring inequalities in 1848 America. What sucks the most is that a 2016 feminist can say the exact same things she did.

Adams Interpretation

Today in class, we reviewed letters written between Abigail and John Adams and tried to interpret them as best we could. There were definitely many challenges that came with this interpretation, including difficult diction and a confusing syntax. There was a certain paragraph in John's letter to Abigail that illustrates ideals that are still being sought after in 2016. The quote is as follows:

"Compassions of many. But...let Us take Warning and give it to our Children. Whenever Vanity, and Gaiety, a Love of Pomp and Dress, Furniture, Equipage, Buildings, great Company, expensive Diversions, and elegant Entertainments get the better of the Principles and Judgements of Men or Women there is no knowing where they will stop, nor into what Evils, natural, moral, or political, they will lead us".

While this is hard to pick apart and understand, Adams is relaying an important message on the ideals of his time period. What he is saying is that he is warning his wife of the dangers of materialism in the younger generation. He is afraid that the newer generation will get swept up in the extravagance of a prosperous nation and forget to uphold the respectful views of the past generation. Adams' generation worries for the future of America because they are afraid that the new generation will become ungrateful of the sacrifices made to achieve independence.

This is a similar problem today. There are many Baby Boomers who are constantly beating Millenials and weeping for the future of a world with smartphones and technology. They believe that we will be consumed by our devices until all forms of human interaction are extinct and that we will become zombie-like and antisocial. This is not the case however; Millenials are quite fond of their technology and would appreciate it if the previous generation would embrace this new future instead of longing for the past. In this way, the two time periods of the 1800s and 2016 are interconnected. The older generation fears for the future and potential mistakes of the new generation, while the new generation wishes that they could be understood from their point of view going into a new era.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

In class today, we read and discussed the story Me Talk Pretty One Day. The author decided to enter college once again and was taking a class abroad in France. He was then stuck with a teacher who totally destroyed their hopes and dreams at becoming fluent in French. She was sassy and snarky and an all around awful person towards her students. Even though they could not tell what she was saying precisely, the tone in her voice and her body language clearly conveyed that they were being insulted and had no clue how bad the insults actually were.

Instead of discouraging the author and his fellow classmates, this led them all to two emotions: desparation and fear. By constantly harrassing them and blatantly harrassing them, the teacher united the students in the desparation to understand what was going wrong. Desparation is funny that way. When students are faced with a teacher that does not teach/does not treat them with respect, they seem to unite and work together to prove that teacher wrong. Fear also plays a role into this. The students soon began to stop speaking, for fear of being ridiculed for being incorrect. Now, no one wants to be wrong, especially in front of a teacher they loathe. It would only make sense that this would become a source of passion and determination to prove that teacher wrong.

I have had many awful teachers and adults in my life that have been awful. They fail to teach and expect us to teach ourselves, they are rude and passive aggressive, they lower their standards for us, the list could go on. I have always seen this as a challenge to prove those teachers wrong. The same goes for my fellow classmates. Our desparation to succeed and fear of  being wrong breaks down the barriers of competition and helps us work together towards the common goal of passing the class. While it is an unconventional and even frowned upon practice, causing fear and desparation can actually work with the right students.

High School Society

The school system is unbelievably flawed, to be frank. In Leon Botstien's Let Teenagers Try Adulthood, Botstein also argues that the school system is flawed and the system should be completely changed in order to work in the modern world. The author believes that school is nothing but a sheltered world with its social hierarchies dominated by beefy football players. Botstein then goes on to illustrate his perfect school system, where children would attend elementary school, skip middle school, and graduate high school at 16.

Now, if I could have skipped middle school and that awkward mess altogether, I totally would have. Do I think that this kind of system could improve our current school dilemma? Not really. One line in this piece that really irked me was this: "Young people shoudl graduate at 16 rather than 18. They could then enter the real world, the world of work or national service, in which they would take a place of responsibility alongside other adults in mixed company". I was not aware that I was not a part of the real world. I do understand where this author is coming from. The school systems now shelter a lot of teenagers from what is considered "the real world". I have not been taught how to do a check book. I cannot do my own laundry. I have not been taught the basic necessities that I need to be considered an "adult figure". But that does not mean that I have not been struggling with the stress that comes with school, nor have I been without responsibility. Children have been forced to mature faster, that much is true. But it does not mean that we are not a part of the conversation when it comes to "the real world" because we live it every day.

As for this new schooling system, it has its perks and flaws. I think that being able to work within a field of one's interest with professionals in that field can be very beneficial. I also think that students could handle a shorter school curriculum. I do not agree with building new institutes for every single major. Soon we would be overrun with unnecessary institutions and it would become messy and disorganized. I also think that forcing children to decide what they want to do for the rest of their lives at such a young age is a cruel and unusual punishment placed upon every new generation. It is hard enough deciding what to do when one is 18; bumping that tremendous decision down to 16 year olds is just cruel. Many students go into college without a clue of what they want to do for the rest of their lives and some regret their decision right after graduating. We need to stop rushing our children to make life long decisions when they have barely expreienced life.