Ranting

My post isn't so much a question, as it is my frustrations with Fern. As much praise as I believe Fern should receive for how public and straightforward she presents her feelings regarding women's rights/societal roles, I am also somewhat disappointed in her. As other people from class also pointed, at times, Fern does seem to end a serious issue on too light of a note. For example in Independence, Fern is very straight forward, and obviously angry, with her feelings regarding women on Independence Day, but ends her paragraph with "Humph!". In my opinion, Fern using the word "humph" as the very last word completely killed all emotion she had built up during her column. Fern was in such a powerful position as a writer, and could have (and in my opinion, should have) used her social influence to be much more proactive to bringing about women's equal rights. I really believe that Fern never took a strong enough stance on her beliefs towards women.

Fern's situation reminds me a lot of Eleanor Roosevelt, when she was also campaigning for women's rights. Before FDR was president, Eleanor was very proactive in the women's suffrage movements. Once FDR was elected, Eleanor began to take a backseat in public activism, when her becoming the First Lady was one of the best things that could have happened to the suffrage movement. Wielding great power really does mean wielding great responsibility, and I believe Fern did not take full advantage of the power she maintained as a public figure.