1. I loved Fanny's articles! They made me laugh a lot. My absolute favorite is, "A Law More Nice than Just." It made me laugh and it made me think. She writes about a woman being arrested for wearing men's clothing, her own liberating experience of wearing men's clothing, and most intriguing, how inopportune traditional feminine clothing is in bad weather. This particularly intrigues me because the feminist author doesn't reflect on how dehumanizing it was to be made to wear only aesthetically-pleasing clothing as a woman, to be viewed constantly as an object, a figurine, rather than a practical human being who can dress themselves in whatever they please. (To be fair, though, she does mention the health risk of having to dress prettily instead of practically during bad weather, which is consumption.) Why do you think Fanny's argument relied mostly on the hassle of having to lift your skirt when walking over/around rain puddles, etc.?
(Also, do you believe that she actually dressed up as a man and went on an evening walk? This article was published, and so why wasn't she arrested, or at least closely watched?)
2. In a class prior to today's, we briefly discussed the semantics of the word, "scribbling." Fanny uses this word throughout Ruth Hall. She uses it again in "A Law More Nice than Just." What connotation do you think she takes when using the word?
and 3, because I can't help but observe my behavior (and I believe the rest of you have been doing this as well): there are few authors we as readers refer to simply by their first name. Fanny is one of the few whose names I don't automatically resort to the last name. Is it because "Fanny" is such a lovely, fun name, or because Fanny's casual, humorous writing makes us feel closer to her?
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