Sunday, March 25, 2012
Give me Liberty!
I still love Fanny Fern's "Independence." Although women today may be able to go out without a man or have "masculine" occupations, we are still fighting for equality in everything. So many years after Fern wrote this article, and we still haven't had a female president. Male and female pay scales are still vastly different from each other in many professions. Many women are still automatically thought of as lesbians if they learn to weld or work on cars or even join the military. Fern's rant was trying to playfully show the injustice in the lives of women. She was considered a rebel in her day just for thinking those things much less publishing them. Fern also had a lot riding on the copyright act that she couldn't even promote or vote for. Women have made leaps and bounds toward equal rights since Fern's time, but Fern's sentiments in "Independence" still ring true. Women are still denied many of the rights that men have even if it's just at the risk of being made fun of. Some day women will have equal rights as men and have the opportunity to run this country. Until that day, I echo Fern's wise words: "Humph!"
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Humph, indeed! One instance that comes to mind after reading this is the 2008 Presidential election when Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were in the spotlight. They were often called "the bitch and the ditz." Men rarely get called names like that. When you hear about a male presidential candidate, an in-depth political discussion usually follows. "I like him for this reason, and I don't like him for this reason." But if a female candidate is brought up, the response will most likely be, "Not her! She's such a bitch!" or "Ugh, she's an idiot." :(
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree with you more, Amy! I remember how Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were viewed. I was surprised that people made Clinton look like Hitler, and refered Palin to a pig, and made fun of where she came from. Society continues to amaze me in the sense of how judgemental it is. We so quickly judge each other by what we wear, our race, size and gender. It's truly sad and I wish it could change.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this piece as well! Its so bold and angry and it amazes me how she got away with publishing it. One reason I think she was able to get away with it, was that many male readers were probably not threatened by this article. They probably just viewed it as a "hysterical rant" that wouldn't affect or alter the status quo. But little did they know...
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