A Room of One's Own

Accordingly there are two things a woman must have: Money (an income), and a room of her own (in order to have the freedom to create)
She asks the question: Why is there no female Shakespeare?
A: Because even if there had been a woman with the same talents, she would not have been given the same education, opportunity, or social mobility to apply it.
The medium for women has not been through higher education, but in creative ideas in the home. Anybody who writes with a chip on their shoulder deters their end goal. She states that writers should attempt to keep an objective point of view. She says that all the men are writing like men, not objectively like they should be. This stems from the fact they are intimidated by the feminist movement. They are founded in the principle that they are better because women are worse. Deflecting negative self-image onto others in a large way. Shakespeare was a great writer because he came off as almost androgenous.

Vindication of the Rights of Woman!

Vindication of the Rights of Woman

Wollstonecraft's father was an alcoholic and used to beat family occasionally, and so she took over the family's welfare. She became a governess, and at some point she decided to begin to write. She met a radical publisher in London, who believed in women's rights. The publisher supported her in her writings. She wrote one of the first responses to a conservative writer who had attacked the French Revolution, "The Reflections to the Revolution in France."

She wrote a response named "The Vindication of the Rights of Men," in 1789. She wrote it anonymously and attacked the author. She set up being male with being virtuous and rational. She defended the necessity of republic and equal rights for all classes. After pressure from the radical publisher, in 1792, she wrote the "Vindication of the Rights of Woman."

By "Men" she means all classes and human beings. Nowadays we try to avoid using the term men to refer to all people. The term "Woman" here means a class of persons who have been treated the same. The Woman as an individual or a category?

Wollstonecraft sets up education as the root of their being kept down. They are conditioned to think that they are less than men. The term woman means the opposite of man, the opposite of virtue and rationality. Women try to exercise their power within the current system, a self-defeating action, and so can only channel their power through certain ways, such as tyranny in the household.

Liberal ideas such as no one should be above any other one person, and that individuals should be judged as a result of their merit. Morality is lost when one person is given power over another. Ex: teachers grading students in a classroom.

A standing army is incompatible with freedom because you are forced to be perfectly subordinate and forced to submit to the will of others.

"1. Like the fair sex, the business of their lives is gallantry -- They were taught to please, and they only live to please. Yet they do not lose their rank in the distinction of sexes, for they are still reckoned superior to women, though in what their superiority consists, beyond what I have just mentioned, it is difficult to discover." (from Ch. 2)

Men, if educated same as women, will get the same results!!! She uses soldiers as the example. They prove that women are not naturally inferior, but that a social system is what makes them different.

"What nonsense! When will a great man arise with sufficient strength of mind to puff away the fumes which pride and sensuality have thus spread over the subject! If women are by nature inferior to men, their virtues must be the same in quality, if not in degree, or virtue is a relative idea; consequently, their conduct should be founded in the same principles, and have the same aim." (from Ch. 2)

She postulates in Ch.3 that by giving women more power they will actually have less, as it will counteract their despotic tendencies. Women play on the weaknesses of men in order to gain power. Certain weaknesses of women can become attractive to men.

Wollstonecraft thought she was married to a man who did not agree (thought she was just another mistress), and she even tried to live with the man and her husband. She had a child out of wedlock, and tried to kill herself once rejected by that man.

The Cinderella Complex in the Media

While searching for examples of the Cinderella Complex in various mediums a found a variety of things.  I found a magazine article by a financial reporter about how to deal with the complex in a parenting atmosphere, e.g. how to deal with a daughter who is thinking along those lines.  Lots of bloggers and online articles related it to a deficiency in modern women's self-esteem.  that was probably the most prevalent thing I found.   Several old newspaper articles discussed it in terms of relating to physical looks, not really a mental state of mind.  I really only found it discussed in magazines, newspaper articles, and online mediums like blogs.

Bloody Chamber Readings

While I realize that these stories are based off of fairy tales, I didn't know which one the Bloody Chamber was related to. I didn't recognize the outline of the story at all, but it seemed to have a decidedly pro-female focus. The mother is the one that saves the girl, and the main male character is not only a bad person, but one that delights in torturing and killing his wives. It was focused on the way that the man had slowly woven a web of deceit and trickery over the girl and made her betray herself.
The courtship of Mr. Lyon was obviously similar to Beauty and the Beast, and it did not immediately seem to be particularly different than the story I had heard before. Since that story already had a heroine who transforms and saves the man with her love, it didn't seem to need much tweaking to portray that message.
The Erl-King was another story that I did not really recognize. The heavy emphasis on the forest imagery really struck me initially, but that was quickly contrasted to the sexual language later used in association with the King.

Quiz on 1/16

In the artistic retelling of fairy tales, does art counteract ideology?

I feel like it holds that potential. Jeannette Winterson feels like it is not only possible, but her duty to attempt to do so. Through retelling fairy tales that previously reinforced negative ideologies, she wants to attempt to use these new versions to bring back the authenticity that is being drowned out by societal and cultural ideologies. Art is an example of the human mind and heart that is one of the must pure forms of expression that one can try for. It is the easiest way to strike a chord with someone and convey new ideas and thoughts. I can think of no other mediums besides the arts to truly convey social change or to counteract common idelology. However I would say it is a tenous line, because art can be used to further ideology as much as it detracts from it.

Cinderella Complex

I think there is a natural, instinctual need in all people, male or female, from when they are a child on to be cared for and taken care of. Throughout your entire childhood, parents provide this for you. You are given the emotional, material, and physical comfort and support necessary to grow and prosper. Once childhood has ended and a person moves on this support structure is gone. For men, they are told the longing or want to again be taken care of is a weakness and that no one will ever take care of them, they instead they must be the ones to provide it to others. For women, the hope of being take care of is not lost, but the kernel of possibility that someday a man, who has been trained to take care of her, will come in and do so.

The Cinderella Complex

It certainly gives a unique perspective. As a guy, I obviously have problems truly identifying with what she is saying, but I certainly have encountered women in my life who fit this mold. Some of my girlfriends have had the same kind of dichotomous actions that would represent these ideas. One day, when things are going well, going out of her way to assert her independence and how strong she is. But on the next day, when things go horribly wrong, it is not the job of the guy to support her in her decisions and actions in how to overcome the problem for herself, but having to solve it FOR her instead. I guess from my perspective, for the guy, being taught that you have to save all the women is kind of a burden all on its own. Because the fiction that any one being can truly "save" and provide happiness to another is naturally flawed, as one can only provide that for themselves, and any partner can only support and attempt to nurture those feelings of positive self-confidence in their opposite. So the guy that is taught that he must provide everything for a girl is as much set up for the failure as the girl who thinks he can actually provide it.

Cinderella Assignment

Irish Sweepstakes - a public service lottery system originating in Ireland in the 1930's to raise money for hospitals. Became a corrupt privately owned company that was shut down in the 1980's

Bonwit Teller - High quality retail store in New York City at the turn of the 20th century. Associated with high end apparel.

Al Jolson - American singer, comedian, and actor. First openly Jewish man to be an entertainment star in the U.S.

Bobbsey Twins - main characters of a childrens book series that ran from 1904-1979. Almost always has happy endings.

Hazel - a tree specifically grown for its rich and delicious nuts.

Lentils - small seeds that are cheaply grown, but provide a high amount of nourishment. Lots in a small, unassuming package.