Saturday, October 6, 2018

Let Me Tell You a Story - Part 2


I remember having several disputes with my father with respect to the lack of female accomplishments through the ages.  I honed my argumentative skills / debate acumen through many such discussions / arguments with the wisest person I knew (I write with a smile on my face but honesty in my heart).  In the end my father had to concede that I had scored points and he finally agreed with me.  The central point of my argument was that throughout civilization it has been a man’s world and a woman was almost always held back from anything beyond the scope of “housekeeping”.  There were pockets of time, place and circumstance that allowed women of a certain class to become educated and/or to have opportunity to be something beyond a pawn in a man’s world.
I use the above preface to foray further into the world of writing.  Certainly women had written prior to the gradual publication of their works in the late 1700’s, mostly through their letter writing.  Marie de Sevigne is considered the most talented and revered of these writers (a link below gives a list).  Women authors who “broke barriers” through history include Sappho, Anne Bradstreet, Mary Wollstonecraft, Jane Austen, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edith Wharton, Gabrielle Mistral, Agatha Christie, Octavia Butler, Jeanette Winterston, Alice Walker and JKK Rowling (see link below for reasons why).  This list has 13 women but we can certainly continue the list in many different ways however what is most important with respect to authors (male and female) is that they have a burning desire to TELL A STORY.  Sometimes it is simply creativity wanting to burst out but oftentimes it is a case of having a personal story to tell or simply because they are “good and mad”.  I use this last phrase in quotations because a recent book has been published by Rebecca Traister called “Good and Mad”. 
Anne Bronte wrote her second novel “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall” because she wanted to illustrate how humans can fall into a state of depravity by unrestrained indulgence.  She had seen dreadful things in the household where she lived as a governess and sadly saw her brother fall victim as well as perpetrated of this depravity.  George Eliot wrote novels that depicted rural life but often with a political slant or theme aligned with it.  Virginia Woolf frequently wrote about the inner workings of women’s minds as well as about the creative process.  Women authors frequently commented on and criticized societal norms.  “Frankenstein” is in many ways a precursor of S.E. Hinton’s “The Outsiders”.  Harper Lee’s brilliant “To Kill a Mockingbird” uses a child’s view to explore racism.  Toni Morrison, Alice Walker and Maya Angelou open up the world of African American experiences with astounding effectiveness.
Do male authors explore these same topics?  Of course.  Do women have a different perspective?  Of course.  Are both valid?  Of course.  And that is why book clubs are formed, so one can discuss, compare and evaluate books, authors, opinions, perspectives and so much more.  Thank you Oprah Winfrey for making book clubs contemporary and popular!
Ms. Traister was interviewed on Amanpour & Co. the other day and her discussion on her book’s theme was fascinating.  I will address this in tomorrow’s blog and I believe all women should pay attention and I will say this – go out and get this book.  I have ordered mine. 
"Living.  All mixed up.  The more kinds of people you see, and the more things you do, and the more things that happen to you, the richer you are.  Even if they're not pleasant things.  That's living. Remember, no matter what happens, good or bad, it's just so much velvet."  Edna Ferber in So Big



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