Just like most of the class, I
could’ve talked about Fanny Fern’s writings for hours. Fern’s writing was
refreshingly real and funny, and I was surprised that her observations about
the lack of gender equality are still relevant today. At a time when it was
scandalous for a woman to write anything at all, Fern was writing about
inequalities, her lack of patriotism in a sexist country, and the daily
struggles of working women. I found myself nodding in agreement as I read
Fern’s essays, for women today are still struggling for the level of equality
that Fern sought, and they are dealing with a lot of the same problems.
Fern’s piece, “Mrs. Adolphus Smith
Sporting the ‘Blue Stocking’”, reminded me of my mother’s busy schedule, and it
also made me think of the incident in 2017 when a professor, participating in
an interview with the BBC at his house, was interrupted when his two kids walked into the room. This seems like a totally random connection to
make, but as I thought about it, it sort of made sense that my brain linked the
stories. In both stories, a parent is interrupted at work. The fictional
mother, Mrs. Adolphus Smith, is trying to write a novel while simultaneously
keeping her household from falling apart. Eventually, as the chaos builds
around her working space, Mrs. Adolphus Smith stops her writing and takes full
charge, for her husband, kids, and staff clearly cannot cope without her. In
the other story, the working father is in the middle of a live BBC interview when
his kids come in seeking his attention. Soon after the kids wander in, their
mother hurries to shepherd them away so as not to bother the father. The father
hardly glances at the kids, for he presumably expected the mother to take care
of the issue discretely. The mother in both examples drops everything to take
care of her family. I’m not criticizing the professor in the BBC interview, but
it’s just interesting to me that a mother’s “real job” is taking care of the
children, and their careers are given less importance than the father’s career
in most cases, fictional or otherwise.
Another one of Fern’s essays that stood
out to me was “A Law More Nice Than Just”, the longest of our selected
readings. Fern questions the strict dress code of women in this story. Why must
a woman always wear floor-length dresses in order to go out in public? Because it
was indecent for a woman to wear anything else in Fern’s time period. In the
story, Fern remarks that women are forced to wear restricting dresses that
cover everything all of the time because “philanthropists who are interested in
the public study of female anatomy” (2106) could be present at any moment,
therefore showing skin would be inappropriate. Women must follow this dress
code so men aren’t distracted or intrigued. This sad fact of society is still
present today. Every public school in the country has a dress code that is supposedly
geared for both genders, yet only girls have to avoid certain outfits
altogether to meet the school’s standard. In public schools, girls can never
wear outfits with low necklines, jeans that are ripped above the knee, tank
tops with thin straps, or shorts that are shorter than mid-thigh. These are
just a couple of examples. Boys in public schools are just asked to wear a belt
so their underwear can’t be seen, and girls have to hide their shoulders,
thighs, chests, and any other part of the body that would be too distracting
for men if clearly seen. Fern would be happy that we've made a lot of progress on the road to gender equality, but she would also be frustrated, as most women are today, at how much work still needs to be done.
Hi Vivienne! I also find it interesting that society still deems it as the mother's responsibility to take care of everything in the house, as well as, taking care of the kids. This type of ideal is often referred to as "Second-shift" parent in sociology. Basically, it is putting a name to the ideal that women and men will come home from a full day shift at their job, to turn around and have to take care of everything in the house while their spouse just relaxes. This is such a frustrating concept because for the women who don't want children, society deems them as monsters because they aren't fulfilling their "duty" of being a mother. But my question is, who gets to decide what our "duty" is?
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think that we can take comfort in the advancement of gender equality. We wear pants now, we can have the same jobs as men (most of the time), and we can vote, woo! There are some damning facts that say that in our lifetime we will never experience true gender equality. I implore you to watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33nwuSIPNZ0 Hope that links, but if not type into youtube "Equality Can't Wait, No Joke." Here, recognizable comedians discuss that proposed gender equality is 208 years away, give or take. Let that sink in.
ReplyDeleteThat video of the professor is one of my favorite things from the past several years. It is hilarious *and* you can analyze it for hours. Good connection to Fern, too!
ReplyDeleteVivienne,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your last point on how Fern would be impressed but also not completely satisfied with the progress made in societal standards to women. Having a stricter dress code for girls compared to boys does not provide a good foundation for those girls who grow up thinking their bodies are the problem, not the ones looking at their bodies. It's an issue that I occasionally find myself addressing to myself. I still think if wearing a simple tank top would be "appropriate" to wear in public, while I see men without a shirt driving in their cars or shopping around others. I hope that this problem can disappear with future generations.
A point that is often brought up when debating the dress codes of girls in high school, as well as rape culture in our country, is that the responsibility should not be on the girls, but on the men. What I mean by this is that young women should not be responsible for censoring the bodies they were born with in order to keep the ever-present male gaze away. While reading your post, I realized that this sort of idea started long before the days of crop tops and jorts, as Fanny Fern writes about it in the second work you used. Women were expected, or demanded, to conceal as much of their bodies as possible with long skirts and high necklines in order to keep the hungry eyes of men off of them. Fanny Fern would be proud, I agree, but we all know the treatment of women still has a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteYour comparison of Fern's dress codes from her time and the school dress codes today are so spot on. I agree with you that, though Fern would be happy we can now wear pants, she would be very disappointed that we haven't come further along. It's absolutely ludicrous that there are so many rules about girls clothing options because it's believed boys can't handle themselves. I honestly don't think my shoulders showing in high school would have distracted the boys around me, and if it did how is that my fault? It isn't. Young girls worry about what to wear enough, for fear of being judged by other girls, without having to also worry about if a boy can handle their scandalous shoulders and knee caps.
ReplyDeleteWhen you made the comparison between the Blue Stocking reading and the professor’s wife, it actually made so much sense! That’s such an interesting connection to make between two mothers with husbands who rely on them to make the day as smooth as possible. It made me wonder how true that is today. It seems like the only person in my family who knows the entire day’s schedule is my mother. And when she does forget something, chaos reigns supreme. We rely on her to remember everything and that definitely causes her some stress. I’m not going to lie: before high school, a lot of my calendar was empty since I figured my mom would know what I had to do that day. The same goes for my brother and my father. The minute my father or brother have to remember something, they almost instantly forget, and I wonder if it’s because they assume my mother will figure it out on her own. Is your family like this too?
ReplyDeletePretty much, yeah! My mom's calendar is the supreme power in our house and she reminds everyone of what they should be doing each day. She's good at her job!
Delete