Miriam Schneir's book, judging by these excerpts, is clearly a project aimed at unearthing and presenting the rich, often hidden, history of the movement for women's liberty. It argues that feminism is one of the basic movements for human liberty, and that dismissing it as a minor thing shows a real lack of knowledge about the history of half the world's population. Isn't it striking how, until relatively recently, most women were completely unaware of important feminist writings, past struggles, and even women's roles in major historical events like the French and American Revolutions or the anti-slavery movement?. Schneir suggests that being deprived of this history has meant women have also been deprived of their group identity. Now, while many might think of modern feminism as starting relatively recently, these excerpts show that the ideas urging wider opportunities for women have been around for centuries! We hear about Christine de Pisan picking up her pen in the fifteenth century, and writers like Cornelius Agrippa, Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi, and Marie Le Jars de Gournay in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Even in Colonial America, the poet Anne Bradstreet was lamenting societal expectations in 1642. Poulain de la Barre also wrote on the equality of the sexes in 1673. This makes you wonder just how long these ideas have truly been bubbling under the surface of history, doesn't it? Fast forward a bit, and the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries saw the emergence of major works like Mary Wollstonecraft's incredibly important _A Vindication of the Rights of Woman_ in 1792. Other feminist works appeared around the same time in the United States and France. Wollstonecraft herself, as described in the excerpts, had a life that underscored the very need for reimagining women's rights, facing abuse in her family and personal hardships. She was brilliant and talented, making her way as a writer after struggling in jobs typically available to young women. In her _Vindication_, she strongly argued against the idea that women should be taught to be weak, artificial, and solely focused on pleasing men. She believed that dependence on man and focusing only on outward appearances destroyed women's strength of character, contrasting this with the idea of women developing their individuality and intelligence if free from pressure to conform. She passionately declared that her submission was to reason, not to man, and that accountable beings must be regulated by their own reason. This idea of "selfhood" – what women could be like if they were free to develop without being pressured to conform to a masculine ideal – is highlighted as a pervasive and core theme of feminism, both old and new. Perhaps you could explore how societal expectations still impact the development of individual identity today? The "old feminism," broadly covering the latter half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, generated a lot of literature analyzing women's status in Western society. However, it's noted that feminist writings from women in Eastern nations, black American women, and workingwomen – those facing immense hardship – are largely missing from this period. This lack of diverse voices is significant and leaves us only able to guess at the insights their writings might have offered. Contrary to a common misunderstanding, suffrage (the right to vote) wasn't the _only_ thing the old feminists cared about. While it eventually became a major focus, they discussed and wrote about a broad range of issues that are, surprisingly, still relevant today. Schneir selected materials for her anthology that pertained to these still-unsolved problems. This continued relevance really shows how much fundamental change is still needed. Beyond suffrage, key themes of the old feminism included: - **Marriage as oppression:** Many early feminists saw marriage as a primary tool of women's oppression. Even in the Victorian era, some brave women spoke out about the sexual, social, and economic inequality within marriage, though the organized movement often avoided the topic. By the early 1900s, some women were not only denouncing marriage but openly advocating for sexual freedom. Isadora Duncan is mentioned as typical of this group, deciding to fight against marriage and for women's right to have children as they pleased, seeing the marriage contract itself as problematic. This raises questions about how relationships can be truly equal, doesn't it? - **Economic Dependence:** Feminists across generations have consistently pointed out women's economic reliance on men. They noted that women who worked were often paid very low wages, based on the false idea that they were supported by men. They also highlighted the huge amount of unpaid labor women did in the home. Financial self-sufficiency was seen as crucial for independence, personal fulfillment, and the "socialization of womankind". Charlotte Perkins Gilman, later described as a sociologist rather than purely a feminist, viewed economic dependence as the main obstacle for women's progress. She advocated for women working outside the home and for the socialization of housework through professional services like communal kitchens and day nurseries. - **Selfhood and Individuality:** As mentioned earlier, the suppression of women's individuality, intelligence, and talent by dominant male society was a central concern. Feminists wondered what women would be like if they were free to develop without being pressured to conform to masculine ideals of how they should look and behave. This vision of the "true woman" who could develop freely remains at the heart of feminism. Several notable figures championed these ideas. Frances Wright, for instance, was quite shocking in the 1820s for lecturing publicly to mixed audiences on controversial topics like sexual freedom and atheism. Her feminism was rooted in rationalism and personal liberty, arguing that establishing one's own rights on the sacrificed rights of others actually undermines one's own liberties. She believed men were also harmed by the ignorance and legal inferiority of women. George Sand's letters show her wrestling with how to express feminist ideas, being hesitant with a male reformer (Lamennais) who ultimately rejected her views on divorce, but bold and frank with a female admirer, stating that society must be reformed from top to bottom for women to find happiness. Her personal journals also explored the nature of love in a society where women are seen as inferior, questioning the expectation for a woman to be blindly devoted to her lover. Then there were the Grimké sisters, Sarah and Angelina, born into a slaveholding family but becoming abolitionists. Despite their respectable Quaker background, their public speaking was condemned by clergy who felt they were abandoning their God-assigned "sphere". Sarah Grimké's _Letters on the Equality of the Sexes_ directly responded to these criticisms, arguing for woman's equal moral responsibility based on the idea that God created men and women equal, giving them dominion over creation but not each other. She used wit to challenge the idea that women's influence should be private and unobtrusive, questioning the doctrine of dependence upon man and stating that women relying on men for protection often found a "broken reed at best, and oft a spear". She sharply criticized the education fashionable women received, which focused on attracting men for marriage rather than developing their intellect. Sarah Grimké insisted that men should "take their feet from off our necks" and permit women to stand upright on the ground God designed for them. She also felt marriage often meant the word "husband" was "synonymous with tyrant". Other figures like Margaret Fuller, a prominent intellectual in the mid-1800s, hosted "conversations" for women to discuss ideas and their own needs. Her book _Woman in the Nineteenth Century_ argued for removing "every arbitrary barrier" to women's development, suggesting that women should look inward to discover their true nature, ideally independent of men. She recognized the pervasive attitude towards women as similar to that towards slaves, believing measures for women's advancement wouldn't happen unless women publicly represented their own wishes. She also pointed out the double standard where women were deemed physically unsuitable for public roles like national government but were expected to endure arduous labor. Important legal changes, like the Married Women's Property Acts in New York (1848) and Great Britain (1882), are highlighted as significant steps, though limited. These acts began to chip away at the English common law tradition where a married woman's legal existence was essentially merged into her husband's. The Seneca Falls convention in 1848 is presented as a cornerstone event of the nineteenth-century American movement, spurred by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott being excluded from an anti-slavery convention based on their sex. The Declaration of Sentiments adopted there is called the most important document of that movement. It declared that women, having the same capabilities and responsibility as men, had an equal right and duty to promote every righteous cause, including speaking publicly. It also resolved for securing women equal participation in trades and professions. Frederick Douglass, the abolitionist, was a strong supporter, stating that "right is of no sex" and that women were justly entitled to all political rights claimed by men, including voting and participating in lawmaking. However, the push for suffrage, while important, sometimes overshadowed other issues. Stanton herself caused consternation at Seneca Falls by proposing a resolution for female suffrage, which some, like Lucretia Mott, feared would make the movement "ridiculous". Later, to gain mass support, controversial ideas were dropped in favor of focusing on suffrage. Some, like Tennessee Claflin, warned as early as 1871 that gaining the vote wouldn't solve the core problems if women were still compelled to remain submissive wives, arguing that the real difficulty was at home, where the husband was the supreme ruler. The organized movement eventually narrowed its focus largely to suffrage. This concentration on a single, narrow issue, among other factors like the postwar economic depression and the rise of anti-feminist psychoanalysis and authoritarian governments fostering male supremacist values, is cited as contributing to the decline of feminism after World War I. The period from 1930 to 1960 is even described as a "counter-revolution". Despite the focus on reform like suffrage, the old feminism lacked a strong theoretical foundation to explain the deep-seated causes of women's oppression. While thinkers like John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Engels contributed important ideas, their philosophies often seemed like extensions of broader social theories derived from the world of men. John Stuart Mill's _The Subjection of Women_ is discussed as a key work by a male feminist. Influenced by his wife, Harriet Taylor, Mill argued against the legal subordination of women, calling it a major hindrance to human improvement and advocating for perfect equality. He saw women as a "subject class" but noted that their bondage was often more refined than slavery, aiming for a "willing" and "favourite" slave. Mill highlighted how social conditioning prepares women for subordinate roles. Friedrich Engels, co-author of the _Communist Manifesto_, explored the origins of the family and women's oppression through a Marxist lens, drawing on Lewis H. Morgan's idea of a prehistoric matriarchal period. Engels saw the patriarchal family as a specific historical development, not universal, and argued that women's oppression is rooted in the private ownership of property and their exclusion from social production. August Bebel, another prominent German Marxist, also believed that women's complete emancipation depended on socialism. He noted that while women of different classes shared common interests against male oppression, the class struggle was ultimately paramount. Bebel criticized bourgeois efforts for reform within the existing system, arguing that civic equality or admission to industry wouldn't fundamentally change women's economic dependence or address issues like "sex-slavery". Thorstein Veblen offered a different perspective, analyzing the role of upper-class women in _The Theory of the Leisure Class_. He saw these women as performing "conspicuous leisure" and "conspicuous consumption" vicariously for the male head of the household, demonstrating his ability to support someone whose existence was dedicated to leisure and spending. This made them "unfree servants" whose own desires and impulses for productive activity were suppressed. Putnam's study of "The Lady" also touched on similar themes, describing her as the female of the favored social class, a heavy consumer, and often a beneficiary of monogamy and legal privilege, sometimes prioritizing these advantages over becoming a fully human being. The early 20th century saw American professional women like Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Emily James Putnam, and Anna Garlin Spencer contributing feminist social analysis. Spencer, for example, explored the historical obstacles faced by talented women. She criticized the absurd demand for women to produce "genius of the first rank" before being granted basic educational or professional opportunities, arguing that true potential can only be judged after generations of equal opportunity. She noted the specific handicaps faced by women, such as the demands of domestic duties, child-bearing, and the sheer amount of self-care and social duties they are expected to handle. The universal social pressure for women to conform resulted in suffering for exceptional women and the loss of valuable feminine gifts. This makes you think about how talent is nurtured or suppressed depending on social context, doesn't it? Despite setbacks and narrow focuses, the movement continued. Carrie Chapman Catt led the National American Woman Suffrage Association in its final push for the vote, demonstrating pragmatic leadership and organizational talent, eventually helping achieve the goal in 1920. She saw the movement as a slow but majestic river flowing towards "woman's full liberty". Emmeline Pankhurst led the more militant English suffragists, employing strategies to bring their demands for political representation to public attention. Looking beyond the Western context, the excerpts also touch on the Communist perspective through Clara Zetkin's interview with Lenin. Lenin saw the women's movement as a potentially decisive part of the broader revolutionary mass movement, stressing the absolute equality of women before the law and the importance of enlisting women in all spheres of public life. He championed socialized services like communal kitchens and childcare to free women from domestic labor. However, he also critically questioned whether German Communist women were focusing too much on sex and marriage problems instead of pressing political and economic issues like unemployment and wages, arguing for viewing the "woman question as part of the social, working-class question". He also pointed out the need to educate men to root out the old "slave-owner's point of view". This offers a different angle on how women's issues were framed and prioritized within a revolutionary context. Finally, Virginia Woolf's _A Room of One's Own_ from 1929 is presented, offering a more artistic and emotional exploration of the challenges faced by female creative writers. Woolf argued that for a woman to write fiction, she needed both money and "a room of her own," symbolizing the material and intellectual freedom required. She noted that women had always been poor, historically having even less intellectual freedom than Athenian slaves, thus lacking the basic conditions needed for creating great works like poetry. Bringing it back to the present (from Schneir's perspective writing this book), the "new feminism" is described as attacking discriminatory laws and customs across various areas like abortion, work, and divorce, and challenging sexism in institutions. It involves consciousness-raising. While acknowledging past achievements, Schneir suggests the American movement from 1848-1860 didn't attack the "nerve centers of male supremacy" as directly as the new movement aims to, though the earlier efforts made those nerves sensitive. The "dangerous yet exciting mission" of today's radical feminists is seen as moving beyond reform to effect fundamental changes in institutional structures, particularly the family. Overall, the excerpts from Schneir's "Feminism" paint a picture of a long, varied, and ongoing struggle for women's liberation. It's a movement with deep historical roots, tackling fundamental issues of equality, economic independence, individuality, and legal rights. It's faced internal debates (like focusing on suffrage vs. other issues), external opposition, and the immense challenge of overcoming centuries of ingrained societal norms and legal structures. It highlights the importance of women's voices and their history, arguing that understanding the past is key for women to forge their identity and continue the fight. The journey, as Mary Wollstonecraft's words nearly two hundred years prior suggested about expressing feelings, may involve being accused of "shrillness," but that shouldn't deter the faithful expression of conviction. **Ideas and Questions to Explore Further:** - Given the historical examples, how have the core themes of feminism (equality, economic independence, selfhood) evolved or remained the same over centuries? - The excerpts mention the lack of writings from certain groups of women in the 19th/early 20th century. What efforts are being made today to uncover and amplify the voices of marginalized women throughout history? - How does the focus on "reform" versus "fundamental change" play out in current feminist movements? Are there areas where both approaches are necessary? - Lenin criticized focusing too much on sex and marriage issues during revolutionary struggle. How should feminists balance addressing personal issues (like relationships, sexuality) with broader political and economic goals? - Mary Ritter Beard argued that feminists sometimes contributed to a distorted view of history by focusing only on women's wrongs rather than achievements. How can we tell a more balanced and comprehensive story of women's history that acknowledges both oppression and agency?