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| Actress Alexis Bledel |
Simone de Beauvoir, Abigail Adams, Gloria Steinem; all of these women are feminists. If you've stumbled upon this blog and dared to read thus far, you are too. Some of you, like Beauvoir, might be French. Others might wear the dramatic eyeliner characteristic of Steinem; other women-feminists, like Adams, might not wear any at all. Feminists might pick up the infamous tube of lipstick or choose to put it down. Regardless, the word "feminist" is not confined to the image of one body; anyone may choose to consider himself or herself a feminist. With feminism, recently dubbed "the F-Word" by popular culture, there is no right or wrong.
While the title of this blog reads "My Life As A Feminist," my posts will not focus strictly on personal accounts of the impact of feminism in my day-to-day routines or daily life. I will, of course, provide personal anecdotes wherever necessary, but it is my belief that one feminist cannot stand alone. Think of the friendship between Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton or of the husband and wife partnership between John and Abigail Adams. My stories would be nothing without the achievements women worldwide have made and continue to make, without knowledge of a collective women's history and a belief in the existence and validity in woman.
"My Life As A Feminist" has been rolling around in the depths of my mind since 2007, the year which marked my foray into the academic world of Women's History/Women's Studies. That year, I learned a history of women previously largely excluded from the history books of my childhood: a history including the epidemic of female sterilization in China as a result of the country's One Child Policy, the expectation of some women to undergo bride burnings, and the worldwide exclusion of women from voting till the end of the 18th century. I learned about many various types of women that year, but most of all, as a woman, I learned about myself.
Now, as a college student studying at a historically female institution and the nation's home of the first Graduate Degree in Women's History, I find myself constantly standing on my sisters' shoulders. I invite you to do the same.
Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams the second President of the U.S., was a feminist before anyone even knew what a feminist represented, especially given the time period of the late 1700’s.
ReplyDeleteAbigail had no formal education; she was raised in a home where she and her sisters were constantly encouraged by her parents to read and write. They studied poetry, philosophy and English and French literature. She became intellectually curious and an open-minded woman of her time. Her thoughts on women’s rights and government had an impact on the founding of our nation through her letters to her husband John while he was in Philadelphia with the Continental Congress. He frequently sought her advice, and their letters are filled with discussions of politics. Most importantly, HE listened to her advice.
She was an advocate of married women’s property rights. She also believed that women should not acquiesce to the simple role of only being companions to their husbands. Abigail believed women should be educated and be recognized for their intellectual capabilities. She is remembered for a statement in one of her letters to John in which she told him to “remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.”
As these letters between Abigail and John were chronicling the history of our nation, she was in Massachusetts raising their children and running the family farm. She ran the farm as a business, dealt with family illnesses of the time, and raised a son to become our nation’s sixth President, all while her husband was away.
Abigail Adams was a woman of intellect; a feminist in a time when women’s voices weren’t supposed to be heard, yet she let hers be heard!
D. Temerario