HW 24: The Progress of Women Today

The last chapters in Virginia Woolf’s book A Room of One’s Own makes me realize how far we’ve come with women and the role they play in society. Back when Woolf was writing things weren’t as fair as they are today. Not saying everything is fair nowadays, but it is a lot better. Let’s see then, a room of my own, this book confused me a lot. I understand that she does not mean literally a room of your own but just somewhere that you can go and write. My room here on campus, specifically my bed, is sort of a getaway from the everyday drama of school and life. I can go lie in my bed and read. I’m not much of a writer, so I don’t write usually unless I have to. We have made a lot of progress since then. Women can go into libraries and most women are educated or can be educated just as well as men can now. Woolf states “Few women even now have been graded at the universities; the great trials of the professions, army and navy, trade, political and diplomacy have hardly tested them.” (Woolf, 85) We see this has changed. You see women in the army all the time and so many females at colleges and universities. Recently we have had women stand up and try to run for president even. Woolf also says “Some collaboration has to take place in the mind between the woman and the man before the act of creation can be accomplished.” (Woolf, 104) This shows no single sex can be in the world and we really need both men and women in this world.

Lindsay

HW 22: Patriarchy.... Excuse Me???

When I was reading chapter two of A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf I noticed that she views the world as being run by patriarchy. She mentioned many different things that gave insight to the patriarchy in England. She talks a lot about the professor, which I think she is meaning any male person. When Woolf says “The most transient visitor to this planet, I thought, who picked up this paper could not fail to be aware, even from this scattered testimony, that England is under the rule of a patriarchy,” (Woolf 33) she is talking about by just reading the newspaper anyone that did not live in England could tell that men ran the country. A quote I liked as well is when she says “Possibly when the professor insisted a little too emphatically upon the inferiority of women, he was concerned not with their inferiority, but with his own superiority,” (Woolf 34) I like this because it is kind of showing how by putting others down it can make some people feel better about themselves. That is awful, I know, but still it happens.

I went to the Boston Globe website www.boston.com to look at the newspaper to see if I thought the US was run by a patriarchy. I’m not really sure. With the Red Sox recently winning against The Indians sending them into the World Series (GO SOX!!) there are a lot of articles about the Sox. That doesn’t mean we are a patriarchy, because not just men like the Red Sox. There are also articles about pets, O.J. Simpson, the space shuttle launch, fashion, and weddings. It seems to me that it is pretty even and no sex is more dominant over the other anymore. Well that you can tell from the media anyways.

Lindsay

HW 21: RE: Virginia Woolf is So Confusing!

Dear Josh,

Yeah, I know what you mean. A Room of One’s Own is a hard book to understand. Chapter 1 is about Virginia Woolf thinking about how she would write a speech about women and fiction. She is very good at describing her surroundings. She is visiting many places and contemplating what to write about. She talks a lot about places that she is not allowed to enter like the Oxbridge (male) school and the church. I think she is also talking about women’s rights in the sense of being allowed some places and not in others. It is hard though to interpret everything she says. Your English teacher might think this is important because everything that has gone on with women in the past and how women write. I had a lot of trouble understanding it and I can see why you do too. I hope this kind of helped you and gave you a few ideas for your book report. See you soon!

Lindsay