writingwomen

You go, Girlfriend!

Anybody else besides me notice that there was a missing element in all of our readings?

Let me start at the beginning (of my thought process that lead to the above question)

It's midnightish and I'm just getting home from a farewell party for a friend of mine who is packing up and heading west to greener career pastures. It was a great night. There was plenty of food, fun stories and best of all, the party poopers left early so us all-nighters let our hair down and our belt buckles out a notch while we belly laughed and hooted for three hours straight.

We weren't the most intellectual crowd, in fact, our finale consisted of progressively more horrifying or hilarious birthing stories, (which unfortunately climaxed at about the same time that Carmelle's husband thought it safe to return - boy was he wrong!) but, there was something so human and basic and right about spending that time together with my group of girlfriends that it started me thinking.

Which brings me back to my question. Did anyone notice that there was a missing element in all our readings?

The women characters or writers we studied in this term seem alienated by either their craft or their situation from other women. Their relationships with men were bad, but their relationships with women - if they had any - seemed even less meaningless. Margery Kemp is so disassociated that she refers to herself in her text as, "This Creature". And although Mary Wollstonecraft believes that women are potentially capable and rational, she finds that "The conduct and manners of women, in fact, evidently prove that their minds are not in a healthy state".

It would seem that our authors and/or the characters they create are alienated or alienating. Where was Mary W's posse when she was contemplating her controversial thoughts? Did she sit around with the girls and say, "You know, you would be way smarter and useful if it wasn't for the crappy education card you were dealt." Did they respond, "Gee Mary, I never thought of it that way. Maybe you should write book about that. You go, Girlfriend! or did Mary work by herself in her own little universe - which is what it seems from her writing. Could Evelina (A character from another course but same time frame) have had any close relationships stronger than the reported superficial interactions with family and friends during her coming of age story?

Did women have strong and energizing relationships with their friends in the 18th Century like we do now, or is this something new that has only become valued in our time and place? Did the 18th C. "art of conversation" undermine the potential for spontenaity and deep and fulfilling relationships that are possible now. Was the feminine community somehow different in that time or was it just something that didn't happen to make it to the written page? I'm curious about this, because in all these readings by women in writing, none of them is about unity or belonging. Perhaps it's the selections, perhaps it's just the style of the time, or maybe there really was a different level of interaction among women.

Any thoughts, fellow thinkers?

Posted by webasst at April 14, 2004 12:30 AM | TrackBack