Thoughts on Women: The Kati Davis Edition

So, recently our topic of discussion/literature in Mrs. Burnett's AP English class has been... wait for it... gender studies. *cue horror movie music* Apparently this unit hasn't been a very big hit with classes in the past, but for the most part ours has been pretty chill about it. There have been a few giggles and snide remarks from people whose names I won't mention, but overall our class has handled it fairly maturely and guys and girls alike have been respectful to each other.


The thing that elicited the biggest emotional reaction from the class was a worksheet that Mrs. Burnett handed out about a week ago, entitled "Thoughts on Women- A Timeline." This piece of paper contained a collection of degrading quotes regarding women throughout the years, starting in 1500 B.C. and ending with (to several students' shock and horror) 2007. Here are just a few of them:

• "No trust is to be placed in women." -Homer (1200 B.C.)
• "The wife ought not to have any feelings of her own but join with her husband." -Plutarch (45-125 A.D.)
• "Girls begin to talk and stand on their feet sooner than boys because weeds always grow up more quickly than good crops." -Martin Luther (1483-1546)
• "A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree- The more they're beaten, the better they be." -Thomas Fuller (1654-1734)
• "Women are to be talked to as below men and above children." -Lord Chesterfield (1694-1733)
• "A man likes his wife to be just clever enough to comprehend his cleverness, and just stupid enough to admire." -Israel Zangwill (1864-1926)

...and last but by no means least,

• "Couldn't the moral decline of our country be tied to women entering the work place?" -an anonymous Oxford Area High School Teacher (2007)

While to most of the class these were laughable, it struck a chord of indignance within several of us. Is it any wonder there are still feminists that go ballistic over the smallest breach of womens' rights? It may seem extreme, but it's to ensure that our country doesn't start reeling backwards to the time when these statements would have been considered legitimate.

Personally, I've enjoyed this unit. Perhaps being a female does give me a slight bias, but I've definitely learned that I shouldn't take the freedoms I have as an American woman now for granted. Reading literature such as The Yellow Wallpaper, The Awakening, A Doll's House, and yes, the infamous A Room of One's Own (which wasn't nearly as dreadful as an experience as some people made it out to be) has given me a better sense of the progress that society has made since the days where women were forced to lie in bed all day as a means of mental recovery; the days where women were possessions rather than individuals and their only value was in their positions as mothers and housewives; the days where women were restricted from writing to their heart's desire by lack of money, privacy, and emotional freedom.

Thank God those days are dead and gone... let's make sure it stays that way.

-Kati Davis