According to Wikipedia: “Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (May 23, 1810 – July 19, 1850), commonly known as Margaret Fuller, was an American journalist, critic, and women’s rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement. She was the first full-time American female book reviewer in journalism. Her book Woman in the Nineteenth Century is considered the first major feminist work … work in the United States.”
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Fuller’s biographical information was very interesting. I was surprised that she had gotten pregnant before marriage and married a man more than ten years her junior, given this was written in 1843. I didn’t think that happened too often during those times. I think it blurred my interpretation of her work, especially because she speaks so much about women’s issues and equality. I found the letter she wrote to be interesting as it was about what speeches she would make in the upcoming seasons, etc. It really wasn’t literature to me. I thought it more of old stationary found in someone’s attic that the editor of the anthology felt necessary to include possible because of style or as a breather from the long prose sections we read. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the focus of our reading. “Women in the 19th Century” was.
This piece by Fuller is suppose to be arguing the equality of men vs. women issues and why if men treat the “Indians and Blacks” better than before, do they treat women even worse than that. My first opinion of the work is definitely going to be boredom or non-interest because I am a firm believer in making all women and men equal. Most of my favorite authors or poets happen to be women. Nevertheless, I continued reading the selection from Fuller. I tried reading through what she had to say, but it was very annoying at times and also somewhat obvious. I am a staunch supporter of equal rights for every human on this planet regardless of sex, religion, raced, creed, etc. However, I don’t think it is necessary to put blame on someone and try to accomplish goals that way. Fuller basically says that all men think they have the qualities of energy, power, and intellect while women have beauty, harmony, and love. She does say that not all people think this, etc., but I still disagree with her. Every human being has their own level of energy. We are all beautiful creatures. There is not just physical beauty, there is emotional, inner, etc. We all learn to make harmony within ourselves and we work together to make harmony throughout our culture. Power is something you work for. Men have the same amount of compassion as women. It hurts just as much, though we are conditioned to keep the hurt within us. I may be venting and going off the deep end, but Fuller seems to put much of the blame on men. I do need to take into account that this was written a century ago, and back then, it was partially true, so it isn’t as reliable anymore in our times though. However, to read this makes the problem worse I believe. It shouldn’t fight for just one cause, rather show how all people are suppose to be equal and point out errors in those ways.
What I really think is that Fuller was so deeply concerned about women’s rights that she skipped over the ill-treatment of all people in general. She has every right too though. Women were treated horribly back then, but so were men at times. If you weren’t a macho man, you were considered to not be equal either. Fuller is a good writer; however, her conviction comes through in an antagonistic way when it could have been displayed more tastefully. I believe that she could have shown the problems and ways to correct rather than attack others who treated women wrong in those times. Her words are somewhat inspirational and definitely well worth reading, but as for me, I felt it was more a lecture than a conversation – which is what literature should be. I didn’t think this was literature in the sense that it was entertaining. It chided me more than pleased me!