Public Engagement Preface and Argument
Feminism is a difficult concept to track throughout time. Realistically, feminist ideals have been a part of history starting very early on in human society. There have always been those that believed in the equal rights of women and men and there have always been those who criticized the ones who held those beliefs. It was, and remains today, the same way in America. In the early period of American literature, although women writers were few and often disregarded by men, their writings spearheaded the feminist movement and created ideas that remain relevant in society even now. Whether it concerns the woman’s right to vote, attend school or make her own choices, feminism is just as important today as it was hundreds of years ago. Although the topics of feminist discussion and literature have changed today, the ideals that the early American women writers formed are the basis …show more content…
Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette shows the concepts of a woman’s right to a choice. Margaret Fuller’s The Great Lawsuit presents the idea of a woman as an individual, using her background in transcendentalism, she emphasizes how important it is for a person to be an individual and argues that women can help society to progress as long as they are allowed to think freely. Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl shows the horrible treatment of women in slavery and brings the light the abuse of women of all races in the time period. Emily Dickinson’s poetry gives readers new ways to view the woman. She destroys the ideas of typical gender roles and, like Fuller, claims the woman as an individual and a free-thinker. Finally, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass presents a new look at sexuality and the depiction of womanhood and manhood to show both the contrast and the blurs between the
Feminism is a difficult concept to track throughout time. Realistically, feminist ideals have been a part of history starting very early on in human society. There have always been those that believed in the equal rights of women and men and there have always been those who criticized the ones who held those beliefs. It was, and remains today, the same way in America. In the early period of American literature, although women writers were few and often disregarded by men, their writings spearheaded the feminist movement and created ideas that remain relevant in society even now. Whether it concerns the woman’s right to vote, attend school or make her own choices, feminism is just as important today as it was hundreds of years ago. Although the topics of feminist discussion and literature have changed today, the ideals that the early American women writers formed are the basis …show more content…
Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette shows the concepts of a woman’s right to a choice. Margaret Fuller’s The Great Lawsuit presents the idea of a woman as an individual, using her background in transcendentalism, she emphasizes how important it is for a person to be an individual and argues that women can help society to progress as long as they are allowed to think freely. Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl shows the horrible treatment of women in slavery and brings the light the abuse of women of all races in the time period. Emily Dickinson’s poetry gives readers new ways to view the woman. She destroys the ideas of typical gender roles and, like Fuller, claims the woman as an individual and a free-thinker. Finally, Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass presents a new look at sexuality and the depiction of womanhood and manhood to show both the contrast and the blurs between the