Great guy already!
Next we read his article, Women: "Especially Constituted to Please Man." And that's when I lost it. When I first read the article on my own I took notes on it, here is a snippet of what my notes looked like:
Article says: "Women should know their place."
My Notes say: "*NO ONE LIKES YOU ROUSSEAU!"
Article says: [Talking about the perfect couple] "One must be active and strong, the other passive and weak. One must have power and will, the other have little power of resistance."
My Notes say: "1. I hate you.
*I'm not writing any of your horrible beliefs down."
Article says: "... this is not the law of love, but it is the law of Nature, which is anterior even to love...."
My Notes say: "2.I'd like to throw you into nature.
*And when I say nature, I mean wolves.
-And bears."
Other comments included, "When does Rebbecca Walker, Alice Paul and Tina Fey come in?" "Where is your grave, I'm going to attack it with my feminism!" Then I attempted to draw the Feminist symbol next to #FEMINISM at the bottom of my paper. Because this is how I take college notes.
But, as I promised I'm going to talk about positive things. So, I'm going to list the terrible things that Rousseau says and then comment on how women have defied him and his mid-1700s beliefs on women.
Rousseau said the "perfect couple" should be as different in personality as they are in anatomy. I say no! Women and men can be as alike as they want. Just because one guy is a doctor doesn't mean he should find a woman who is a maid. He and she can be with whoever they please! Today there is no rule on who you have to marry. As I've mentioned before, I love the movie and book Pride and Prejudice, and one of the lines Mr. Darcy has this wonderful quote when he is talking to Lizzy and confessing his love, "I have fought against my better judgment, my family's expectations, the inferiority of your birth by rank and circumstance. " Because back in the day class was a big deal. Today it's more like a beautiful love story when the rich boy falls in love with the lower class girl. But in Jane Austen and Rousseau's time it was kind of important to marry someone of your own class. WE HAVE MOVED BEYOND THAT! Aren't you guys as happy as I am about this? Like, there are few restrictions. Just as long as you love each other you can be together (well, mostly). And Rousseau would be so angry if he saw a woman who was "above" her husband.
That's another thing he was against. He thought women, as stated above, should be "passive and weak." He also talks about how women shouldn't be educated the same as man. He thought they should study "practical" subjects, like house work so to help the men continue with their work. Because everyone, as stated in his social contract, is working towards the same end-- but not in the same way. Well, sir, let me tell you a story. Later on in American History this strong woman named Elizabeth Blackwell went to medical school, the first woman to do so in the USA. And all of her professors were like, "She won't make it." But then she graduated first in her class! Rousseau would've DIED! In his personal opinion women should not inquire, they shouldn't explore and learn. Even though it was the Era of Enlightenment and it was all about learning and sharing ideas.
Basically he said smart women were embarrassing. They should be left single and alone because no man should marry a smart woman. (I just shook my head in shame after writing that sentence, because it deserves a hardcore head shake and glare.) However, today we have overcome that obstacle! We can be as smart as we please, and even though women are sometimes looked down on as gross and ugly when they are associated with math and science and even computer studies, it's still better than what it used to be. We should encourage girls to get involved with these topics. Of course they're not for everyone, but just because we are women does not mean we cannot excel and pursue these fields of study. That's what Rousseau wouldn't want, and since he is the enemy, we should probably defy him as much as possible. Just saying.
One of the topics Rousseau thought women should study was their man. Or as we said in class, "Know your dude!" They shouldn't think deeply on ALL men in general, but just the one's in their lives. You know, the one's they are "especially constituted to please." His thought was that they should always work towards benefiting the men and their lives, but how false is that! As a human race we should work towards pleasing others. I'm not saying let people walk over you, but don't just please man because you are a woman. Please who needs to be pleased, make the world happy by being happy yourself and helping others be happy. So many repeated words in that sentence and guess what-- I'M GONNA LEAVE IT BECAUSE IT'S MY BLOG!
And finally, Rousseau is quoted saying, "Woman is worth more as a woman, but less as a man..." Just take a moment to let that sink in. Okay. Are you done? Oh, another moment. Please, take your time.
Better? Okay. Let's continue.
In other words he's saying women shouldn't try to do man things, they should do womanly things because that's where they're most helpful. Um, no. Today, in this gloriously advanced day in age for Women's rights, women can be whatever they want! Pursue whatever field that want. Like I said before, there's still some struggle with fields being gender labeled. But it doesn't hold some people back. And I like those people. If you feel confident and passionate about it, GO FOR IT! I'm sure you'll be great at whatever you choose to do.
Ugh, Rousseau you made me go on a feminist rage and that's okay. Because after reading you I went to my work study in the school of social work and all the feminism decorations I saw a people's office doors and on the walls made me happy. We are beyond this horrid man and moving forwards towards a brighter future. There is still work to do, but isn't it nice to look back and see how far we've come? It's comforting. And inspiring to continue to work towards equality.
#FEMINISM
#NotAFailedDrawingOnMyNotes
