Writers Post Journal

Murray encourages women, including her daughter, to be intellectual beings in Desultory Thoughts She believes that society views them solely as beautiful things and that they are raised to act and behave this way because it is too common with parents to expatiate in their hearing,, upon all the foibles of their children, and let their virtue pass, in appearance,Еimplant in their little minds the, undue conceptions of their own importance. Those who have the care of a beautiful female. She says that due to this these daughters who of course become young woman grow up to think her place is in the home and her one goal on life is to find a suitable husband using her attractive image. It begins with a poem which I found to be an important attribute. The poem revolves around the idea that women fall into the stereotypes society places on them without even knowing it. They abandon their dreams and hopes because that is what they are suppose to do. I also thought the poem added a feminine touch, since as we have seen throughout other readings, poetry is deeply connected to women.

I think the articles by Fanny Fern were some of the most entertaining we have read so far this semester. I found her voice and tone to be very powerful and think this is why Hawthorne had no problem with her as a writer. Most other female writers only complain and wretch over how unfair life is, even when they themselves, have had a wonderful education and live a decent life. Here, the author experiences much grief, her first husband dying and the second one being a hypocrite who deserted her, and is still able to find humor in life. I think is she was still writing today, it would be as columnist for a hip magazine or news paper. The advice she gives in Hints to Young Wives is similar to the advice found in Cosmo or other female magazines. She writes Just so long as a man isnt quite as sure as if he knew for certain, whether nothing on earth could ever disturb your affection for him, he is your humble servant, but the very second he finds out (or thinks he does) that he has possession of every inch of your heart, and no neutral territory- he will turn on his heel and march of whistling Yankee Doodle! In todays words, come one strong and show your feelings, the guys gone, hide them and play the game and youve got him.

Stanton was raised in a home, and a country, where men are valued more then women, and some think we still are today. However, she did not just sit back and accept this fact. I think had she not been raised in a home like this, she would not have been so vocal and strong in the womens rights movement. The way she was brought up gave her enough anger, and then courage, to stand up for what she believed in. It is true that it is hard for a person to grow mentally when only surrounded by people of less intelligence, children and servants. This was not the life for Stanton so she, and others, did something about it. She says the first convention was a success but after word got out, members began to dwindle. All the journals from Maine to Texas seemed to strive with each other to see which could make our movement appear the most ridiculous. Men across the country used this convention to laugh and ridicule women, and many backed out as a cause of the mens actions. I think this upset Stanton even more because now it was even more apparent that women acted on the beliefs of men. In her Declaration of Sentiments Stanton lists practically every injustice man has done to woman over time. I think she uses all these withheld rights, civilly dead, submit to laws, taken property/wages, etc. to ignite the fire in women. It is like a call to action and an invitation to join the womens rights movement.

Stoddards narrative
I think that Stoddards writing challenges traditional values as well as the institution of marriage. It also discusses different classes. I think that this story is humorous in a sense because it is exaggerated and discusses love in an unrealistic sense. There are horseback rides and this kind of fablelike love. I think the story also portrays men in a negative light. The men are shown to be deceiving and intent on tricking the women. My husband is a scoundrel is one of the best statements that reflects how the men act and how they treat the women in the story. Often women are tricked by men into relationships and in this story Margaret finds out that her husband is not the man who she thought he was. On a personal noteЧI enjoyed reading Stoddard and liked her portrayal of the characters.