My favorite
piece that we read this semester was Fanny Fern’s writings. I love the way that
she uses humor and sarcasm to bring awareness to inequality issues. One of my favorite
columns by her is “Independence.” The rhetorical questions that she used and the
fact that they rose in stakes interested me. She is ridiculing what women were
and were not allowed to do and she makes it clear that she believes that
societal rules were absurd. Even though “Independence” is one of my favorite,
it is not the only piece written by Fanny Fern that derides societal rules. “A
Law More Nice Than Just” ridicules laws that make it illegal for a woman to
wear pants, even though, as Fern points out, wearing pants makes it easier for
a woman to walk outside when it has been raining. I love Fanny Fern and I plan
to read more of her columns.
Keegan, I too enjoyed Fanny Fern's writings. I especially appreciate her willingness to publicly wear pants, and her husband's willingness to walk with her while she was wearing them for that matter!
ReplyDeleteFanny Fern's writings were so humorous, I definitely agree Keegan. I have read a few pieces by Fern, but I definitely enjoyed the ones we read during this class.
ReplyDeleteFanny Fern was also one of my favorites this semester. Oh the joys of wearing pants ;) In all honesty, it is author's such as Fern who really teach me to be thankful for my freedoms as a woman. Her writing makes me realize that I take so many of my liberties for granted, and it helps ground me back to the idea that I owe a lot of my liberty to early women's rights advocates such as Fern.
ReplyDeleteI love that she brought a sense of humor to the world of feminism. In a world where feminist can be considered a negative term, it was refreshing to see someone look at the issues facing women in her time with a kind of tongue and cheek response.
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