Delaney's Blog

 Word Count: 252 words Jill Kerr Conway says, "people distrusted intellectuals. Australians mocked anyone with 'big ideas' and found them specially laughable in women" (146).   This quote did not sit right with me because of the fact that women's ideas are "laughable." Conway was educated, and a strong woman with bright ideas. This quote demonstrates exactly why women do not speak up when they have amazing ideas and advances, we are scared to be clowned or doubted. This often dulls the sparkle of woman, Conway luckily not letting this thought get to her. We learn of Conway's life, born in 1934, growing up in Australia and how she eventually moves to the United States to become a historian as she grows up. This is another coming of age story that we have now read as we read her growth in Australia as it separates from under England. She had a great childhood but helped thoroughly with farm work, until the drought and death of her father. Jill then wat...

Word Count: 250 words      Ning Lao T'ai-t-ai is the woman Ida Pruitt wrote about in her novel, A Daughter of Han. We are focused on the lives of Chinese people in the late 19th century through their hardships. She faced her first hardship once her parents began binding her feet. She loved to play and be free and be the fun-loving child she was. She felt so much pain physically throughout this time having to accustom to her culture. I cannot imagine having to go through a practice I didn't agree with without another choice. Women were oppressed early in Chinese society, learning their "place" at a very young age. China not allowing equality for women was extremely interesting to learn about because the late 19-20th century was a time not too long ago. Ning Lao was always focused on her education, making that a huge priority in her life. I loved this quote that I read that says, "No one can break the chain of a woman's will once she has made up her mind."...

 Word count: 256 words      Nien Cheng lived an insanely tough life where she experienced unimaginable circumstances throughout the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution was a revolution led by Mao Zedong, attempting to keep Chinese Communism running at full force. Nien Cheng's house was broken into by members of the revolution, completely destroying the inside of her home. She then spent six years inside "No. 1 Detention House" in solitary confinement, not feeding her well, etc. They believed she was a spy for the West. I greatly admire that no amount of mental or physical torture could bring her down- she was relentless. An officer said to her, "You must admit your guilt not only to the People's Government, but also to yourself. The admission of guilt is like the opening of floodgates. When you admit that you are indeed guilty... your confession will flow out easily." Her innocence is what kept her going. She wasn't going to fall to their tactic...

 Word count: 269 words Emilie was faced with struggle from an early age, not having a mother in her family, and being in a peasant family on top of this. Her mother died at the age of 4, a crucial person in the upbringing of a child. She worked with her father in the fields and learned a lot about life, especially about her strengths and her smarts. They had to work to survive, building character at a very young age. She is amazing at comparing her life story to lots of other women, because we are all not as different as we may think. She talks about how each of these important woman had a reason for sharing their story, a purpose as we all have. No matter how different the women, we are each important to the stories of all. She is interested in hearing the stories of other women, their struggles, accomplishments, etc., we all are significant enough to have a story to share. Teaching children helped Emilie to feel a motherly role and teach these children important lessons. She was ...

 Word Count: 268 words      Vera Brittain grew up in the upper-middle class, which already makes her story unique from the one's we have read before. Like the others, her father does not believe she needs to go to college, apart from her views and wanting to gain an education. Throughout her life she experiences World War I, losing loved ones as she is in the front line as a nurse. She had to leave her life behind and step up to help those in need. Her schooling was put on hold and she had no say in this. This would shake my world and have me questioning the path of my life. Losing her brother was traumatic for her, and she didn't feel able to express her feelings openly. She would do this behind closed doors showing her true devastation and the inability to come to terms with it. She says, "Carefully closing the door, I turned on the light and looked at the pale, pictured face, so dignified, so steadfast, so tragically mature"(81). Trying to act strong in the face o...

 Word count: 256 words      The thing that immediately interested me about Nina was how she was the only child from a North Russian mother and an American father. Fleeing to Paris for 25 years had to of strongly changed her character and childhood. She was used to not having much money at all, especially after joining a literary group of fellow Russian women. She faced hardship just surviving, and then took a huge leap to move to the United States with no money and little English. Later, becoming a professor of Russian Literature at Princeton is remarkable in regards to where she began. Besides all that she accomplished in life, Nina compared the different lifestyles in this time, where she expressed her strong opinions. She says, "To warm myself nears someone, to settle in some secure place, to find a shelter- in a way this seemed to me not only repugnant, but humiliating." I believe she finds this almost unsettling due to her independence. She wants to make her own...

 Word count: 257 words      Beauvoir wrote the novel, The Second Sex , regarding woman as second to men. "You were a real firebrand if you read that book. If you paid any attention to it you were maladjusted, all the things you tried so hard not to be." Women were thought of as respectable, innocent, etc. and reading literature that had powerful words (even "sexy" words) intimidated most people. Societal norms were abolished when writing this novel. "She said the kind of things I wanted my mother to say," says Angie Pegg. This novel was so important for women to hear. They were able to realize it is OKAY to want more out of your life and to keep pushing to grow in all aspects of your life. Some women don't get the privilege to hear encouraging words from their mother or women in their lives. Beauvoir became a voice for those to look up to. She was born into a wealthy family but hit sudden bankruptcy, once she stuck out in school, she knew she could suc...

 Word Count: 244 words When Beauvoir was younger, she was free spirited with Sartre, who she created a special bond with. She was able to do as she pleased as a strong woman before the Nazis convinced her that she needed to focus on the social issues at the time. She realized the hardships she would face during the 1940s. I can tell that Beauvoir holds herself to a high standard and in high regard. She greatly respects Sartre and their special relationship, seemingly a less patriarchal relationship, more equal. She didn't let men dictate her life as she and him both did as they pleased, but could come together whenever. Critics also think she referred to him as his last name to offer him respect. She put amazing detail into her writing, even through the extremely hard moments. She says, "I often spent hours... sorting out maggoty dry beans from the sound ones." This shows how scarce the food was but how she overcame the struggles in the 1930/40s and turned to what she rea...

   Word Count: 330 words     Maya was originally faced with a hardship once being handed off from her parents to her grandmother, "Momma." I cannot imagine the feeling of knowing the people who are supposed to love you more than anyone else decided they wanted nothing to do with you. Right off the bat she is missing a key component of being a child, living and loving your parents. It was great that her grandmother was able to be there for her as my grandmother was also a huge part of my childhood, along with my parents! It is another perspective and another kind of love that I believe helped shape her into who she ended up being.It also made me really upset hearing and knowing that Maya measured herself against the white girls and compared herself constantly. Then, after enduring already a tough childhood, Maya is sexually assaulted by her mother's boyfriend. There is much more to the story but this horrible childhood and strength she had to pull herself out of ...

Blog #1 266 words   Throughout this introduction in the Norton Book of Women's Lives , I loved hearing that the author, Phyllis Rose, wanted to dive deep into not your average women (models, women raised to do their duty, etc.), but women that were wild and lived their lives to the fullest. She wasn't sure what that exactly looked like and how you can define "living life to the fullest," but I relate to her in her interests of women and their successes. Something that stood out to me are stories of Africa, for example the book, Out of Africa. Rose says that, "colonial life in Africa had become both a fad and a phobia." This has always been extremely interesting to me, wondering how the other half lives and how women can succeed running a coffee plantation (for example) as they are coming to find themselves against all odds and lots of troubles along the way. I begin to wonder what she encountered and if she built long-lasting relationships with African Ameri...