Feminism at its Worst

             In her social commentary, A Room of One's Own, Virginia Woolf, one of the most prolific feminist authors of the modern day, writes an exhortation of women and their stifled intellectual and creative abilities. Through fictionalized examples and specific facts, Woolf encouragingly pleads her case to her audience in an attempt to inspire women to discontinue allowing their minds to be constrained by the (then prevalent) male chauvinistic philosophy. Her use of specific diction and colorful depictions of various events and characters, as well as a vast array of other literary techniques aid her in comprehensively proving her point.
             Virginia Woolf, and most other women during this time period, found themselves in a state of ambiguity --- as they were treated as partial citizens. While they were capable of achieving social status, they were shunned from political groups, and were admonished for expressing their intellectual opinions. In England, women's suffrage was not gained until 1918, and even then it was only granted to women over the age of thirty. This right was later conveyed to women over the age of twenty-one in 1928. The traditional belief during this time period was that women should remain at home so that they could cook, clean, and raise the children. This injustice to women incited a newly invigorated movement toward women's rights. Virginia Woolf, an already prominent women's rights advocate, played a significant role in the new movement. When the voting age was lowered to twenty-one, she gave an incandescent speech at Newnham and Girton colleges, which were the only women's colleges at Cambridge.
             Woolf begins her tirade very simply; explaining her original intentions to merely elaborate on the prominent female authors of the past, when asked to speak about women and fiction. But, she concludes, when she thought about what the words "women and fiction" meant, she decided th...

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