Hello Charlie’s !
Today, you are going to change people mind, as one of the first feminist, a brilliant woman named Virginia Woolf did, one century before us.
Virginia Woolf is one of my role model, she is exactly what I want to be later. As an independent, smart writer, she made things happen changing way of thinking about women thanks to her words and her modern thoughts.
With her sister, they found Bloomsbury group, where openminded artists and intellectuals discuss about modern social questions as lesbianism, women’s access to education, bisexuality…
You have probably already heard about her famous feminist essay « A Room of One's Own » written in 1929. Behind this enigmatic title hides her long fight about the space of women’s writers in a world dominated by men.
« A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction. »
« Why did men drink wine and women water ? Why was one sex so prosperous and the other so poor ? What effect has poverty on fiction ? What conditions are necessary for the creation of works of art ? »
As she did in her books, I asked myself a question :
Why men feel superior to women ?
In our society, still today, be a man means be viril, have power and money, be strong and don’t cry. It’s an heavyweight for a boy who wants to become a man. So maybe, if men belittle women it would be more to raise themselves and their sex than to demean women.
Fortunately, world is moving, our generation Z is aware of this issue and already express itself in an no gender way.
Thus, to change people mind, we have to educate society that human must not be determined by his/her sex but rather by his/her personality, feelings, tastes… To break the prejudices to let men and women become and love who they want freely.
Another question I asked myself about the word virility :
Is the notion of virility have to change ? Or have we to stop to use this word because it should no longer match with men’s ideals ?
I’m counting on you to help me to answer this question in comments ;)
I apologize myself for my grammar mistakes hoping you enjoyed my first article nevertheless.
I would love to have your opinion about these questions in comments.
Maybe together, we can make things happen !
Gradiva
Gradiva
Hi! i really enjoyed learning more about Virginia Woolf and what she did. To answer your question about the word "virility" I think it doesn't really mean anything anymore because no one needs to be "viril" to be a man. But I think some men like to think that they are very "viril" and that it's what makes them a man ( maybe it's a comforting thought for them ). Well these men can use the term viril as much as they want if they think it's comforting for them. They just mustn't say that the other men are not men because they're "not viril".
ReplyDeletethank you for your article, it made me understand Virgina Woolf a bit more. Indeed, when I read "A room's of one's own" I hardly understood was she was trying to point out. maybe with a bit of reflection and feedback from other Woolf's reader it'll make more sense ! so thank you again for that article, Eva
ReplyDeleteWell, retyping my comment 😭😤 ...
ReplyDeleteVirginia Woolf... what a great woman, I really admire her, she stood for her rights in a world where they weren’t acknowledged she was incredible
Thanks for your article and btw I think you’ll do a great 21st century Virginia Woolf :)
i really love this, you’re article is brilliant
ReplyDeletenowadays men are still told to « man up » whenever they show the slightest hint of sadness, vulnerability or weakness
i think that’s why they feel so insecure about going out of their comfort zone and doing anything that isn’t « masculine »
you also said that gen z understood that and yes we’re more aware but the problem is still here since it’s created thought education ( if you learn to your son that emotion aren't viril, he won’t show them)
actually virility come from latin and it means something virtuous, like courage. I think it lost a lot of it sense.
Virgina Wolf is a fascinating and complex person and author. I think you are right to stess the significance of diction: what word we use in what context is always meaningful so is the way this word is understood by different people. I agree and regret that society still often tries hard to place people in gender-related (or other) boxes and mansplain things but it does not mean we cannot change it. FYI it's virile!
ReplyDeleteHey Gradiva, thanks for your really good article : proud of you buddy 😉.
ReplyDeleteToday (while we were doing a reading test that I literally flunked 🌈🌈💘😻), Mr Leah was reading a Virginia Wolf book and talked to us a bit about your article that I found really interesting. Concerning the virility 'question' Mira said it came from latin and meant something virtuous. I just would like to add (and to convince myself that finishing at 6pm Tuesdays while the rest of my class finishes at 3PM is not that useless ) that the latin word vir, viri, m means "man in opposition with woman/husband in opposition with wife" so we can see that the root of the word is the same and so the link between manhood and virility was already made at this time.
Thank you for all your answers about these questions. It is very interesting to discover the latin origin of virility, it explains a lot of things and proves how meaning of words have to evolve with their time. Fortunately, all of that is up to change!
ReplyDelete