Preview

On Virginia Woolf's "Profession for Women"

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
929 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
On Virginia Woolf's "Profession for Women"
I 've read some numbers of feminism related essays and articles in my years as a student in the English department. A lot of times I felt like a minority in most scenarios since most of my classmates are female. I understand of course that it is not that simple issue of good and bad. But every time during discussions on the matter, I always feel a bit sorry for being "the evil men." These discussions are endlessly repetitive with most students condemning and criticizing men for being the biased and women being the sympathized. It wasn 't long before I develop a sense of dread towards feminism. It 's not because I disagree with the points or observations raised in these writings. They had interested and persuaded me in all ways possible. But my experience seems to be repeating themselves over and over as different feminists continues to attack and complain without giving any substantial resolutions.

Virginia Woolf is different. I didn 't have much expectation before reading this article. Maybe in a way, I was blinded by my own phantom. Yet I find this reading experience much more intriguing. This is a writer that isn 't afraid to admit her lacking of answers and limits of knowledge. She asks good questions instead of perpetual complaints. The essay is really a chance to understand her streams of thought on the matter. The logic of this essay is fairly straightforward and easy to follow. It isn 't blinded by pure sentimentality that often is quite biased itself.

I find this essay significantly inspiring even by today 's standards. It 's timeless in its main idea, that of "the phantom." Maybe to women at that time, the phantom speaks to women only as "the Angel in the House." But I think to define it only as that is limiting its ideological potential. The phantom can be anything. Everyone, regardless of race, class, sex is haunted by their own phantoms. It represents an obstacle of the mind. It 's something we as individuals have to learn to break in order to



Bibliography: orton Anthology of English Literature, 8th Ed, Vol 2

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The concept of feminism is highly displayed in the article The Men Feminists Left Behind by Jill Filipovic. The feminism fight is possibly on the verge of the greatest victory ever achieved in the history of the United States, if Hillary Clinton is elected the first ever female president. Jill Filipovic argues if that happens, the white male- who has been the dominant group in American history, will lose some of its power. Mainly, because a women will be defeating a while male. Women have rapidly made their way into usually male domains jobs (president of United States), so many socialists recognized this was a possibly, but at the cost of white male domination is a topic that’s much debated.…

    • 224 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Science, it would seem, is not sexless: he is a man, a father, and infected too” (Woolf, 1938). Feminist Virginia Woolf declares this bold statement to express how science is sexist; gender bias by which women’s interests, insight, or perspective are disvalued and ostracized. Over the decades, there has been an outburst of the feminist writing on the philosophical development in literature and history. A majority of the feminist writings harshly criticize the philosophical traditions, which include topics of epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics, and brings up the expected question of why does the history of philosophy have such an importance impact on feminist philosophers? Countless feminist philosophers have studied the philosophical development throughout the years…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I read Feminism for everybody Written by Bell hook, she tries to explain the definition of feminism which is a movement to end the oppression of sexism which is the discrimination, and how men usually use force against women, not as many people believed that it is anti-male. Both males and females have been socialized from their birth and females can be sexist as males. Also to achieve the feminism, we need to end racism and imperialism, males and females should create a beloved community to achieve freedom and justice. women should free themselves from men domination in work force and they…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    I Play Viola Monologue

    • 2022 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In her book, A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf wrote a series of essays beginning with the state of the female novelist and expanding from there. In her closing essay she writes a public service announcement of sorts, calling out to her audience, the female ones in particular, to write books of all forms and variety, in spite of the difficulties that stand in front of them. Woolf asserts that not only they stand to benefit from writing good literature, but so do the generations to come. Foremostly her warning existed due to the current situations that surrounded her, and the ease with which the status quo could exist. Woolf prompts the reader to be uncomfortable existing state of affairs. And there is a dreadful outcome in the inverse of advised result. Again a transformation like that aforementioned could occur, the female writers Woolf so strongly advocated for siding with and assisting the very men that systemically put the women in this place. It would have changed in its own right both the previous and current state perpendicular to their direction previously. Furthermore, the memory of why change was needed, and the actions of change itself, would become neglected and eventually forgotten. And this exactly is the…

    • 2022 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Virginia Woolf, acknowledged as one of the greatest female writers of her time, and ours, wrote two essays in which she attended the meals of a men's and women's university. In the first passage, Woolf describes an extravagant luncheon at a men's college, using long and flowing sentences to express the seamless opulence of the "many and various retinue[s]" displayed at the convention. On the other hand, in the second passage Woolf illustrates a bland, plain, and institutional-like dining hall. It was nothing special, and nothing great, only a poor regimen of "human nature's daily food." Woolf's contrasting diction, detail, syntax and manipulative language in these two passages convey her underlying attitude and feelings of anger and disappointment towards women's place in an unequal, male dominated society.…

    • 711 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminism is the equality of the sexes. Women are not as acknowledged as they ought to be because of men being in control. Men are viewed as leaders in the public eye due to being tough, yet women can be too. “A woman could be a philosopher only if she “thought like a man” (Meyers 1). Women do not have to cerebrate like men to get somewhere because they have the facility to do whatever they desire. They are in control of their own life; men should not be the ones to determine if women are capable of being a philosopher or anything. Women are not “irrational, emotional, unintelligent, and morally immature” (Meyers 1). They are individuals that work as hard as men to complete their employment and have jobs at home they need to do to care for their families. They are hardworking…

    • 1278 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    No one can forget the history lessons, as they remember Susan B. Anthony fighting for women’s suffrage in the early 1900s, her face plastered on the silver dollar. Further down the line, women used feminism to break away from their traditional gender roles as matrons of the house, as females all across the country went to work in the ammunitions factories while the men were at war (think Rosie the Riveter). These concepts were seen as first-wave feminism, essentially the foundation for both second-wave and third-wave feminism, both of which go hand-in-hand. These particular ideals are founded upon the notion that women should have the same pay, opportunities, and playing field as men. The feminists you see today, are of the third-wave of feminists. Third-wave feminists are of the mindset that their bodies are their own, that they own exclusive rights to who and what enters their bodies. They strive to maintain that they deserve as much as men. They are perhaps distinguished as the most “crazy” of the bunch, seen as misandrists; but this is, of course, a generalization of all feminists. Perhaps they believe the only way for them to prove their point is to take it to the…

    • 562 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We must all be feminist. I was at a conference this past Saturday volunteering for Alex. It was centered around human rights. Two of the speakers mentioned something very interesting. They said, “Until men start condemning the actions taken against women, the abuse that women endure, the state of the world will never change.” I couldn’t agree more. As a man, I cannot think that it is only a woman’s job to fight for her rights if it is me whom is oppressing them. I must fight against men who oppress women and their…

    • 1638 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Men and boys also suffer from things like domestic violence. Those who are abused, are told that they’re ‘weak’ and need to ‘man up’. Things like this tells men, not only that they should act a certain way, but also that treating people badly is okay if their different. Which leads to bullying. This is done by implying that ‘like a man’ is better than being 'like a woman'. Men who are abused by their partners are seen as jokes. This is because a lot of people have the idea that men need to be ‘strong’, ‘manly’ and ‘unemotional’. Because being anything close to a woman is apparently an insult. And contrary to popular belief, feminism fights for men too. Feminism is about equality, not one gender being better than the other. Men are assaulted and abused because of sexism. They are laughed at for wearing skirts or dresses. But do you know who mostly does this to them? Its other men. Men are the ones insulting other men for being ‘weak’, because that’s being ‘like a…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Firstly, what is Feminism? Feminism is the movement that fights for the overall rights of women. If you are a feminist, you believe women should be treated the same as men, not because we’re better, but because we’re human. *(Cavanagh). While some would argue that women are already viewed as equals, this is simply not the case. America has made strides in distancing itself from its past of various horrible acts of hate, but things can’t change so simply. The overall fight for equality in the United States has been put into four waves, each addressing its own distinct issues. Currently, we are experiencing the fourth wave, and *feminism no…

    • 518 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Are you a feminist? Do you know what feminism is about? Many people confuse feminism with man hating or saying women are better than men. It’s neither. Feminism is seeking justice for both genders and ending sexism. Feminism and age have a connection because when you grow older, people can experience more sexism. Feminism is both a political movement and intellectual commitment. Feminists disagree with stereotyping, objectifying and sexism. Feminism started around the 1840s.The first gathering for women’s rights in the United States, the Seneca Falls Convention, was in 1848. Many people have found it useful to think of the movement as waves. Each wave talks about different topics that feminists want to talk about and fight for. There are also…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fear Of Feminism

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages

    It should not come as a surprise that feminism is not exactly a “hot topic” of conversation for young women such as myself in this day and age. In fact, I have always considered the phrase, “feminist”, to be a negative connotation; at least I did before I took this class. Is this because I did not know what it meant to be a feminist? Or is it because every time I was exposed to the topic in the past, it was always pertaining to a group of radicals that would come across as overly assertive and aggressive in their efforts? If a majority of young women grew up with a similar experience to mine, how could we not be afraid of becoming a feminist? In the article, “Fear of Feminism: Why Young Women Get…

    • 1463 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Now it is up to the feminists whether to take that and acknowledge it or defend themselves regardless of whether they are right or wrong, making them seem exactly like the stereotypical feminist. At this point, feminism is more about misogyny and whining protests rather than anger or trying to fix oppressions and victimizations. It started as a movement for equal rights due to women being oppressed in the past, and now it is just an excuse for women to whine and use as an instrument of enmity – double standards. They say since women have been oppressed since years now, Its time for vengeance. How will oppressing men, making them seem like the ‘bad’ gender, help in any way?…

    • 1998 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Feminism is not the belief that one gender should be raised in power above another. The very definition of feminism shows a complete opposition to this belief. So when people comment against feminism, they are supporting sexism. There is no sitting on the fence. You are either a feminist or sexist. Unfortunately, most sexists don't know they are sexist, and compose the majority of the population. They are unaware that sexism is something that has been forced on to them through the brainwashed media of a patriarchal society.…

    • 88 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Stupid Boy

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages

    More difficult than the classes, more difficult than the pressure of college and responsibilities is the constant nagging of my female peers. In our school, they are the dominant sex and feminism can be felt from miles around. Females control our school, and there is no way of getting around it. The common myth that women are inferior to men is completely and utterly wrong.…

    • 437 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays