Clarice's Blog for Women's Writing Worldwide

  2/1 259 From The Road from Coorain by Jill Ker Conway From this reading, I was able to draw a lot of similarities between Jill Ker Conway and some of the other female authors we have read. For example, when Conway questions if God has any morality or exists at all it reminded me of a similar experience from Emilie Carles (161). Feeling doubt or losing faith in times of great loss is a common theme in many of these women’s lives. I think it is because they suffer such great hardships.  Another theme is the sense of responsibility Conway feels towards her family, and on this one, I related on a deep level. “I found myself volunteering for jobs I was not quite sure I could do, in order to be sure that he had more time to rest” (157). I often feel that being the oldest daughter is both a blessing and a curse at times. All responsibilities and ambitions and dreams are placed on me. I, like Conway, recognize how hard I work, but never boast because it is what is expected of me. L...

  1/30 265 From A Daughter of Han by Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai “The life of the beggar is not the hardest one. There is freedom.” (635) This quote made me think a lot about what feminism must mean to Ning. Feminism can mean different things to different people, but I think that Ning considers it to be the freedom she has from her husband. Ning never had money of her own unless she begged (633). She refused to become a thief or prostitute so she could not bring dishonor to her family name (634). Even when her husband sold their daughter, she wasn’t able to see any of that money and it all probably went towards his opium addiction (634). Being stuck in extreme poverty with a terrible husband felt like a prison to Ning.  After the loss of her daughter, she decided to leave her husband and lead a completely separate life (635). This is a very progressive idea for the time and culture in which she lived (634). Although she escaped her husband, she could not escape poverty, but this was s...

1/27 268  From Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng “It seemed the handcuffs had already broken my skin and were cutting into my flesh” (121).  This quote shocked me. The treatment and torture she received was stunning. The way she describes the weather or the rice or the small dirty room with the cement toilet leaves the reader filled with imagery (113). I can imagine the annoyed guards’ faces when she quoted Mao (116). I can feel the dust in the room she is in. I can also imagine the horror of her discovery of the blood on her wrists (121). At this moment, she wonders if she can ever write again in the future. In times like this, I may not be looking to the future as she does. But somehow, even when she is terrified and injured, she looks to the future and thinks about how things will be when, not if, this is all over. It goes without saying that she is brave. She tells us she is scared, but her actions say otherwise, and her unflagging strength shows us how spirited an...

  1/25 430 From A Life of Her Own by Emilie Carles So much took place in these recollections from Emilie Carles life. The first passage, “Against All Comers”, tells the story of how she came to marry her husband, Jean Carles (87). This story had a lighthearted tone. It seemed as if I was watching a romance drama. The adorable things Jean would do like cooking and painting to win the approval of Emilie’s father made me smile. Jean is such a kind soul compared to the members of Emilie’s family and even his own family.  I naturally wished for this happy drama to continue, but unfortunately in the next passage, “My Four Wards”, circumstances get progressively worse for Emilie and Jean (95). They start a hotel that makes no money, they lose a child, and Emilie’s sister is no longer able to care for her four children so Emilie and Jean raise them as their own. Circumstances continue to get worse in the passage, “Like a Bird Fallen from the Nest”, where Emilie loses another child an...

  1/23 341 From Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain  When the war started and her world turned upside down, she was my age. Her whole life ahead of her; she was in her second year of school, and had a fiance she was eager to marry (78). I’m in my second year of college now, and this passage made me wonder what my life would be like if a war started now. Would the boys at HPU have to enlist? Brittain had to leave school in her second year to become a VAD nurse for the war effort (78). If a war broke out, would I have to leave college and help support my family? What would it feel like to have my college experience and my future taken from me so suddenly? “Long after the family had gone to bed and the world had grown silent, I crept into the dining room to be alone with Edward’s portrait. Carefully closing the door, I turned on the light and looked at the pale, pictured face, so dignified, so steadfast, so tragically mature. He had been through so much –far, far more than those...

  292 From The Italics are Mine by Nina Berberova “In the strong desire to have a profession ‘for life,’ to have something that would grow with me like an arm or a leg, and be a part of me, I now see a kind of compensation for what I lacked as a girl.” (69) Berberova has a drive that comes from deep within. Her search for a career is not out of pettiness or anger, but from a deserved sense of entitlement that allows her to think of her options without being held back by the trivial opinions of others. She is allowed to think this way, because she thinks like a man would. Women often doubt themselves; I am guilty of this as well. I think this doubt is placed on women by others. People feel free to remind women of their career options or their expectations for women, but it seems men have limitless options. This phenomenon of people overstepping and underestimating a woman’s potential happens still today.  Many women today still choose careers that are considered feminine such ...

280 From Daughters of De Beauvoir by Penny Foster “It was as if someone had come into the room and talked to me for the first time, and said it’s alright to feel what you feel… And what was so amazing was that other women felt it as well.” (35:36) Angie Pegg, a teacher, was just one of the many women in the Daughters of De Beauvoir film. Her story is ordinary, but that is why it is so vital to this film. Simone brought many women who lived normal lives comfort. Many of the fans of De Beauvoir would be scared to say what she said or do what she would do, but it gave them courage to reach personal goals that would have otherwise seemed impossible without the strong influence of an educated, independent woman who wrote freely. Angie married young and had kids but wanted more for herself, so after reading The Second Sex , she went back to school and got an education. She did this through the inspiring words of De Beauvoir. Furthering her own education was no easy task; everyone around An...

  274 From The Prime of Life by Simone De Beauvoir “He explained the matter to me in his favorite terminology. ‘What we have,’ he said, ‘is an essential love; but it is a good idea for us to also experience contingent love affairs.’” (63) These are the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone De Beauvoir’s lifelong lover who she never married. She explains the radical idea of an open relationship in this excerpt from The Prime of Life . After reading this, the readers are forced to reflect upon their own relationships and priorities. Do women need to be married simply because they are women? Beauvoir argues against this, and would say that her work as a writer must take priority over marriage. I think it can be assumed that she believed that the love her and Sartre shared was deeper in comparison to the marriages she saw around her. Her open relationship with Sartre gave her the freedom and companionship she needed.  I cannot speak on whether people’s decisions are right for them or...

  298 From I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou “Her face was a brown moon that shone on me. She was beautiful. Something had happened out there, which I couldn’t completely understand, but I could see that she was happy” (45). Angelou’s family were good, god-fearing people. They didn’t deserve mistreatment from anyone, much less dirty, cruel children. Not only did this mistreatment happen, but it happened often, and these moments broke Angelou. These moments, this treatment, the terrible words, and embarrassment never broke Momma. In this quote, we see Momma’s strength. She sees so clearly her own self worth. Perhaps it is her deep faith that keeps her so grounded in this awful event. Words and actions of hate seem to have no effect on her, and if it does, she refuses to let her child see it. I believe this sense of unbreaking knowledge of self-worth is very real, and that is what makes this moment so unbelievable and miracle-like to Maya as she looks into the eyes of ...

  309 From The Norton Book of Women's Lives , Introduction, by Phyllis Rose “No sooner did I realize that I was likely to grow up to be a woman than I wanted to know what the possibilities were for women’s lives.” (11) The Norton Book of Women’s Lives by Phillis Rose explores famous literature written by powerful women. Rose, who chose specific stories from female literature, introduces the book by discussing the biographies and autobiographies of the famous women behind these works. These women led extraordinary lives filled with passion, pain, and discovery. They are extraordinary, not because of who they married, but because of their experiences which separate them from the patriarchal world. Patriarchal society holds a certain expectation for women’s lives. It usually involves marrying a man, having children, being obedient and supportive, etc. Some of these women, such as Eleanor Roosevelt succeeded in fulfilling that expectation. Although she was driven by duty, many of the ...