It's been a long night dancing in the woods with Satan, venturing out with lewd men, killing children, pillaging... well... you get the idea... Anyway, after all of my adventures (or rather misadventures), I feel like I'm equipped to answer the question at hand.
I've enjoyed reading these narratives; I've never picked up anything quite like them before. It's been interesting to watch them change and develop as the years in which they were published progress--a change that is reflective of the social and cultural developments between the late seventeenth century and the early nineteenth century. Overall, I have two primary observations to make about these texts:
1) As the narratives move from the Puritan "come-to-Jesus" tale to an adventure story of sorts, such as the "Panther Narrative," sexist comments and attitudes toward women seem to become more subtle. While one would like to think that this is evidence of American society moving away from patriarchy to a more egalitarian community, which would result in enlightened/better informed ideas about women and feminine nature, this is unfortunately not the case. As discussed in class, though women in Puritan New England were generally intellectual inferior to men with respect to their lack of a formal education, they still could read at a standard level and possessed the basic academic competencies needed to function in everyday life. However, as the years progressed, women gradually became more educated. There seems to be an inverse relationship forming between the amount of overt sexism present in the narratives and the extent of the scholarly and academic capabilities of women: as the latter increases, the former decreases. Obviously, if women are becoming more intelligent, therefore more able to recognize male diatribes against females, such commentary is going to need to be subdued. Though this may seem good, more subtle attacks against women are actually potentially more dangerous because they're harder to recognize--readers of narratives can be negatively influenced without realizing it!
2) On a more general note, the more recent narratives seem to be geared more toward entertaining the masses rather than moralizing/serving as a model of "good behavior." Although there are certainly morals, thoughts, and ideas that are promoted in newer stories (ex. "The Panther Narrative), they are nowhere near as blatantly emphasized as they are in earlier tales of religious revelation (ex. Esther Rodgers). Perhaps this is indicative of a gradual move toward secularism and a more consumer, entertainment-based culture.
7 comments:
I think it's a good point that you made about the readers of these later narratives still being negatively influenced by them though the attacks on women are more subtle - I definitely agree though I think it's very easy for today's women to recognize these insults right away, for that time the attacks probably were well-hidden from readers at that time.
I think you make a really interesting point about the relationship with overt anti-women language and the level of literacy for women. I never really thought about that before! It makes me want to go back through and look for subtleties that I might have missed! I also agree that these sensationalist narratives do reflect the changes in the culture from highly religious to one based on entertainment. Nothing better than reading a good captivity narrative on a Friday night!
I really enjoyed reading your comments. You write in such a lively way that it makes it fun to read. I think your point is interesting that the anti-women comments get subtler over time. It's easy to get over excited about the Panther Narrative and forget that is has some negative things to say about women too. We are just excited to see some text that isn't so harsh on women as Cotton Mather and the previous ones! Good post!
I like what you said about subtle sexism being potentially more damaging than its more obvious forms. I think there's a lot of that still seen in our society today. Without obvious injustice, women run the risk of being complacent, or even worse, completely accepting the gender roles and/or stereotypes that society has dealt them. For instance, we still receive about 2/3 the money men do for doing the same kinds of jobs, but it's not an issue you hear about on a regular basis. Maybe if the prejudices were more obvious, we'd more inclined to giht against them.
I really like the point you made about these later narratives being more subtle in the way they attack women. I think you are right in that it is more dangerous because it isn't plain and obvious. I think that happens in our society a lot because people think they can get away with things if they aren't just put out in the open.
Bear!
Why wasn't I invited to dance with Satan and kill children? You know that's my fave pastime! I guess I'll just have to scalp an Indian and go to Kirkland's to decorate my cave instead.
Okay, in all seriousness though, loved the blog post! I too agree that it's totally sneaky to incorporate gradual attacks on women in texts... and I think the Panther Narrative does this to some degree; yes, the woman is painted in a much more positive light and she survives, but she swoons! What? No. So she's sucked back into society, and it's much easier to like a story such as this one that doesn't incorporate blatant attacks on women... rather, it slyly demonstrates that women have their place, and while a 9 year vaca is nice, "there's no place like home." Wizard of Oz, anyone?
:] great job, lady!
Emily,
I like how you pointed out that the female characters in the texts are beginning to appear more educated. It’s about time that the women received more credit. I also agree that the more subtle attack on the female characters is potentially more harmful than the blatant attacks on them in the earlier texts.
I also agree with you that “The Panther Narrative” is an adventure meant to entertain an audience, this is definitely a lot different than, like you said, the model of good behavior for other young women to learn from.
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