Character Commentary
My mother gave me this photo as a young girl and told me to keep it forever, as someday it could be me. I was confused why this woman didn’t dress like the normal women seen everyday, but my mother explained to me that she was the first woman in Britain to attend college. Although my mother came off as cold and closed off, I always knew it was because she was trapped in a society that denied her any freedoms of her own. At the time, I feared for the life I thought I was going to have: Being controlled and owned by a man, revolving my life around society’s perception of me, and regretting the things I didn’t get to do. She aspired for me to be the “New Woman”, a term that was not taken very seriously. I soon learned that over 10 percent of the graduates at London University are women, and immediately realized that perhaps this sexist era for women could end. Everyday, this picture reminded me that I can help progress society and encourage others to join me while we give way to a redefined era for women. For me, this picture represents women having control over their own lives, regardless of how society perceives us. Now that I have a daughter on my own, I admire my mother more than ever for showing me that females can be more than a housewife and an object for sex. This picture symbolizes the women who are going to further fight for our freedom while ignoring society’s perception of them.
Editorial Commentary
The Victorian Era for women was a time where females were considered an object to not only their husbands, but also society. During this time, it was uncommon for women to be anything but a wife and mother, but as the women’s suffrage movements started to progress, feminist ideas started to spread among the female middle class. The New Woman has a connection to this particular photograph because it emphasizes the end of the strict societal norms that women were forced into and the changing attitudes towards a women’s role in all aspects of life. The New Woman is different from the Old in that she doesn’t let society characterize her as an object of desire, nor does she let a man control her life. The woman in the photo, Louise Creighton, signifies the ideas of the New Woman as she has adopted her own set of standards for herself, regardless of what society characterizes her as. Creighton is part of the “London Nine”, which is referring to the first nine women to take the university’s exams. (Oh Pioneers! Remembering the London Nine) She went on to campaign for working women and published a few historical novels. Creighton’s decision to attend a university helped push other women to do the same, as this established the idea that women should have a right to their education. Like Creighton, the New Woman also embraced her feminist ideas and thus encouraged other women to modernize societal standards for all. Women were objectified to be virtuous and dutiful, but the New Woman believed in greater freedom and expressing beliefs.This photo represents the way in which women defied societal norms and became more than a housewife.The New Woman influenced others to modernize societal norms for females as they paved the way for the women’s suffrage movement.
Citations
“A lady B.A. of London University.” The Graphic [London], 16 May 1885, https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/picture-of-a-female-graduate-of-london-university-from-the-graphic
“Oh Pioneers! Remembering the London Nine.” University of London, london.ac.uk/news-and-opinion/leading-women/oh-pioneers-remembering-london-nine.