The Female Reader

Mary Ann Müller Mary Ann Müller wrote articles for the Nelson Examiner under the pseudonym "Fémmina", primarily because her husband, a local politician, objected to her views. As Fémmina, she wrote the first pamphlet on women's suffrage in New Zealand in 1869:  An appeal to the men of New Zealand, which forms the basis of today's reading. Her principle argument was the necessity for women to have the vote in order to contribute fully to the development of the country. Reading time: 17 minutes An appeal to the men of New Zealand by Fémmina (Mary Ann Müller) A wise ancient declared that the most perfect popular government was that 'where an injury done to the meanest subject is an insult upon the whole constitution'. What, therefore, can be said for a Government that deliberately inflicts injury upon a great mass of its intelligent and respectable subjects; that virtually ignores their existence in all that can contribute to their happines...

Elizabeth Cady Stanton In 1895, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a committee of 26 women published The Women's Bible which challenged the traditional position of religious orthodoxy that woman should be subservient to man. Through this controversial publication, these brave women sought to bring attention to the small fraction of the Bible which discussed women, and demonstrate that it was not divine will that humiliated women, but human desire for domination. The Woman's Bible  focuses on the chapters which discuss women, and adds commentary and critical observations about the place of woman to these sections, Below is Stanton's introduction to The Women's Bible  in which she sets out her intentions and principles of the project. Reading time: 12 minutes The Women's Bible Introduction FROM the inauguration of the movement for woman's emancipation the Bible has been used to hold her in the "divinely ordained sphere," prescribed in the Old and N...

Kate Chopin This short story by Kate Chopin presents the roller-coaster of emotions experienced by the main protagonist, Louise Mallard, during the hour following news of her husband's death. Originally, The Story of an Hour was published in Vogue magazine in 1894, before being reprinted in St. Louis Life  in January the following year. Reading time: 5 minutes The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin (1894) Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death. It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second tel...

Harriet Martineau, by Richard Evans In her 1837 essay, Women , Martineau presents that both the sexes are ignorant of the social injustices suffered by women, which in turn causes the female sex to be deficit in their morality. Often considered the first female sociologist, Martineau was able to earn enough to support herself through her writings and translations: a rare feat for a woman living in the Victorian era! Though Martineau's essay was written almost 200 years ago, there are still certain passages which ring true in society's treatment of women today, particularly when we consider the treatment of women who speak out against injustice towards their sex and consider that certain members of society "want the magnanimity to discern woman’s human rights; and they crush her morals rather than allow them." Reading time: 15 minutes Woman (1837) If a test of civilisation be sought, none can be so sure as the condition of that half of society over which t...

In this manner, thousands of women throughout the kingdom slept in unoccupied houses on Census night. On this day in 1911, women across England protested against the Liberal Government‘s reluctance to give women the vote by boycotting the census. Emmeline Pankhurst urged passive protest from her followers, suggesting they refuse to complete the census return, or be out of the house altogether to avoid enumerators ensuring they were not counted in the census returns. Today's reading is an extract from Pankhurst's My Own Story  in which she describes the events and results of that fateful night. Reading time: 5 minutes My Own Story by Emmeline Pankhurst Chapter VIII [...] In April of that year the census was to be taken, and we organised a census resistance on the part of women. According to our law the census of the entire kingdom must be taken every ten years on a designated day. Our plan was to reduce the value of the census for statistical purposes by refusing...

Illustration from the book, by Djuna Barnes ( Source ) Back in 1915, at the very beginning of her literary career, Djuna Barnes collected eight "rhythms" and five drawings to be published in a chapbook called The Book of Repulsive Women . Set in New York City, the subjects of these poems are all women and for their time were considered controversial due to the descriptions of women's bodies and sexuality. Indeed, they may still be considered salacious today! In later years, Barnes regretted the publication of Repulsive Women: she regarded it an embarrassment, called it "idiotic"; omitted it from her curriculum vitae, and even burned copies! However, as the copyright was never registered, it became one of her most published works, despite remaining the most obscure. For today's reading, I've included the first three poems from Repulsive Women . Only you can decide if you feel they are repulsive; or, as some critics suggest, that the expose and s...

Abigail Adams by Benjamin Blyth ( source ) Almost 150 years before women in America were given the right to vote, Abigail Adams wrote to her husband, John, urging him to "remember the ladies" when fighting for America's independence from Great Britain. This private letter signified a first step in the fight for equal rights between men and women. Adams was recognised as a formidable woman in her own right, even before she became a Presidential First Lady. The love and mutual respect between Abigail and her husband lead many to consider the pair "America's first power couple". Reading time: 6 minutes Braintree March 31 1776 I wish you would ever write me a Letter half as long as I write you; and tell me if you may where your Fleet are gone? What sort of Defence Virginia can make against our common Enemy? Whether it is so situated as to make an able Defence? Are not the Gentery Lords and the common people vassals, are they not like the unciviliz...