Which I would agree with- how many women now do not want to label themselves as "feminists" because they dislike the baggage and associations that are associated with the word? So many of us now feel guilty or wrong for wanting to stay at home and be mother or homemaker, even if that really is where our skills lie. And so she argues that the feminist movement, applied indiscriminately to all women to behave a certain way has really hurt women.
She says people should be respected and lauded for their individuality and not for their ability to fit into a large, generalist group. What, you may ask, does this have to do with women and the question of their humanity? Well, Sayers says the same thing, expect in light of women's roles. (That said, it may be hard for you to be an art historian, too, but hopefully you can find a job that incorporates your love of art or history into it, if possible.) if you want to be an art historian, I really don't think you should be forced into being an engineer. In many ways, that whole way of thinking has led us to our current financial crisis, as all sorts of genius physics and math majors decided to become hedge fund managers and acted as though financial markets are rational and can be forced to fit models and rules, which is false. Some time ago, I wrote a post On Marketable Skills in which I stated that I am sick of statements like, "Get a real job"or "Maybe you should major in something useful" because I don't really see the point in someone who really loves and wants to do art history somehow trying to force herself into becoming an engineer because that's where the money and jobs are. On the other hand, people seem to love the females that populate her novels, most notably Harriet Vance, and Sayers herself says all sorts of fantastically eloquent things, some of which come through in this volume. On the one hand, the novels of hers I've read featuring Lord Peter Wimsey present him as an elitist jerk who thinks he's smarter than everyone else and that he deserves all the ridiculous amounts of money that he has.
I am really not sure what I think of Dorothy Sayers. It's a very slim volume- only 67 pages, and that's with a 15 page introduction- but it was really wonderful to read. Are Women Human? Astute and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society is a book I didn't expect to like nearly as much as I did.
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