tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post4312907963614366613..comments2024-01-29T21:40:17.550-08:00Comments on Early American Bestsellers: Benjamin Franklin, Our National Treasure: Feminist or Womanizer?The Mormon Monkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00973424196784188481noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post-44528536346601730182011-03-21T11:07:58.673-07:002011-03-21T11:07:58.673-07:00I couldn't help but come back to comment on th...I couldn't help but come back to comment on this post. It seems to me that the intellectual liberties Franklin encouraged women to take were a direct result of the moral liberties he took with them. His familiarity with women's intellectual capabilities resulted from his womanizing; however, his womanizing kept him from fully valuing women as well. Marion Rust explains how Franklin's womanizing kept him from allowing women to rewrite their errata, the very thing that would allow them to be equal with men in the public sphere. She explains this by first quoting Franklin's "Poor Richard's Almanac," which says, "'Women are Books, and Men the Readers be, / Who sometimes in those books Erratas see." This joke ends with the suggestion that, since the 'errata' [or essentially pregnancies] are more or less permanent in women's case, it should be the text itself that is changed" or one woman when used should be exchanged for another (Rust 53). This insight really brings the point home that while Franklin afforded women certain "liberties," he was far from the progressive that we make him out to be.<br /><br />Rust, Marion. Prodigal Daughters: Susanna Rowson’s Early American Women. The University of North Carolina Press (2008): 53. Print.Becca Lofleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02485330019473839708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post-69501671748649758172011-03-11T12:40:28.325-08:002011-03-11T12:40:28.325-08:00The thing is, most people thought that Wollstonecr...The thing is, most people thought that Wollstonecraft was an extremist. The thing that puts Franklin ahead of his time is the fact that he had forward thinking thoughts and still held a respectable and extremely important place in society. That's hard to do, so props to him.Myselfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post-72016448535686000152011-02-26T13:04:43.771-08:002011-02-26T13:04:43.771-08:00I agree, that while Franklin may not have been way...I agree, that while Franklin may not have been way ahead of his time, it is very refreshing to hear that there were intellectual men who were willing to see women as equals instead of "angles of the house." This was a big step in the rights for women and I am sure because he was such a famous man he influence others views on women as well.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09798914492038957129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post-22953757162371078662011-02-25T13:14:26.369-08:002011-02-25T13:14:26.369-08:00I'm not sure I agree with Travis. The eighteen...I'm not sure I agree with Travis. The eighteenth century could be considered the beginning of modern feminism. After all, Wollstonecraft's "Vindication of the Rights of Woman" was published in 1792. What better time to realize the intellectual abilities of women than in the Enlightenment. It's also important to be wary of the connotations of the word "feminism." What termed feminist in Franklin's time (intellectually equal marriage, right to own property, etc.) are not what term feminist today (lesbianism, presidency, abolition of marriage). Overall, however, I think that Franklin's intellectual view of women was on the forward moving path that his whole life seemed to be based on.Jessica Dayenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-801923704097832986.post-37864328550613363202011-02-25T07:11:56.462-08:002011-02-25T07:11:56.462-08:00It seems like Franklin was way ahead of his time w...It seems like Franklin was way ahead of his time with regards to feminism.Travishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08261743737476726802noreply@blogger.com