A CASE FOR THE EDUCATION OF WOMEN

Thesis statement: Educating women does not corrupt their morals, if anything it amends and ennobles them in effect making them better able to serve their society.

The subject of the value of female education has drawn a heated debate for much of humanity’s recorded history. For a long time, women were objectified and viewed as their father’s or husband’s property. Based on their gender, women have faced an unprecedented amount of social injustice in history and the society has often attempted to validate it. The injustice, for the by and large has subjugated women, claiming that they were inherently evil or amoral. For instance, referring to the bible, Eve was responsible for the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden. In medieval art, a female head often represents the head of a serpent. During the middle ages, the society could not resist the temptation of using this story to cement the idea that women are inferior to men, and their morality is weak hence increasing their likelihood of tempting men to sin. Biblical texts often dictated the position of women in the society through the middle ages. Particularly, the writings of Paul were interpreted as forbidding women from teaching. Such writings were developed to stamp the authority of men over women. To cap it all of, it was claimed that an education that touched on morals was likely to corrupt women.

            Progressively through history, an intricate culture that promoted female oppression has been developed. Nevertheless, the female species has never deserved this oppression. Looking at the life and writings of Christine de Pizan, this fact cannot be any clearer. In many ways, Christine was different from most fourteenth century women. Living at a time when women were considered a man’s property and with no legal rights, she led an exceptional life. Christine de Pizan is among the few women who were educated in her time. After the tragic death of her husband, she found herself in an unexpected position having to support her family. Resorting to writing, Christine de Pizan became the first woman in Europe to ever earn a living through writing. Through her writing, she relentlessly began to debate about the role of women in society. She wrote in many styles and genres but the mark left by her most notable work, The Book of the City of Ladies (1404-05), is unmistakable.

            In this book, Pizan covers the concept of a woman extensively. She portrays how the society ought to see a woman. Although she mainly fights the vices levelled at women by men and the society, Christine describes what an ideal society should look like. Unlike her male counterparts and adversaries who spoke ill of women, in most cases referring to baseless stereotypes about women, Christine puts forward a strong argument that pictures a woman as a noble being, and in the same level as men. She advances that the education of women would not serve to corrupt them, instead it would make them more moral.

            In a witty fashion, Pizan provides education as a vessel through which women could attain self-worth. Pizan cleverly avoids creating a gender polarity like her male adversaries. This is evident from how she tackles the philosophical argument on the natural weakness of a woman’s body form and the theological argument about the equality on men’s and women’s souls. In her argument, she foresees later humanist arguments like that of Henry Cornelius Agrippa (1490-1536) who says that, while man was made from mud, woman was made from a more refined product hence making a woman a superior creation.[1] Pizan refuses to conform to such a self-preserving conclusion but instead claims it is the quality of one’s soul that makes him or her superior than the other but not the quality of their bodies.[2]

            Christine raises the questions why women are not allowed to serve in legal councils or political positions. In her time, men used two arguments to validate this erroneous practice. First, men claimed that some women had ruled poorly in the past. Secondly, they reasoned that females lacked the physical strength to serve in such positions. To counter these arguments, Pizan states that serving in legal councils or political positions required no physical strength but rather the ability to learn and understand, an area where women were equally as equipped as men. Christine goes forth to list and explain the success of many women in leadership positions. She associates these women with virtues like governing with prudence, wise council, good judgment, wisdom, and an exceptional capacity for negotiation, pointing out that a background in education enabled their success. She clearly shows how vague and baseless the men’s arguments have been.

            On the ability of women to learn, Christine insists that women are equal to men. In fact she directly refers to Aristotle and claims that the contributions of women to philosophy are equal to all philosophers. Christine argues that neither Aristotle’s teaching, which has been highly profitable to human intellect and which is highly honored, nor in the teachings of all other philosophers, was nearly as profitable as that of women philosophers.[3] Christine then goes forward to pen down a healthy number of women who contributed to western civilization. She cites such remarkable women as Queen Ceres, who introduced the concept of Agriculture to her people previously a nomadic race. Of Isis, who made such advances in agriculture, introducing such practices as grafting, and Minerva, who introduced woolen clothes and armor for the soldiers.

            During her time, there was so much widespread negativity about women that some philosophical writers advised men not to marry. These writers claimed that the unhappiness of men in marriages could solely be attributed to the faults of women. Some even claimed that woman was inherently flawed. Christine has a different idea. She asks about the injustices done to women by their husbands. She points out that if women are as vile and evil, what does it say about God’s workmanship and his worth as an artisan. Christine’s contention is man and woman are of the same God, and ,therefore, both are equal. Of great significance, Christine does not demonize the entire male species[4]. Instead, she creates a balance by saying there are good men, and even refers to her own husband. She also mentions her father who afforded her as education, a matter that was not in keeping with the times. To cement her point, she lists a number of women who have been good wives, daughters and rulers in history, not in spite of their education but because of it.

            After being in multiple social roles, Christine has embodied herself with a sense of ethos and hence has the ability to not only direct information to women, but also to speak on their behalf.[5] At her time, it is forbidden for women to be independent or have a voice but she conquers both. In her society, a woman was only limited to being a mother, wife, nun, daughter, or prostitute.[6] A woman received a limited education in courtship only. Any trial of a woman to be independent or educated was seen as going against the word of God and norms of the society. In the critical analysis of her society, Christine concentrates on the idea of valuing the work of a woman in providing for her family, household, and society. She exemplifies the value of an education to a woman, and the benefits society would derive from it.

            To conclude, female education is not as much of an issue today as it was in Christine’s time. However, the society is yet to fully liberate from the stereotype that women are weaker beings or less deserving of an education. Christine’s arguments are still valid in today’s society. Her main argument that women are equal to men and should be afforded the same advantages should be upheld even today. Although enormous progress has been made in giving a woman an equal position to a man in the society, humanity still has a long way to go.

Bibliography

Allen, Prudence. The Concept of Woman. Volume 2, Volume 2. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 2002.

Altmann, Barbara K., and Deborah L. McGrady. Christine De Pizan: A Casebook. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies. New York: Persea Books, 1982.

Christine. The treasure of the city of ladies, or, The book of the three virtues. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1985.

LeGates, Marlene. In Their Time: A History of Feminism in Western Society. New York: Routledge, 2001.

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[1] Prudence Allen, The Concept of Woman. Volume 2, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub, 2002), 625.

[2] Christine. The Book of the City of Ladies. New York: Persea Books, 1982, 23-24.

[3] Christine, The Book of, 84.

[4] Barbara K. Altmann and Deborah L. McGrady, Christine De Pizan: A Casebook (New York: Routledge, 2003), 84.

[5] Christine, The treasure of the city of ladies, or, The book of the three virtues (Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1985), 95.

[6] Marlene LeGates, In Their Time: A History of Feminism in Western Society (New York: Routledge, 2001), 372.