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February 16, 2008
Stepping back in time....
In my mailbox today was a quarterly magazine I receive from my insurance company. The cover photo showed a typical southern belle, properly dressed in hoopskirt and sunbonnet smiling shyly at the camera with her hands appropriately crossed in front of her. I'm sure many who read the story will develop nostalgic images of days long gone, a time when females were, well, feminine. As my eyes dragged over the words on the page my stomach turned in knots. A one week school where young ladies can learn everything a proper young lady needed to know in 1861; ballroom dancing, penmanship, needlework, mourning customs, the list goes on. The final paragraph ends by quoting a faculty member "It's a privilage to act as our ancestors did and learn how they lived their lives."
I don't know much about 1861, as far as I know I wasn't there, but I find it hard to believe life was gentler or kinder for most young girls in the days before the abolishment of slavery, or the existence of child protection laws. My mind has gnawed on this all afternoon, what was life really like for the average girl living in 1861? When women and children were considered chattel of their husbands and fathers? Three years before the abolition of slavery, seven years before the Fourteenth Amendment bestowed civil rights on blacks and other racial minorities? Thirteen years before the first child abuse case was brought to light? (Which was prosecuted under animal cruelty laws, because there were no child protection laws at the time, stray dogs and cats had more rights than children in 1861). Fifty-nine years before women were granted the right to vote.
For each privilaged young lady practicing her penmanship, how many more young ladies lacked the ability to read and write? Education was not necessary for their future careers of house cleaning and child rearing in 1861. As they spent their days learning ballroom dancing and parlor games how many other young ladies were scrubbing the same floors, washing their underskirts, growing their food and preparing their meals? Are young black girls who attend the school taught the etiquite of not making eye contact with their white elders, and which door they should use to enter the rectory?
At Christmas last year I found myself in a conversation about whether the world was indeed going to hell in a handbasket, based mostly on the perceived encroachment of racial minorities into local neighborhoods. The 90 year old relative who had made the declaration turned the spotlight on me "Don't you think the world is getting worse?" She asked. I hesitated before finally saying "No, I don't think the world is any worse". Was there ever a time in history when all was equal? When there was enough for everyone? When majorities did not repress minorities?
That is my hope. For every young girl, today and beyond.
Posted by Anna at February 16, 2008 8:18 PM