The Woman Question is the Marriage Question

The New Aspect of the Woman Question 

           Most men are confused as to what women really want. Most men would answer that women want to be men and the other lot would not know. Feminist Sarah Grand answered this question in her essay “The New Aspect of the Woman Question. With the help of examples of injustice the author argues that women have let men have the pedestal with exposing the blind faith that women have in men.

          Sarah Grand begins with “it is amusing as well as interesting to note the pause which the new aspect of the woman question has given the Bawling Brothers who have hitherto tried to howl down every attempt on the part of our sex to make the world a pleasanter world to live in” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300). The author beings on a sarcastic note wherein she displays her frustration towards the Bawling Brothers. The argument is made against the question the Bawling Brothers asked “If women don’t want to be men, what do they want?” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300). The author continues with “then to reassure themselves, they pointed to a certain sort of woman in proof on contention that we were all unsexing ourselves” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300).  Grand also supports the argument with calling a man “lord-and-master-monarch-of-all-I-survey-attitude” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300), the rant emphasizes on her frustration that she has towards that particular question.

          With much frustration the author reveals, “We are not blameless in the matter ourselves. We have allowed him to arrange the whole social system and manage or mismanage it all these ages” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300). Furthermore, to convey the injustice women have put themselves through the author writes “we have endured most poignant misery for his sins, and screened him” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300). The author amplifies the injustice with the use of “poignant misery”. The author furthermore argues “we have meekly bowed our heads when he called us bad names instead of demanding proofs of superiority which alone give him a right to do so” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300). The diction “meekly” is effective in the sentence because it adds to ignorance of women and allowing men to suppress them. The hypocrisy of men is shown in “Man deprived us of all proper education, and then jeered at us because we had no knowledge.” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 300).  The author in the essay constantly emphasizes on the hypocrisy of men: “He narrowed our outlook on life so that our view of it should be all distorted, and then declared that out mistakes impression of it proved us to be senseless creatures. He cramped out minds so that there was no room for reason in them, and then made merry at our want of logic” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 301). In each of the sentences the author sheds light on the hypocrisy by explaining the injustice and then explaining the way men treated women after the injustice. The author sheds light on the fact that men treat women as babies that can be toyed around with.

       Alas, the author by stating the mistake that most women made explains the answer to The Woman Question. She argues, “the truth has all along been in us, but we have cared more for man than for the truth” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 301). Many feminists throughout the years have constantly repeated this statement however; because men are still superior women still follow the man blindly. Despite this the author with much optimism continues with “the man of the future will be better, while the woman will be stronger and wiser” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 301). Thus the author concludes with the responsibility she leaves women with “It is us to set the human household in order” and ends with “The Woman Question is the Marriage Question, as shall be shown thereafter” (The New Aspect of the Woman, pg 301). The end sentence helps to end the speech-like essay in a strong manner.

       


        Throughout the essay the tone of the writer was as if she were to deliver a speech. A speech that could help changes the mindset of women and men alike. Instead of blaming men, she asks women to take responsibility and feel ashamed for letting men suppress them. Furthermore, a speech that helps women to wake up in order to show that even women are independent. The current society believes in the same thought that women ought to become more independent.  The speech is not only directed towards women but also to men to expose them of their hypocrisy. In conclusion, the author argues that women are capable of change.

Citation:

1. Grand, Sarah, "The New Aspect of the Woman". In The Secret Agent. Toronto, Ontario: Broadview Press,2009.