"Fairer" Does Not Mean "Lesser"

Considering women to be the "fairer" sex does not mean women are any less capable , intelligent, or gifted than men. It is men who put these restrictions on women. Woman was created to be a balance and a support for man, not to be his servant. "The Introduction" may be referring to "Holy Virgins" (30) joining in a song of thanks for the Ark's return, but the description of their concert is an apt metaphor of the relationship that should exist between men and women: "The louder notes, to soften and refine,/And with alternate verse, complete the Hymn Divine" (31-32).

Women never placed themselves in the position of beautiful airheads. Men denied women education and intellectual pursuits, insisting that such intersts "cloud (their) beauty" (17). Instead, women were to be "servile" (19) and to focus on "fashion, dancing, dressing, play" (16). For a woman to even write prose was to trespass on "the rights of men" (10). To prevent such a 'sin', women were kept from "all improvements of the mind" (53) and commended only for keepng their place. Women were to be pretty ornaments, a pleaseing site whose only contribution to the world is their looks...and the management of the home.

But God obviously intended more for women. Women, while mostly responsible for home and hearth, participated actively in Biblical history. Deborah inspired Barak and his men to defeat Sisera (Judges 4) and led a song of triumph (Judges 5); Miriam protected her brother Moses who led his people from captivity (Exodus); and Esther, in the book of Esther, saved her people from destruction. One woman, Lydia, even was a successful and influential business woman (Act 16). As "The Introduction" points out, women have fought, won and triumphed (46). Indeed, the mere existence of this poem proves at least one woman's capability in writing. As for the rest, if anyone is "By Him inspired" (39), male or female, who are men to argue?


"The Introduction"
Miscellany Poems (1713)
Anne Kingsmill Finch, Countess of Winchilsea
Source: British Literature 1640-1789: An Anthology
Essay written February 6, 1998
grade: A-