Women's History Month - guest post by Joyce Chng
Joyce Chng lives in Singapore, writes science fiction and fantasy. Her web presence is located at A Wolf's Tale. She tweets with the nick @jolantru on Twitter.
Women’s History Month starts this March and I am wondering what I should write about/for. Coming from a historian’s perspective, I have a lot to choose from, many women who have inspired me, shocked me, and showed me that the word “woman” is such a monolithic word. The experiences of these historical women are so diverse, that nothing fits and they lived, in context of their own lands and countries. Yet, they seem so exceptional, so extraordinary, in their time that they were exalted, praised and - most of the time - reviled by those who had felt offended.
My MA thesis was on Joan of Arc. This exceptional young woman was about 17 or 19 when she died, burnt at the stake. Within her short life, she led armies, held weapons, rode horses and generally inspired the men around her. At the same time, she crossed gender and material boundaries by wearing masculine clothing and did “manly” things. At the lowest point of her life, her head was shaved, perhaps, to put her at her right place. Her ashes were showed to spectators and disbelievers. To the Church, she was finally dead. A heretic. A witch. Dead. Phew. Life would go on.
Joan of Arc inspires me in that she is a warrior. She fought against the Church, against societal norms (again established by the weird mix of religion, society and state), against what was to be a female in the late Middle Ages. The psychiatric theorists would argue about her voices and talk about things like schizophrenia. I would argue that she had her own mind, found her way to cope with the frustrations and tensions in her society, and soldiered on (forgive the pun). For a teenager, she was assertive, strong-willed and focussed. I often end up telling this to the kids I teach, kids about her age, who think they are entitled to just about anything in the world. What would you do if you were her? What could you do? Silence. Perhaps, that would be the best response.
Perhaps, the best irony is from her. Nobody knew how she looked like. Medieval art is replete with her blonde-haired and fair-skinned, like a noble woman, like an aristocratic lady whose “swan-necked” beauty is praised. She is believed to have dark hair (again, the obsession on darkness and its link to evil). A doodle at a margin of a manuscript sees her in a dress, hair let down, holding a pennant. There is a strand of dark hair, purportedly, from her. Some artists portray her stern-faced and armored, a strict dark-haired lady knight. Yet… we never knew how she really looked like. I think this is for the better.
Let her continue to inspire many. Inspire women, inspire young girls, inspire the warriors at heart, inspire the fighters, inspire those who believe in themselves.
Note: I hate the word ‘exceptional’, when it is tagged to the achievements of women. I often cringe when I see things like “The first … in (country of your choice)”. It shouldn’t be this way. We have made great leaps… or have we, actually?
Women’s History Month starts this March and I am wondering what I should write about/for. Coming from a historian’s perspective, I have a lot to choose from, many women who have inspired me, shocked me, and showed me that the word “woman” is such a monolithic word. The experiences of these historical women are so diverse, that nothing fits and they lived, in context of their own lands and countries. Yet, they seem so exceptional, so extraordinary, in their time that they were exalted, praised and - most of the time - reviled by those who had felt offended.
My MA thesis was on Joan of Arc. This exceptional young woman was about 17 or 19 when she died, burnt at the stake. Within her short life, she led armies, held weapons, rode horses and generally inspired the men around her. At the same time, she crossed gender and material boundaries by wearing masculine clothing and did “manly” things. At the lowest point of her life, her head was shaved, perhaps, to put her at her right place. Her ashes were showed to spectators and disbelievers. To the Church, she was finally dead. A heretic. A witch. Dead. Phew. Life would go on.
Joan of Arc inspires me in that she is a warrior. She fought against the Church, against societal norms (again established by the weird mix of religion, society and state), against what was to be a female in the late Middle Ages. The psychiatric theorists would argue about her voices and talk about things like schizophrenia. I would argue that she had her own mind, found her way to cope with the frustrations and tensions in her society, and soldiered on (forgive the pun). For a teenager, she was assertive, strong-willed and focussed. I often end up telling this to the kids I teach, kids about her age, who think they are entitled to just about anything in the world. What would you do if you were her? What could you do? Silence. Perhaps, that would be the best response.
Perhaps, the best irony is from her. Nobody knew how she looked like. Medieval art is replete with her blonde-haired and fair-skinned, like a noble woman, like an aristocratic lady whose “swan-necked” beauty is praised. She is believed to have dark hair (again, the obsession on darkness and its link to evil). A doodle at a margin of a manuscript sees her in a dress, hair let down, holding a pennant. There is a strand of dark hair, purportedly, from her. Some artists portray her stern-faced and armored, a strict dark-haired lady knight. Yet… we never knew how she really looked like. I think this is for the better.
Let her continue to inspire many. Inspire women, inspire young girls, inspire the warriors at heart, inspire the fighters, inspire those who believe in themselves.
Note: I hate the word ‘exceptional’, when it is tagged to the achievements of women. I often cringe when I see things like “The first … in (country of your choice)”. It shouldn’t be this way. We have made great leaps… or have we, actually?