Women in the Future

To me, one of the most interesting things that Virginia Woolf ensures her reader knows, in "A Room of One's Own," is that for her to provide an absolute truth about women and fiction is an impossibility.  I think this applies to so many other topics as well, and it's smart of her to state that she "can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold" (4).  What comes to my mind is the way philosophers, at least the ones that I have read in classes, insist that their philosophy is the correct one, and try to make it truth to their readers.  The reason she is so wise is because she realizes that with the time passing, so many things change, including truths: "Even if one could state the value of any one gift at the moment, those values will change; in a century's time very possible they will have changed completely" (40). 

This leads to the other thing that struck me about Woolf;  her ability to tell the future for women.  She foresaw that in 100 years, women would be occupying a more powerful role in society, the role that is in her time, reserved for men.  By her estimation, the times have moved even faster than she anticipated.  We still have 19 years to fulfill her prediction that "the nursemaid will heave coal" and "the shopwoman will drive an engine" (40).  If Woolf's prediction came true this fast, it makes me wonder what our society will be like for the relationship between the two sexes in another 100 years. Women are already "soldiers and sailors and engine-drivers and dock labourers" (40), so what is next?  

Trying to write is like trying to pick out an outfit when all the laundry is dirty.

It is extremely stressful when I have an event to go to, and I have to spend time picking out the appropriate outfit. I pull all sorts of tops and pants and skirts and shoes out of my closet. Most of them don't match.  I change around my outfit for what feels like hours, and nothing looks put together in the right way. There is always something I feel the need to change. I can't easily find the right combination of fabrics, or end result that I had in mind from the beginning. There are too many style and color combinations. With the event approaching, I get more frustrated and frantic, and sometimes I try crazy things out of chance that they'll look good. Of course, this rarely works, because even if my wacky outfit seems pretty cool to me, I'm far too afraid of what the other people at the party are going to think of it, or say about it. It may simply be too much for the occasion. I try on accessories of all types.  Sometimes these extra belts, headbands, and jewelry help the outfit a little, but if I over use them, the outfit looks worse. I am never completely satisfied with the final outcome, but sometimes it just has to be good enough. 

Even if I get a brilliant idea of an outfit I could try on, I realize it's only an idea, and not one that will be easy to accomplish, because the top for the outfit is hidden in the bottom of the dirty laundry.  I could take the time to dig it out, and wear it dirty because I don't have much time or energy to wash it. This still, however, doesn't give me the perfect outfit, because the top is wrinkly. Washing it would take a lot of time, and perhaps the outfit would be perfect once I put on the top. . . but that is a big risk I have to think about. What if the top really doesn't look perfect when it's clean? I would have wasted all that time and maybe even be late for the party! 

Finally, I often give up, throw on some sweats, thinking i'll go to the next party tomorrow instead because I don't have the energy anymore tonight.