Status of Women in Society

¶ … status of women in society continually changes. Over the past several centuries, they have evolved from a rank of inequality to one of freedom to be whatever they wish to be.

This evolution through time is depicted in the poetic verse of Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," in the early1600s," Dorothy Livesay's "The Three Emilys" in 1972, and Michael Ondaatje's "To a Sad Daughter" in 1984.

Robert Herrick wrote hundreds of poems about women in his society (Landrum 181). In the 17th century, women were considered "regardless of social rank, as wives and mothers... And were considered morally evil, intellectually inferior," and "framed by God only for domestic duties" (Dunn 15). They were expected to submit to men "as wives were subject to their husbands, so women were subject to men, whose authority was sustained informally through culture, custom and differences in education, and more formally through the law." Essentially, they were the property of their fathers and husbands.

Herrick's poem "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" illustrates how women are considered objects of beauty. They are prized for their looks and sexuality, not for their intellect or talent. The only power they have over men is their virginity. However, as the poem states, women have to "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, / as Old Time is still a-flying: / and this same flower that smiles to-day / to-morrow will be dying." Since beauty is their only trait of importance, they have to use it while they are young, for with age it will disappear. This poem appeals to moral women to take advantage of what they have, while they have it. Herrick is stressing that time is short and youthful virgins should be finding a man to marry "For having lost but once your prime, / You may for ever tarry."

Three centuries later, women had a great deal more freedom. Yet, they were still not on equal footing with their male counterparts and struggled to fulfill all their different roles. Dorothy Livesay, a writer and advocate for women's rights, social justice and peace, lived from 1909 to 1996 in one of the most memorable times for women (New). In her native country of Canada, women were not able to vote until 1918. Over the next several decades, women continued to struggle for equality. In 1963, the average woman worker earned only 63% of a man's salary. At that time, Betty Friedan published the Feminine Mystique, stressing that women frequently had no other role than "finding a husband and bearing children" (15). She encouraged women to look for new responsibilities and their own personal and professional identities instead of defining themselves by a male-dominated society.

Livesay was one of these independent women who defined who she was. She explains the difficulty of being a woman and a poet in modern society in "The Three Emilys" about Emily Bronte, Emily Dickinson, and Emily Carr. Each of these noteworthy women did not get married and thus had time to pursue their artistic passions. However, it was a tradeoff. As the poem noted, "Yet they had liberty! / Their kingdom was the sky:"

Through the poem, Livesay shows her struggle with being a mother, writer and feminist. The poem begins with the Emilys who "walk alone, uncomforted" because they were not able to have a family. Livesay remarks that she has been able to do "it all," with a family and a career, but by the poem's end, she is the one who is "uncomforted." She could not give as much as she wanted to her art as the Emilys, "the whole that I possess / is still much less," because it was so difficult to balance a career and a family. Women are supposed to be able to achieve anything, but this is impossible to accomplish. The speaker wishes to join the three Emilys, but due to her children and her husband, "only [a] brief span" of time can be devoted to her poetry.

Born in 1943, Michael Ondaatje also participated in the 1960s transformation. The poem, "To a Sad Daughter," appears in his 11th collection of poetry, Secular Love, published in 1984. Similar to many fathers, this poem illustrates Ondaatje's love for his daughter and desire to lead her in the right direction for the future. He refers to the poem as his "first lecture" to a 16-year-old, but understands the difficulty: "This is the first lecture I've given you. / You're 'sweet sixteen' you said. / I'd rather be your closest friend than your father. I'm not good at advice / you know that, but ride / the ceremonies until they grow dark."