MAGAZINE
Revisiting the 19th Century Woman
By Linda A. Annan 
The 19th century saw quite a number of revolutionary moments: from the secession of the Holy Roman Empire to the establishment of Shaka the Zulu's South African empire, to slavery's progressive abolishment in America, Russia and Brazil. At the bottom of the list of significant world events, nonetheless, veiled behind shades of diffidence were the struggles of creatures of less threat to a man and subject to his admiration. Women up until then had become victims of mental oppression, an involuntary act that may have birthed many issues, a leading one being the issue of self-worth.
Early British writers, Mary Wollstonecraft and Anna Laetitia Barbauld, condemned the debasing ways in which women were viewed: “to gratify the senses of a man when he can no longer soar on the wing of contemplation,” Wollstonecraft's words in The Prevailing Opinion of a Sexual Character Discussed.
This, one must note, was a period befitting for a woman to be demure in public: clothing masking her bosoms while doused in femininity and sophistication. Her graceful movements and perhaps feminine stature were very appealing, though fully clothed.
While women like Barbauld and Wollstonecraft, with their intellectual capabilities, proved to the world that they were more than sensual creatures, it seems as though some in the 21st century would rather revert to being viewed that way - with the sole purpose of gratifying a man's passions. This is clearly an insult to attempts by women who have fought against sexual objectification and for a woman's intelligence and problem-solving skills to be regarded as significant to the rest of society.
An interesting observation makes one wonder, that if such a problem existed at a time when a beautiful, sophisticated woman was fully clothed, how much more so now when some women's idea of modesty is to conceal the nether regions of their body? Is there even a possibility that women of this era are taken more seriously and appreciated more for their intellect than before? The answer could be both yes and no. Though we live in a time where the competence of women are fully recognized and appreciated, it is also true that there are still many women whose behaviors feed into the notion of objectifying women, making it difficult to completely transform the image of the modern woman.
The 21st century woman represented in some fashion on a billboard, for instance, may illustrate a picture to corroborate this. She looks daringly at her audience with luscious lips, body arched in a sensual pose, hair as long and voluminous as a horse's mane. She is sheathed in what looks like a strip of satin, barely covering the parts of her body deemed “inappropriate” for public view. The sultriness of it all, of course, “sells.”
Actress Scarlett Johansson claims that she would rather have her brain and heart be the object of attention as opposed to her sexual attributes. Yet her spread in the October 2006 issue of Esquire magazine, where she is crowned “Sexiest Woman Alive,” tells a different story. Johansson is depicted as an “enigmatic trailer- park temptress,” and is clad in lingerie that barely covers her curvaceous body. An image that makes you ask if today's 21st century woman is a product of the feminist movement that fought for the emancipation of women.
Hollywood has been deemed responsible for the sexual objectification of women dating back to Clara Bow and Marilyn Monroe. One can argue, however, that if women were not so willing to bare it all in an attempt to advance their careers, it would never have become the norm in Hollywood - going to extremes in the name of "emancipation" and losing our dignities in the process.
While holding feministic views may portray us to be women of self-worth, it is important to remember that true self-worth comes from within; by first knowing who you are, which in turn establishes a firm ground to stand on as you attempt to preserve your dignity.
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