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Skip to Main Content × MAIN MENU U.S. Edition NEWS U.S. NewsWorld NewsBusinessEnvironmentHealthSocial JusticeCrime POLITICS Joe BidenCongressExtremism OPINION ENTERTAINMENT Culture & ArtsMediaCelebrityTV & FilmBooks LIFE Style & BeautyFood & DrinkParentingTravelWellnessRelationshipsMoneyHome & LivingWork/LifeShopping VOICES Black VoicesQueer VoicesLatino VoicesIndigenous VoicesAsian VoicesWomen's Voices HUFFPOST PERSONAL VIDEO FOR OUR PARTNERS Well TraveledThe Good LifeA New View HOROSCOPES NEWSLETTERS NEW: GAMES INTERNATIONAL U.S.U.K.EspañaFranceΕλλάδα (Greece)Italia日本 (Japan)한국 (Korea) FOLLOW US Terms | Privacy Policy Part of HuffPost News. ©2024 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. × WHAT'S HOT WHOOPI GOLDBERG GETS BRUTAL AFTER TRUMP CALLS HER ‘FILTHY’ TRUMP DEMANDS CBS BE PULLED OFF AIR IN RAGE-FILLED RANT OVER HARRIS INTERVIEW HARRIS CAMPAIGN POUNCES ON JD VANCE’S ‘TABLE SCRAPS’ COMMENT AHEAD OF TRUMP’S DETROIT SPEECH DONALD TRUMP USES 1 WORD TO APPEAL TO FEMALE VOTERS. 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ARIZONA DEMOCRAT CALLS OUT KARI LAKE IN THE MOST PERFECT WAY BIDEN'S 2-WORD REACTION TO REPORTER'S QUESTION ABOUT TRUMP HAS PEOPLE HOWLING KARI LAKE’S ELECTION-DENIAL DODGE AT SENATE DEBATE IS A MUST-SEE DONALD TRUMP REJECTS FOX NEWS DEBATE INVITE AND HERE ARE HIS EXCUSES TRUMP, SPEAKING IN DETROIT, TRASHES DETROIT 'FILTHY, DIRTY, DISGUSTING': TRUMP HAS FURIOUS MELTDOWN ABOUT WHOOPI GOLDBERG A BUTT EXPERT REVEALS THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU'RE MAKING DOWN THERE AFTER YOU POOP TRUMP'S SMALL-DOLLAR DONOR FUNDRAISING IS BESET BY CONFUSION AND FATIGUE Log InSupport Us NEWSPOLITICSENTERTAINMENTLIFEPERSONALVOICESSHOPPING🧩 NEW: GAMES 🧩 U.S. EditionOpen editions submenu Booksvirginia woolfFeminism WHY VIRGINIA WOOLF SHOULD BE YOUR FEMINIST ROLE MODEL Why Virginia Woolf Should Be Your Feminist Role Model By Maddie Crum Writer Jan 25, 2015, 10:09 AM EST |Updated Dec 6, 2017 LEAVE A COMMENT Although Virginia Woolf is now accepted as a major writer and an early feminist, her work wasn't embraced or widely anthologized until nearly 50 years after her novels were published. Though many of her stories don't adhere to the informal strictures of modernism -- she often voiced her distaste for James Joyce and other contemporaries who wrote unabashedly about sexuality -- she's championed today for subtly calling attention to women's issues. In her novels and her many letters to her fellow thinkers in the Bloomsbury group, she artfully made clear many double standards of her day. Here's why, in addition to Roxane Gay, Bey and Lena Dunham, Virginia Woolf should be one of your feminist role models: She was chiefly interested in the inner lives of women. Unlike many of her literary predecessors, Woolf aimed to give credence to the unspoken emotions and interpretations we experience daily. She did this not only by placing more traditionally feminine themes at the forefront of her stories, but by penning sentences with a cadence that revealed the inner workings of her characters’ minds. A New Yorker article calls this, “The tragic lack of correspondence between intention and expression; and what these reveal about the nature of love.” Advertisement While this dissonance isn’t only of interest to women, it’s true that such “small” themes have traditionally been the subject of books by female authors, and have lamentably been shunned by critics for their “smallness.” Woolf, however, was too impressive to be ignored. She lived in a time when she was granted few rights -- but turned the setback into a strength. When her contemporaries were authoring stories about the violent events of World War I, Woolf, who hadn’t the opportunity to fight, instead turned her narrative eye towards its impact on domestic life, and wrote Jacob’s Room, which revealed the more personal impact of grief and trauma. She was criticized by female writers of her ilk, such as Katherine Mansfield, for not addressing war and politics more directly, but continued to do the sort of work she believed in. She was progressive in her feminism, and even made the connection between a patriarchal society and militarism. Remember last week's State of the Union address, when Obama called America's still-lacking equal pay for women exactly what it is: embarrassing? Virginia Woolf wrote about the detriments caused by gender-influenced salaries long before moves were made to change legislation. In A Room of One's Own, she famously explains that without financial freedom, women cannot possess full creative or intellectual freedom. While Woolf's essay directly evaluates the role of education -- which was withheld from many women of her time -- she goes on to equate schooling with income and self-sufficiency. In a later book-length essay, Three Guineas, written on the heels of World War II, she responded to a letter from a man asking how war could be prevented. Woolf used this correspondence not only to call attention to her pacifism, but also to the fact that as a woman her political ideas aren't valued. She wrote, "behind us lies the patriarchal system; the private house, with it nullity, its immorality, its hypocrisy, its servility. Before us lies the public world, the professional system, with its possessiveness, its jealousy, its pugnacity, its greed." Advertisement She believed deeply in the power of the individual. Virginia Woolf's advice on reading may be every high school English teacher's nightmare, but it's hugely empowering nonetheless. She writes, "take no advice, to follow your own instincts, to use your own reason, to come to your own conclusions... After all, what laws can be laid down about books? The battle of Waterloo was certainly fought on a certain day; but is Hamlet a better play than Lear? Nobody can say. Each must decide that question for himself." Asserting that there's no one correct way of interpreting a text may be controversial, but Woolf herself, who never received a university degree, was often forced to challenge conventions in order to succeed. She saw sexuality -- and gender -- as fluid. In a letter written around the same time as Three Guineas, Woolf not only acknowledges that gender-specific traits are socialized, but implies that gendered desires are often a source of violence. Such themes are explored thoroughly in her fiction, including her first novel, A Voyage Out, which mirrors her personal voyage from a more traditional upbringing to the intellectually stimulating Bloomsbury group she became a regular fixture of. She's already been a feminist role model for countless artists and thinkers Including Simone de Beauvoir and Michael Cunningham, to name a few! SUPPORT FREE JOURNALISM Consider supporting HuffPost starting at $2 to help us provide free, quality journalism that puts people first. Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read. Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone. The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor? Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone. The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. We hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more. Support HuffPost Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages. RELATED booksvirginia woolfFeminism Go to Homepage LEAVE A COMMENT Suggest a correction | Submit a tip Advertisement Skip Ads by FROM OUR PARTNER Recommended by FROM OUR PARTNER Continue watching The best hospitals have more superbugs. Do patients have a right to know? Recommended by HUFFPOST SHOPPING'S BEST FINDS AMAZON'S UNDER-THE-RADAR HIDDEN GEMS ARE ON SALE FOR PRIME DAY I HATE SPENDING MONEY, BUT THESE ARE THE THINGS WORTH BUYING FOR PRIME DAY YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO REPLACE SOMETHING ON THIS LIST — MIGHT AS WELL DO IT FOR CHEAPER ON PRIME DAY 28 FALL PRIME DAY DEALS FOR ANYONE WHO’S EVER UTTERED THE WORDS “I’M TOO OLD FOR THIS” AMAZON'S UNDER-THE-RADAR HIDDEN GEMS ARE ON SALE FOR PRIME DAY Newsletter Sign Up BOOKS Get book recommendations, author interviews and info on new releases. Successfully Subscribed! 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