We're Still Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Last week marked the 136th anniversary of the birth of author Virginia Woolf, and it was noted by numerous newspaper articles and even an iconic sketch by Google. As the #MeToo and Time's Up movements step up to podiums, and powerful men's sexual abuses--in entertainment, politics, media and sports--grab headlines, it's not surprising that Woolf is suddenly accorded politically correct kudos (just a century late). Woolf was a pioneer of the stream-of-consciousness style of fiction in works like Mrs. Dalloway, a keen observer of society and art in her essays, and a member of the legendary Bloomsbury Group of British intellectuals that included economist John Maynard Keynes and writer E.M. Forster. But I would guess that she is receiving renewed attention now because of her feminism and her long essay A Room of One's Own, where she posited "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," arguing that social and financial dependence prevent women from reaching their potential. As a result, "for most of history, Anonymous was a woman," she wrote. Certainly, women have made many strides since Woolf's birth in 1882 and her death in 1941 (a suicide). Yet gender discrimination and harassment continue because, as it turns out, intellectual emancipation via education, financial emancipation via the workplace, and legal emancipation via the courts are only the first rungs on the long ladder to equality and respect. The next step is political power, which requires a feminizing of boardrooms, legislatures and leadership. The surge in women running for political office in 2018 shows that this realization is taking hold. And then there must be a social emancipation, an acceptance of new rules and values by men and women at every level. The public #MeToo furor over sexual misconduct is just the first wave in a long battle to change hearts and minds. The fact that Virginia Woolf has been dusted off and honored as a "woman writer" and "feminist" pioneer just proves how far we still have to go. Great art, great ideas and great character are without gender. For some of Woolf's more quotable thoughts, see https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/virginia_woolf