I’ve been greatly enjoying William Martin‘s novel Harvard Yard, which asks whether William Shakespeare brought
John Harvard’s parents together and bequeathed to them a secret play. The novel also features the feisty character
Lydia Wedge, who was insisting at the start of the 19th Century that Harvard admit women. Lydia would have loved
the news in the September-October 2004 edition of Harvard Magazine (soon available at the site):
Gender Milestone: For the first time, slightly more women than men will
enroll in the cohort of students entering Harvard College, making the class
of 2008 an historic group even before they begin their studies.
Mrs. Wedge, who is told in the novel that women are already being trained for teaching, the role to which their
intellects are best suited, might have smiled at the article “Blackboard Brain Drain.” The findings of economics Professor
Carolyn Hoxby are summarized: “high-aptitude women” have turned away from teaching, both because other fields are
now open to them and because the flat wage schedules preferred by unions do not reward excellence.
In the early 1800’s, like the fictional Lydia Wedge,
Kobayashi Issa was contemplating women’s roles:
Great Japan!
a woman, also
digs with the plow
a woman, also
digs with the plow
in the spring breeze
they’re out to watch the women…
women!
women also
are Twelfth Month singers…
our Great Age!
are Twelfth Month singers…
our Great Age!
flitting firefly–
don’t get tangled
in women’s hair!
translated by David G. Lanoue
p.s. Sorry, Rufus, if the above title lured you here under false pretenses. As Evan
might say, if you came here looking for T&A, “keep moving.” Or, as
Beldar and Arnold put it, “just move on.” [But, come back soon!]