blue·stock·ing (plural bluestockings)
The term bluestocking has evolved into many different modern interpretations. The vast sea of modern bluestocking interpretations is surprising, but what is not surprising is the pride that some take from the title. It ranges from the simple rather meaningless name of a baseball team, the Toledo Blue Stockings, to the proudly displayed identity of feminists circles.
The significance of the original “Blue Stocking Society” as a catalyst of women’s movements and independence is still recognized today. There are many museum exhibits dedicated to educating society on the contributions of “The Bluestockings.” The National Portrait Gallery in London, England offers an exhibit titled “Brilliant Women: 18th-Century Bluestockings”, which explores the influence of the original “Bluestockings.” The United Kingdom’s Telegraph featured an article with an interesting concept: they held a photo shoot with modern day bluestockings (as defined above) at the exhibit in order to emphasize the timeless impact of the original “Bluestockings.”
Modern high achievers with paintings of 18th century bluestockings: Activist Jemima Khan, scientist Laura Grant and Dr Shini Somarathne
The London Entertainment Guide provides a startling contrast to the article in the Telegraph and reveals a necessity for the exhibit: “Almost everything a sane man needs to know about Bluestockings is to be found in the Oxford English Dictionary.” This is a representatively masculine attitude from over 250 years ago that women such as Elizabeth Montagu tried to evolve. He further mocks the exhibit:
Its curators, women, call it Brilliant Women; they blow feebly on the dying embers of feminism, their subjects the foremothers (as they put it) of Germaine Greer, the forgotten formidable women who, in the Age of Reason, were wealthy enough to open their houses to the literate of their day… I suspect that if these women were thought brilliant in their day, it was less for any achievement than that they were pursuing activities not much expected of them.1
The author may be attempting simply to critique the exhibit, but in the process he adopts a machismo attitude and marginalises women.
A more humble and appropriate attitude worth considering is one of the Greek philosopher Socrates: “I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.”2 A professor of masculinity and sexism admits to his faults of ignorance in a speech at the radical book store Bluestockings in New York City. He reveals that he feels hypocritical teaching classes on subjects he himself does not have a complete understanding -a refreshing contrast to the previous author.
The Bluestockings book store is a “radical bookstore, fair trade café, and activist center”3 in New York City. The store is run by a group of female volunteers called the collective. They have very few paid employees and set social goals rather than business objectives. The store does not limit itself to selling books, but invests in reading series, performances, community events, workshops, and discussions. The store was originally established in 1999 as a feminist bookstore, but has since evolved to focus on global issues and justice. Originally the name Bluestockings was appropriate as a female collective focussed on female rights; however, it is perhaps more appropriate now as a place of education on all subjects and human rights as a whole.
Evidently, bluestockings may have a simple definition, but its influence transcends an entire spectrum. Some women identify themselves as bluestockings simply for the fact that they consider themselves “a woman with considerable scholarly, literary, or intellectual ability or interest”; however, other believe the title to carry revolutionary significance: a baseball team can name themselves the Bluestockings for simple aesthetic purposes, while a bookstore may name themselves Bluestockings because they consider themselves a similar radical collective as Elizabeth Montagu’s original “Bluestockings.”
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 23, 2008 at 1:49 am
Bluestocking Beginnings « 18th Century Prose and -ugh- Poetry
[...] Bluestockings Today [...]
October 23, 2008 at 1:59 am
Elizabeth Montagu « 18th Century Prose and -ugh- Poetry
[...] Bluestockings Today [...]