Philosophy…is a woman. Perhaps I will find my answer as I continue reading, but right now I would like to ponder why Philosophy is represented as a woman in this work. Women are treated so differently across cultures. A difference is also seen across time within those cultures. To some, woman is merely a tool necessary and useful only for bearing children. She has one purpose and one purpose only. She is not admired, nor is she useful for anything outside of that purpose. In other places and times, she is seen as the epitome of all that is good and beautiful. She is admired for her appearance and sweetness. She is praised for her ability to bring forth life.
Women are still seen differently in different places of life. For surely the waitress in the corner diner is hardly considered equal in stature with the wife of the vice president of a big company. For if the waitress happened to stumble in upon a company party she would certainly be shunned before she could even be handed a dirty glass. It is likely in that scenario that not a single “gentlemen” in the room would so much as open the door for her as she left in embarrassment. My purpose here is to consider context, and I believe it will be useful to keep context in mind as I continue to pursue an answer to my question.
When considering when The Consolation of Philosophy was written, different ideas from above come to mind. To answer my original question, I must once again, ponder. Why a woman? Within these cultural ideas…is Philosophy useful? Yes, in this work she is useful. But does she serve a sole purpose? Perhaps – I will have to wait and find out. Is that purpose procreation? Somehow I doubt that it is physical procreation, but I would not be surprised if she somehow comes to serve as a provider of spiritual and/or mental procreation before the duration. Is she highly praised and admired? Is she adorned and put on a pedestal? Is she gracious and beautiful? How can we tell these things about her from this work? All of these questions spark interest in my mind and are helping me get to the place where I discover why Philosophy is a lady…
Women are still seen differently in different places of life. For surely the waitress in the corner diner is hardly considered equal in stature with the wife of the vice president of a big company. For if the waitress happened to stumble in upon a company party she would certainly be shunned before she could even be handed a dirty glass. It is likely in that scenario that not a single “gentlemen” in the room would so much as open the door for her as she left in embarrassment. My purpose here is to consider context, and I believe it will be useful to keep context in mind as I continue to pursue an answer to my question.
When considering when The Consolation of Philosophy was written, different ideas from above come to mind. To answer my original question, I must once again, ponder. Why a woman? Within these cultural ideas…is Philosophy useful? Yes, in this work she is useful. But does she serve a sole purpose? Perhaps – I will have to wait and find out. Is that purpose procreation? Somehow I doubt that it is physical procreation, but I would not be surprised if she somehow comes to serve as a provider of spiritual and/or mental procreation before the duration. Is she highly praised and admired? Is she adorned and put on a pedestal? Is she gracious and beautiful? How can we tell these things about her from this work? All of these questions spark interest in my mind and are helping me get to the place where I discover why Philosophy is a lady…
Very clever! I liked this one!
ReplyDelete