To Live in Such a Time as This

Recently I watched Becoming Jane. Not a bad artsy/chic flick. Whether it leans more toward fact or fiction in its depiction of Jane Austen’s life I don’t know, I was struck by the sentiment of the day regarding women and their minds. At one point, Jane’s father says, over the pulpit no less, something to the effect that if a woman is possessed of a keen mind, it should be her secret–no one should know! At another point, Jane goes to a prominent female writer of the day to ask her advice regarding combining writing with marriage and the woman tells her it’s hardest on her husband. That to have a wife with a mind is bad enough, but a wife who writes and publishes, thus parading her mind about for the world to see is somewhat scandalous and difficult for the husband to endure. I am so grateful both for my father and my husband. My father, who has always believed and affirmed, as the father of five girls, that we could do anything, be anything, think anything and that our mother, his wife, is smarter than he is and we should aspire to her. And then for my dear DH, who has never expected me to work or not, who asks my opinion on the issues of his law practice, has me review and opine on his work product and has always trumpeted and triumphed over what I think, say and do. Someone asked me when I had our first child, a girl, if my mother was sad to not have a grandson. I thought it strange. For while I know my dad always wanted a boy–what dad wouldn’t– I never felt that my parents were sad at any of the arrivals of the five girls they got. And I could no more imagine my mother being sad at the arrival of a granddaughter instead of a grandson. I know that the world is a better place for women because of the likes of Jane Austen, who went without a husband and family (if we are to believe this movie) if she could not have them on her own terms. I am just feeling so very blessed that I get to benefit.