The New Woman and Changing Social Roles
Writer Henry James popularized the term "New Woman", a figure who was represented in the heroines of his novels, such as Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady, and Daisy Miller in the novella Daisy Miller. According to historian Ruth Bordin, the term New Woman was
intended by him to characterize American expatriates living in Europe: women of affluence and sensitivity, who despite or perhaps because of their wealth exhibited an independent spirit and were accustomed to acting on their own. The term New Woman always referred to women who exercised control over their own lives be it personal, social, or economic.Read more about this topic: New Woman
Famous quotes containing the words woman, changing, social and/or roles:
“There is no kind of harassment that a man may not inflict on a woman with impunity in civilized societies.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“Love is the most melodious of all the harmonies, and we have an innate feeling for it. Woman is a delicious instrument of pleasure, but one must know the chords, study the pose of it, the timid keyboard, the changing and capricious fingering.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.”
—Angela Davis (b. 1944)
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)