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"The Miseducation of Women" |
“While white girls learned to waltz and sit gracefully with a tea cup balanced on their knees, we were lagging behind, learning the mid-Victorian values with very little money to indulge them…” writes Maya Angelou in her biographical essay, “Finishing School.” Both Angelou and Gwendolyn Brooks write about education and its effects upon women in society. They write about the damages that knowing only one facet of life such as formal education or social skills. They make a point of showing how limiting education, whether formal or social, of women makes them more subservient to men and society. Formal education, despite society’s beliefs, does not always equal success. In the poem “Sadie and Maud,” Gwendolyn Brooks uses Maud as an example of a miseducated person. Although, Maud attends college, she does not have the social skills needed to interact with her peers. The lack of social skills negatively impacts her life as indicated in the last stanza of the poem, “Maud, who went to college, Is a thin brown mouse. She is living all alone In this old house” (Stanza 5). Maya Angelou’s piece, “Finishing School,” offers a different side of education. In her this piece she compares the education of black and white girls in the South. Southern women’s education was informal and was intended to teach women how serve men and society. White girls were sent to finishing schools to learn proper etiquette, how to manage the household and, how to be a socialite. Black girls were sent to a white woman’s kitchen, which was to serve as her “finishing school.” They were taught domestic duties. White girls “served” the men in their lives and black girls served the white people in power. How does society affect women’s roles and education? Women are scrutinized by society and must live up to high social standards. In the poem, “Sadie and Maud,” Brooks writes about a social taboo- having children out of wedlock. “Sadie bore two babies Under her maiden name. Maud and Ma and Papa Nearly died of shame” (Stanza 3). It was easy for Sadie’s family to turn against her because they have been brainwashed by society to disapprove of unwed mothers. Although Angelou does not state it in her piece, it is clear to the reader that Southern society was ruled by whites and that blacks were inferior. This mentality forced black women into domestic roles, took away their freedom of expression, and denied them their right to a formal education. Women’s roles have always been wives and mothers. These roles have one single thought behind them-servitude. Women serve men. Angelou writes about how she would serve the white women their tea or dinner. Throughout her entire time in her “finishing school” all she does is serve. In Brooks’ poem, Sadie decides that she will not live to serve others. Brooks writes, “Sadie was one of the livingest chits in all the land” (Stanza 2). However, this philosophy also negatively affected Sadie’s life. She had no legacy or knowledge to leave her daughters. The women in these readings represent all women. They are subjected to one way of life and are not given an opportunity to grow mentally and emotionally. Formal education without social skills can lead to women leading unfulfilled lives, as Maud ended up living. Social skills without formal education lead to unfulfilled lives as well. Without formal education women are left to fulfill the roles of wives, mothers, and maids whose only purpose is to serve others. This situation resembles the relationship between day and night; you cannot have one without the other. |
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