Book No. 87 of 2020
It seemed somewhat absurd that I hadn’t read A Room of One’s Own, given both its enormous cultural importance and the fact that I’ve read so many books that reference Woolf’s iconic manifesto.
Even though A Room of One’s Own was written a century ago, it still feels shockingly relevant—it reminded me that early feminists envisioned a wholly radical world that, unfortunately, we are still in the early stages of building. Woolf, in addition to being very direct about the fact that women need financial security and independence to create, is also honest about a dilemma she does not have a solution for: that childbearing and child-rearing are unmovable roadblocks to women achieving the financial independence they need to create. I was really struck by how Woolf draws a connection from the imbalance of power in a patriarchy to how women think and create, as well as the arbitrary nature to what ends up being valued in society.
In addition to being a formidable feminist manifesto, A Room of One’s Own is also a meditation on art, fiction, and what it means to create.
Similar Reads
I was reminded often of Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror and Lindy West’s The Witches are Coming, for their similar themes (creation and the repercussions of an imbalance of power) as well as their unapologetic directness.
I also thought often of Mary Beard’s Women and Power, a feminist manifesto that tackles misogyny in modern society.