Gender Inquiry Project

Phillis Wheatley was sold into slavery when she was just 7 years old, and then shipped from her home in West Africa to her new slave masters in North America, the Wheatleys.  Their daughter, Mary, was the first to teach her how to read and write 

The Wheatley family never released her from their control, but did let her cease household responsibilities to pursue an education and advance in her career as a writer. Ultimately, they fully supported her and her career by manumitting her years later, once her book of poems was officially published in 1773.

The year before her book was officially published, Phillis had to defend herself as the author of her own poetry in court. They couldn't believe an enslaved black woman could write such words with such elegance. Their final decision was in her favour; however, Phillis having to prove herself is another example of women of colour suffering because of the patriarchy and racism, which work together to oppress. Phillis Wheatly never got the recognition or payment she deserved for the work she gave to society, which is the real goal of oppression. Tell her story.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a writer, feminist, and philosopher who had a brief career, yet accomplished a great deal for early feminist literature and the early feminist movement.  Her best-known work was "A Vindication of the Rights of Women," which presented a thoughtful argument that women were not inferior to men, and it only seemed that way because of women's collective lack of education. 

However, Mary was not properly celebrated for her work due to the drama surrounding her personal life. Her husband published a memoir after her early death, due to complications during childbirth, which provided intimate details into Mary's life, including things such as her suicide attempts and past relationships. This memoir absolutely decimated the public view/opinion of Wollstonecraft, and from that point on, her personal life was more of a conversation than her work. 

The work of later feminists brought Mary's book "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" back into conversation, where she finally got the recognition she deserved; however, it was decades after her death and defamation. Tell her story 

Maria Firmina dos Reis is known as the mother of Afro-Brazilian Literature, as well as considered Brazil's first black female novelist. Her work, "Ursula," is believed to be the first Brazilian abolitionist novel ever written. Despite these accomplishments, she was left out of history until very recently. 

While there was no one physical force that stopped Maria from getting the recognition she deserved, she grew up poor due to her mother being enslaved, which gave her a rough start in school. And once she started publishing her novels, she learned that being a female writer in the industry was a disadvantage. She became a schoolteacher and eventually opened her own school for disadvantaged kids, which eventually closed due to hate. 

Maria Firmina dos Reis died poor, with no knowledge of what her work would turn into and no recognition or payment for her accomplishments. While there is no one person to blame, racism and the patriarchy are why she is not a household name today. The only reason we know her at all is through the work of feminist and Afro-Brazilian scholars. Tell her story. 

Zaynab al-Ghazali was an Egyptian-Muslim activist and writer, who fought hard for political movements and founded the Muslim Women's Association, which was a huge, global group. It started with her lecturing in a mosque, but quickly grew. Her writing came later, after she was kidnapped and tortured due to her activism. She wrote about her experiences, opinions, and faith and published it, titled "Days From My Life" (translated from Arabic). 

This book was quickly criticized by male figures in the political field. Men she once worked with as equals now publicly referred to her as ranked below them. Men doubted the authenticity of her work, due to their not believing a woman could endure the torture she did, let alone write about it. 

Her legacy has remained potent in Islamic feminist circles and political debates, although her work is still debated amongst men. Tell her story