virginia woolf's a room of one's own

-in a room of one's own, woolf argues that there cannot be a female equivalent to shakespeare in a patriarchal society.  women were not allowed to be actors during shakespeare's time (until english reformation of 1660).  in fact, even writing was deemed indecent for women (putting themselves out in the public eye).  to combat this, much feminist recovery work of old women writers has been inspired by woolf.

-woolf argued for women to write objectively.  women were not allowed in the cambridge library during woolf's time (her books are there though now).  it is now seen as a very symbolic exclusion; there was no real rationale behind it.  but, consequently, being denied entrance into a man's world & called back into your body doesn't help men out at all either.  men have established self-confidence through building each other up and separating themselves from "others" (women, minorities, the poor, etc.).  this ends up deflecting feelings off yourself and onto others.  some literary theorists argue that being self-conscious about your sex makes you limited as a writer (goal is to write as a soul, not a gender).  those who have brought about sex-consciousness are to blame, however, it is very interesting that shakespeare was an androgynous writer.  that perhaps is one reason why his works remain so popular today.