“Feminist Manifesto” and “How Cruel is The Story of Eve” One of the ways feminism began, was within women’s literature. In Mina Loy’s “Feminist Manifesto”, she writes about how woman are not treated the same as men, women are treated as less. “How Cruel Is the Story of Eve”, by Stevie Smith, also discusses the inequalities between man and woman. These two pieces of literature have a lot of thoughts in common, despite the different time periods the authors wrote them in. Mina Loy and Stevie Smith both present thoughts on the inequalities between man and woman, how men and women’s values are placed on different aspects in society, but also how women are much more than society gives them credit for.
Mina Loy was born in 1882 in England as Mina …show more content…
They both say that woman are not treated equally to men. Smith says the reason for this in her poem is because of the biblical legend of Adam and Eve and how Eve was the first to succumb to temptation, deeming women inferior to men. Loy says in her prose that women are not treated equally to men because they are only offered a few options on what they can be in society, whereas men do not have this issue. In addition, they both also say that woman are more intelligent than society gives them credit for. Loy says this through her words about how women can be so much more than a “mistress or a mother”. Smith says this by saying that women have to “mask her wisdom”. However, these two writers have different opinions on where the two genders agree and where they ‘get along’. Mina Loy says in “Feminist Manifesto”, “The only point at which the interests of the sexes merge- is the sexual embrace”, whereas Stevie Smith in “How Cruel Is the Story of Eve” says, “Yet there is this to be said still: / Life would be over long ago / If men and women had not loved each other / Naturally, naturally, / Forgetting their mythology / They would have died of it else / Long ago, Long ago, / And all would be emptiness now / And silence” (51-59). Loy says that the only interest men and women have in common is sexual. Smith says that life itself would not exist if men and women weren’t able to overcome their differences and love each
Mina Loy was born in 1882 in England as Mina …show more content…
They both say that woman are not treated equally to men. Smith says the reason for this in her poem is because of the biblical legend of Adam and Eve and how Eve was the first to succumb to temptation, deeming women inferior to men. Loy says in her prose that women are not treated equally to men because they are only offered a few options on what they can be in society, whereas men do not have this issue. In addition, they both also say that woman are more intelligent than society gives them credit for. Loy says this through her words about how women can be so much more than a “mistress or a mother”. Smith says this by saying that women have to “mask her wisdom”. However, these two writers have different opinions on where the two genders agree and where they ‘get along’. Mina Loy says in “Feminist Manifesto”, “The only point at which the interests of the sexes merge- is the sexual embrace”, whereas Stevie Smith in “How Cruel Is the Story of Eve” says, “Yet there is this to be said still: / Life would be over long ago / If men and women had not loved each other / Naturally, naturally, / Forgetting their mythology / They would have died of it else / Long ago, Long ago, / And all would be emptiness now / And silence” (51-59). Loy says that the only interest men and women have in common is sexual. Smith says that life itself would not exist if men and women weren’t able to overcome their differences and love each