I don't know if anyone else has wondered about Fanny Fern's term "BlueStocking" that she chose for her title, but it intrigued me. I did some research and thought that I would share where the term originated for anyone who doesn't already know. “Bluestocking” was an expression used to describe an educated and intellectual woman commonly used during the 18th century. These women possessed a certain degree of wealth, education, and accomplishment, but the expression was not always a flattering one. There was actually a Blue Stocking Society which was an English society of both females and males that encouraged academic thinking and conversation. It is rumored that a man named Benjamin Stillingfleet, who was a male publisher and translator, was too poor to afford the black silk stockings worn as formal attire during the time period; Consequently, he wore the informal blue woolen stockings during Blue Stocking Society meetings instead. Over time, the expression “bluestocking” came to describe the informal atmosphere of the meetings and an emphasis on intellectual conversation instead of the attendees fashion.
I believe that Fern's choice of title was meant to poke fun at the term "Bluestocking" and that no woman can possibly cultivate her intellect in a society that puts so little importance on feminine ambition and masculine domesticity.
Very interesting! I love that you thought enough about this in order to research it. I also really like the idea that these conversations were "informal." It reminds me a lot of our own class discussions, actually - a casual, comfortable atmosphere. I'd like to think that these meetings were more about discussing ideas than trying to impress each other, but somehow I suspect that some of the people tried to outdo each other with their levels of intelligence!
ReplyDeletelol...kind of like an old fashioned Jeopardy!
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to whether these Blue Stocking Society meetings were openly public, or if they had to be conducted privately under the nose of the government, royalty, etc. I also think it is cool that these people were able to turn a negative term- "bluestocking"- into almost a description to be proud of. It reminds me of the current generation's ability to change the meaning of terms that were previously negative in connotation (such as ill, dope, phat, beast) into more positive meanings.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's great that Angela did some research on the term. And yeah, like Ryan said, this piece attempts (somewhat) to rehabilitate the term.
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