Today, June 28th, marks the anniversary of the birth (in 1712) of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a giant of the Enlightenment who nevertheless perfectly embodied the systemic misogyny of his era. In his famous treatise Émile (1762), he argued that the female mind existed solely to serve and complement the male counterpart: “The whole education of women… Read More “To Please Men”: Rousseau’s Misogyny
If my previous post highlighted T.S. Eliot’s contempt for female writers and Virginia Woolf’s feminist response, today I look at the history of academic and social institutions. After remembering the battle of Elena Cornaro, who first shattered the all-male university walls, we celebrate the birth of a woman who merged education with grassroots activism. «We… Read More “We shall beg no more”: The Forgotten Feminism of Helen Keller
T.S. Eliot wrote to Ezra Pound in 1922: “There are only a half dozen men of letters (and no women) worth printing.” A pity that, at that very time, Virginia Woolf was writing, and reshaping twentieth-century literature. Misogyny has never been only about excluding women from universities or denying them rights. It has also been… Read More The Misogyny That Decides Talent
Congratulations, Elena! You’re the First Woman to Graduate. Please Don’t Inspire Others! On 25 June 1678, Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646–1684) became the first woman in history to earn an academic degree from a university, receiving a doctorate in philosophy from University of Padua. Originally, Elena had applied for a doctorate in theology. Unfortunately, the Church… Read More The First Woman for Whom the University Doors Were Opened… and Promptly Shut Behind Her.
Il gioco linguistico di questa settimana (come proposto anche da Eletta Senso) è una lettera – tautogramma in Ⓒ come in Caro Oramai saprete che si deve comporre un testo, questa settimana una lettera in cui quasi tutte le parole iniziano con la consonante Ⓒ Ecco la mia lettera, un po’ irriverente📃: Callisto caro, ti… Read More Lettera – Tautogramma in Ⓒ (o in Ⓓ)📃
Ecco la prima parte de “Il segreto tra le righe di Walter de la Mare: 70 anni dopo – una lezione contro l’oblio” pubblicata oggi su Masticadores Italia e che trascrivo anche qui sotto: Il 22 giugno 1956, settant’anni fa, moriva nel Middlesex il poeta, saggista e romanziere inglese Walter John de la Mare (1873–1956).… Read More Masticadores Italia: “Il segreto tra le righe di Walter de la Mare: 70 anni dopo – una lezione contro l’oblio ” (prima parte)
Françoise Sagan – écrivaine française – (21 juin 1935 – 2004) “La culture, c’est comme la confiture, moins on en a, plus on l’étale.” 🕒 From the blog’s time capsule: here is one of the three quotes from French writer Françoise Sagan from June 21, 8 years ago: “Culture is like jam, the less we have, the more… Read More Time Capsule🕒: Françoise Sagan
Today, June 19, marks the anniversary of the birth of Blaise Pascal in 1623. A brilliant mathematician and physicist, he was, above all, a ruthless observer of the human soul. While famous for inventing the first mechanical calculator, Pascal was also (without him knowing) the world’s first true psychologist of mass persuasion. In his essay… Read More If Pascal Had a Smartphone: The Digital Attraction Trap
Con l’arrivo del caldo e del mese di giugno, giochiamo con le parole e con i ritmi dell’estate creando un tautogramma in G di giugno, cioè un componimento in cui tutte le parole principali iniziano con la G.Questo è stato il suggerimento della nostra cara amica Eletta Senso che è da poco tornata a casa,… Read More Tautogramma in Ⓖ (o in Ⓙ )
Today we celebrate the birth of Joyce Carol Oates, one of the sharpest minds in contemporary literature, with a quote dating back to 1999, which sounds remarkably prophetic today: “Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.” The core concept is profound:… Read More The Joyce Carol Oates Paradox (and the CAPTCHA Joke)
words and music and stories 