Quite a few people were upset by John Ruskin's essay on the perfect, 'wifey' woman and the education she should receive... but I found it so beautiful! I think in the world's eyes a woman should be independent, free (in a physical sense... which even transcends moral boundaries), aggressive, even, for her ideals and rights and blah. But where does that lead you to? We end up settling down in an area that we feel so unfulfilled in, because it doesn't complement our natural strengths... our natural, God-given virtues. We're just... different from men. Some girls just find it so difficult to accept that...
There's this beautiful, beautiful paragraph:
"And wherever a true wife comes, this home is always around her. The stars only may be over her head; the glowworm in the night-cold grass may be the only fire at her foot; but home is yet wherever she is; and for a noble woman it stretches far round her, better than ceiled with cedar, or painted with vermillion, shedding its quiet light far, for those who else were homeless."
(The essay is apparently Christian-centred... so home would refer to a home secure in God's love.)
And, for the beauty of women...
"...only remember that all physical freedom is vain to produce beauty without a corresponding freedom of heart."
Lastly, for the dudes...
"Do not think you can make a girl lovely, if you do not make her happy."
Haha. :) Woohoo, Ruskin!
