Contemporary Culture

Women’s Work

During the early 20^th century, society clearly defined a woman’s role inside of the domestic sphere.  Despite this, Willa Cather and Elinore Pruitt Stewart wrote about the personal empowerment women achieved through physical labor on a farm which was a sphere traditionally occupied by men. Many academics have written about Willa Cather’s reversal of gender roles in My Ántonia and noted that Cather creates one of the first feminist heroines in modern American literature.  Recently, I had the opportunity to revisit the novel and was struck by the images of Antonia working alongside men on the farm and being proud of her strength.

Nowadays Tony could talk of nothing but the prices of things, or how much she could lift and endure. She was too proud of her strength. I knew, too, that Ambrosch put upon her some chores a girl ought not to do, and that the farm-hands around the country joked in a nasty way about it. (Cather 100)

I was particularly interested in how closely Antonia’s experiences echoed the real life narration of Elinore Pruitt Stewart in Letters from a Woman Homesteader.

Well, we had no money to hire men to do our work, so had to learn to do it ourselves. Consequently I learned to do many things which girls more fortunately situated don't even know have to be done. Among the things I learned to do was the way to run a mowing-machine. . . But one morning, when he was chasing a last hope of help, I went down to the barn, took out the horses, and went to mowing. I had enough cut before he got back to show him I knew how, and as he came back manless he was delighted as well as surprised. I was glad because I really like to mow, and besides that, I am adding feathers to my cap in a surprising way. (Pruitt Stewart 227-237)

Both Cather, through Antonia, and Pruitt Stewart find personal fulfillment by working in the field and open for women the possibility of independence through farming.  For centuries, men have dictated woman’s roles in society. Despite great strides by women towards equality, gender bias in rural communities is still prevalent in the American West.  I grew up in a farming community that embraced the roles of men as bread winners and women as bread makers as an essential aspect of American family values.  In spite of this, there are still women today, like Cather’s heroine and Pruitt Stewart, who refuse to be defined by these roles.  My mother is one such woman and I am proud of the working legacy she passed along to me and my sisters.

Works Cited

Willa, Cather. My Antonia. New York: Penguin, 1994. Print.

Pruitt Stewart, Elinore  (2012-01-16). LETTERS OF A WOMAN HOMESTEADER (Illustrated) (Kindle Locations 227-229 & 235-237).  . Kindle Edition.