Shelby's response to A Room of One's Own

 After covering Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, Shelby submitted an excellent response!

    Growing up a girl means growing up knowing society thinks boys are able to do things that should be kept from girls - or even just that they are stronger or more capable. So many of the books that I read growing up were written by men and focused on boys, and that has continued in high school. Virginia Woolf wrote during a time when women were barred from so much of society. They were restricted by their fathers and husbands, and were generally expected to stay at home with the children. Woolf uses this to explain why the world of literature was so hard for women to break into.

    Men were given the space to create. Those with money could rent a space with a desk, where they could write uninterrupted. Women were not given this chance. This difference is so important. I have wondered why we don't read as many female writers, especially the further back in history we go. But remembering that women weren't given the chance to write - not that they were incapable of creating something memorable - changes everything.

    I think this is really important for everyone to read, but especially young women. It is easy to let what society says about us as girls get to our heads and limit what we aspire to. But Virginia Woolf walked, so that we could run.