Amazon.co.uk Review
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon: Feminist, Artist, and Rebel: as its title suggests, Pam Hirsch's acclaimed biography of Barbara Smith--the name to which this illegitimate daughter lays claim in 1857-- opens up the life of a remarkable woman. Painter, campaigner, feminist, traveller, co-founder of Girton College: Bodichon is, as Hirsch points out, 'many things', and this biography works to uncover, and contextualise, her place in the history of early British feminism. That place is a complex one: Bodichon was groundbreaking in her critique of the status of women in marriage and education, while her trip to the Southern States of America in 1857 brought her up against the reality of virulent racism. It's an experience which generates her writings on slavery as well as broadening the scope of her feminist argument against the prevalent idea of the 'natural' inferiority of slaves and women (her analysis of the connection between the two--the condition of being 'property of others'--remains both powerful and controversial). At the same time, Bodichon was at the centre of 19th century art and letters: she was, for example, George Eliot's "first friend" as well as a successful professional painter. Through her generous use of Bodichon's journals and letters, Hirsch gives her readers a glimpse into that world, and lets her fascinating subject speak for herself. --
Vicky Lebeau
Product Description
The illegitimate child of a radical MP, Bodichon was an unconventional and influential leader of the Victorian women's movement, and the leading spirit in the foundation of Girton College, Cambridge. This biography recreates the woman, and places her in the context of women's struggle for equality.
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