Amy began her enjoyable and informative presentation with a quote from Mary Astell: "The way to be a good orator is to be a good Christian." Astell was a forerunner of feminist ideals, although at the time she likely would have believed that feminism was unChristian-like, but she did not know the possibilities before her. Times were changing, and women were making advancements - and as Dr. Souder suggested, women were making "baby steps" toward equality, but in Astell's day, women were still subjective to ancient biblical beliefs which held that women should not speak in certain realms. And it was not only biblical tenets, but women were also subjected to heavily dominated male-shared beliefs to which Aristotle addressed when he said, "silence is a woman's glory." These attitudes kept women in the home and out of the public eye. It was for those reasons that Astell did not consider the possibilities of women becoming ministers and lawyers. She did, however, know that women had a voice they were not using and minds they were not developing.


We need a dash, no, we need a barrage of Mary Astell's encouragement today. More women than ever have entered our colleges and universities, and in fact, outnumber men in most higher institutions; however, some women's issues have worsened. After decreasing for a number of years, violence toward women is rising, and increasing numbers of women short themselves when they choose teen motherhood and do not consider the possibilities of our world. (These issues could be promoted as timely composition topics in our schools). Astell promoted that it was women's responsibility to improve their minds and to contribute to the education of their daughters. In some ways, we have taken steps backward in the education of many of our daughters. And while Astell was speaking of "fashionable ladies," in A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, she wrote, "Why won't you begin to think, and no longer dream away your lives in a wretched incogitancy?" and "Can you dote on a mean, ignorant and ignoble life?" Astell was frustrated with women not using using their God-given reason when she wrote those words, and she would be frustrated with women today.

Technology is a realm in which we realize possibilities, but there seem to be divergent paths on the information highway for women and men. In "Feminist Research in Computers and Composition" from Computers in the Composition Classroom, Lisa Gerrard discusses the possibilities of computer technology. She wrote the article in 1999, and some references are a bit dated, (technology writing is outdated the day after it is written, is it not?) but she addresses issues that continue to be problems today. While women are technologically literate, the ways women use computers and technology are different from the ways men use technology. Gerrard asked this question: "...does the computer-based writing class, which publicizes an individual's writing in many ways, affect men and women differently?" (196). What is the answer to her question these eleven years later? Our blogging is now not only for our peers, but it is available for all the world to see. That much public writing, especially when one is a novice and not well-versed in a mode of writing, is disconcerting.

Gerrard relates several examples of gender differences in computer usage. One is about games. She writes, "Games matter because they are teaching a whole generation of children about computers. If girls don't play games, they may come into our classrooms with little prior computer experience" (189). The world of gaming hasn't changed much in eleven years in that most games are still made for males. Women have, however, embraced computer technology. Does gaming promote more skills than than the ways women use technology? While women's usage might be different, girls and women have more computer skills than they did only a few years ago when they entered school. We are progressing as long as we continue to use our brains and consider the possibilities before us.