Herstory
History is written by men. All you need to do is look at the word: HIS story. History is also written by the victors and since women have recently been gaining voice, we have found a small place within history. Women are found in history books and philosophical writings; however, it is not their voices. For example, Aristotle, a philosopher studied extensively, states, "The male is naturally fitter to command than the female, except where there is some departure from nature...We must therefore hold that what the poet said of women 'A modest silence is a woman's crown' contains a general truth - but a truth which does not apply to men" (Aristotle, Politics). When taking a history class, one does not learn events from a women’s point of view, unless it is specifically a women’s history class. Events are studied from the patriarchal perspective. History guides thought and action today. I take it, then, as no surprise when men today believe what ancient philosophers did. As an example, Tucker Carlson, in an interview about the Duke Lacrosse rape case with Wendy Murphy, stated that, "The testimony of an ordinary person is different from the testimony of someone who hires herself out to dance naked in front of and, yes, sometimes sleep with ... strangers...It's OK to have a bias against strippers in this case, isn't it?...I'm merely saying that her testimony about matters of sex is to be taken by ordinary commonsense people a little differently than the testimony of someone who isn't a crypto-hooker." Although statements like this shock and infuriate me, I can understand where it comes from. I believe that history should be addressing events not only from the victor’s point of view, but all points of view. Especially for recent events. It would be ridiculous for only men to document all events dealing with or around abortion clinics or violations against women’s rights. As a feminist, I write because I don’t want history to be only HIS story. I think its time for herstory.