#moderata fonte

[tlacatecctzin]

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Men were created before women. But that doesn't prove their superiority – rather, it proves ours, for they were born out of the lifeless earth in order that we could be born out of living flesh. And what's so important about this priority in creation, anyway? When we are building, we lay foundations on the ground first, things of no intrinsic merit or beauty, before subsequently raising up sumptuous buildings and ornate palaces. Lowly seeds are nourished in the earth, and then later the ravishing blooms appear; lovely roses blossom forth and scented narcissi.

- Moderata Fonte, The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (1600)

Moderata Fonte was the pseudonym of Modesta Pozzo (1555–92), a Venetian woman who was something of an anomaly. Neither cloistered in a convent nor as liberated from prevailing codes of decorum as a courtesan might be, Pozzo was a respectable, married mother who produced literature in genres that were commonly considered “masculine”- the chivalric romance and the literary dialogue. Her book, The Worth of Women, which was published in 1600, concerned itself with gender equality and the responsibility of husbands and fathers: issues that loom large today had currency in Renaissance Venice as well.

This work takes the form of the latter, with Fonte creating a conversation among seven Venetian noblewomen. The dialogue explores nearly every aspect of women’s experience in both theoretical and practical terms. These women, who differ in age and experience, take as their broad theme men’s curious hostility toward women and possible cures for it. Through this witty and ambitious work, Fonte seeks to elevate women’s status to that of men, arguing that women have the same innate abilities as men and, when similarly educated, prove their equals. Through this dialogue, Fonte provides a picture of the private and public lives of Renaissance women, ruminating on their roles in the home, in society, and in the arts. The book is a fine example of Renaissance vernacular literature, this book is also a testament to the enduring issues that women face, including the attempt to reconcile femininity with ambition but without the shrill tones of a strident feminism more prevalent today.  

[araekniarchive]

eve and the apple

@woodswitwrites, Perdition

Anna Lea Merritt, Eve

@needlefate​, On Apples & Hunger

Ansel Elkins, Autobiography of Eve

Taslima Nasrin, Eve, Oh Eve

Moderata Fonte, The Worth of Women

Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber

Salma Deera, Eve Knew What She Was Doing

[the-other-voice]

Do you really believe ... that everything historians tell us about men – or about women – is actually true? You ought to consider the fact that these histories have been written by men, who never tell the truth except by accident.

Moderata Fonte (1555 - 1592), The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (1600)

[lammermoor-lace]

Excerpts from Moderata Fonte’s 1600 magnum opus “Il Merito delle Donne” (”The Virtue of Women”), aka the fiercest ante-litteram feminist essay I’ve ever read. 

Include: una revisione spudorata del mito della Genesi, un'invettiva contro gli uomini gelosi, un'invito alla solidarietà femminile e una descrizione strabiliante e assolutamente sfiziosa, per allegorie, dei vizi dell'uomo, contornati da badilate di schietto buon senso, il tutto in grazioso e garbato stile cortese degno del petrarchista più pignolo.

[the-other-voice]

When you hear men talking," said Cornelia, "all they ever do is speak ill of women. ... And I don't quite know how they managed to make this law in their favour, or who exactly it was who gave them a greater license to sin than is allowed to us; and if the fault is common to both sexes (as they can hardly deny), why should the blame not be as well? What makes them think they can boast of the same thing that in women brings only shame?

Moderata Fonte (1555 - 1592), The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (1600)

[the-other-voice]

It really is something ... that men disapprove even of our doing things that are patently good. Wouldn't it be possible for us just to banish these men from our lives, and escape their carping and jeering once and for all? Couldn't we live without them? Couldn't we earn our living and manage our affairs without help from them? Come on, let's wake up, and claim back our freedom, and the honour and dignity that they have usurped from us for so long. Do you think that if we really put our minds to it, we would be lacking the courage to defend ourselves, the strength to fend for ourselves, or the talents to earn our own living? Let's take our courage into our hands and do it, and then we can leave it up to them to mend their ways as much as they can: we shan't really care what the outcome is, just as long as we are no longer subjugated to them.

Moderata Fonte (1555 - 1592), The Worth of Women: Wherein Is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (1600)

[the-other-voice]

Moderata Fonte  (1555 – 1592)

Moderata Fonte, whose full name was Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi, also known as Modesta Pozzo, was a Venetian writer. Her best known work is Il merito delle donne (The Worth of Women, 1600), she also wrote poetry.

Pozzo grew up in a convent, where she was often treated as a prodigy because of her extraordinary memory. She could recite entire sermons after reading or hearing them only once. By her grandparents and her brother she was taught to read and write in Latin, draw, sing and play instruments. 

When she was 27 years old she married Filippo de’ Zorzi, they seemed to have a happy marriage. At this time she also started publishing her works, which included musical plays which were performed at festivals, and epic and religious poems displaying her deep belief in the active participation of women in the events of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. Her work The Worth of Women was published posthumously in 1600, in which she criticizes the treatment of women by men while celebrating women’s virtues and intelligence and arguing that women are superior to men, but does not go as far as to appeal for sexual equality.

Pozzo had four children, when she died of childbirth in 1592. Her husband placed a marble epitaph on her tomb which describes Pozzo as ‘femina doctissima’ (a very learned woman).

If you want to know more about her, this article is very interesting.