A woman holds up a sign along Constitution Avenue on International Womens Day in Washington on ... [+]
I remember being at a watch trade show in Europe a number of years ago, where the principal of a certain brand presented his new timepiece design “for women.” He highlighted many of the mechanical and visual high points of the watch, then shared that it was also water resistant, which, he unfortunately added, was a plus when doing dishes. I cringed. For him. For me. For all the women in the audience.
Prior to that, I’d always felt a similar cringe when watch brands would take a smaller version of a men’s model, slap on a couple of gemstones, a quartz movement and a pink strap, and call it their ladies watch debut. Thankfully those days have mostly passed, and there are myriad high-quality, interesting timepieces for women—including those dressed in feminine pink. True liberation, after all, is about having choices.
Pens haven’t suffered quite the same, and there appears to be more equanimity in the world of luxury writing instruments. Though I have seen my share of crystal-laden rose-colored “women’s models.”
What’s more interesting to me on this International Women’s Day 2021, is the role pens have played in our literacy—whatever their looks or color.
Long Ago...
In the Middle Ages, very few people could read or write. And the overwhelming majority of those who could were male. Even in wealthy families, it was considered a waste of resources to educate female children. In the later Middle Ages, only about 1% of women were literate, according to Spartacus-educational.com. Philip III of France famously told a friend, “Women should not learn to read and write unless they are going to be nuns, as much harm has come from such knowledge.”
Thus, many women entered convents for the express purpose of receiving an education.
Heloise of Paraclete ,who lived in a convent during the Middle Ages, was temporarily separated from her husband and made a good case for female literacy: “We need never lack the pleasures of conversation... Even when separated we could enjoy each other's presence by exchange of written messages.”
Christine de Pizan, an influential writer in the Middle Ages, argued that it was important for daughters to be taught how to read and write.
“I am amazed by the opinion of some men who claim that they do not want their daughters or wives to be educated because they would be ruined as a result... Not all men (and especially the wisest) share the opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very true that many foolish men have claimed this because it upset them that women knew more than they did.”
There were other, less obvious things that encouraged literacy, such as the introduction of the chimney flue that helped remove smoke from rooms and glass windows—both of which made for a more pleasant indoor environment for reading and writing. So, too, the invention of eyeglasses in the 13th century.
And writing instruments. Be they sticks or quills or expensive limited editions, they are the chroniclers of time and, hopefully, change.
