Loy's general message in the Manifesto is to urge women to stop allowing their value to be determined by virtue and maternity. However, while discussing the piece, many of my female classmates expressed concern and criticism towards Loy's work. To many of us, she seemed to be tearing women down and separating them instead of building up and uniting them. She shamed women for coupling emotions with sex, which we agreed reinforced similar chides that woman were already receiving from men. She also writes, "Every woman of superior intelligence should realize her race-responsibility, in producing children in adequate proportions to the unfit or degenerate members of her sex," which seems to denote that she viewed some women as more valuable than others.
I listened to all this and was reminded of another spoken word poem I often listen to by Meissa Newman titled, "9 Things I Want to Tell to Every Teenage Girl" which I will leave below. Her poem demonstrates an approach to feminism that is more favored by younger generations and focuses on lifting up young women to ensure they understand the power that lies in unity and sisterhood.
All this in mind, Loy's Manifesto is nothing to be ignored. Her work was groundbreaking and very important to the continued evolution of feminisim, and while her harshness may have caused some of us discomfort, it is still important in terms of dating the movement and its values. It is important in moving forward to remember where we began. Even so, I find it intriguing and comforting to notice that the women of today are much more perceptive against words that may try to divide us rather than unite us.