Fanny Fern The Not So Humorous History Of Feminist Satire

Fanny Fern: The Not So Humorous History of Feminist Satire In the 21st century, many women, myself included, take for granted that we can wear whatever we desire and say what we want, in public, without the fear of being thrown in jail. However, that was not always the case. While the fight for the continued advance of women’s rights rages on, women of the 19th century lived a very different life than the one, us women, lead today. The feminist agenda was just emerging on the horizon. One particular woman was preparing to do her part to further the cause of women’s rights: Sarah Willis Parker. Parker was better known by her pen name, Fanny Fern. After facing and overcoming extreme adversity, she made the decision to start writing. To understand how truly ground breaking Fanny Fern was, we need to understand that in a 1997 edition of an anthology of American satire from colonial times to present, Fern was the only woman writer from the 19th century in that text. Her satiric style and controversial subject matter was just what the oppressed needed to gain some support and give them a voice. Sarah Willis Parton was born July 9, 1811 in Portland, Maine. She was the fifth of nine children born to Nathaniel and Hannah Parker Willis. Her father was the editor of two news publications in Boston. Her brother, Nathaniel Parker Willis, was an accomplished journalist. As a young woman, Sarah attended a boarding school in Hartford, Connecticut. It was at this school