Talk:Matilda Joslyn Gage

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[edit] Selective quoting

The user at IP address 68.34.232.20 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=68.34.232.20 ) is responsible for selectively misquoting the letter "Is Woman Her Own?" in order to advance a political position that is irrelevant to Matilda Joslyn Gage and her contemporaries (in fact, the dishonest quoting technique effectively reversed part of Gages stated position on the issue). I have provided a more complete quotation, and placed Gage's words within the context demanded by the source material, i.e. Gage's original letter - available on microfilm.

Compare "a subject which lies deeper down in woman's wrongs than any other" to "a subject which lies deeper down in woman's wrongs than any other. This is the denial of the right to herself ", for example.

Note that 68.34.232.20 appears to be active on many abortion-related articles, and seems to have a political axe to grind. It might be worth tracking this user's movements, as this probably is not the first (or last) time he/she uses a dishonest and politically motivated Wiki edit.

Please, everybody:

Source all quotes (68.34.232.20 failed to source the quotations, possibly deliberately, as referencing the title of Gage's letter would have unravelled the misquote...), and
Check the context of any dubious quotes with the source material.

Dissembly 10:38, 17 September 2005 (UTC)

Dear Author of Gage Article:

I am not the above user, and indeed I share your concern about people using early feminist quotes without going to the primary sources. But I have thoroughly examined primary sources, including this Gage letter, and have come to a different conclusion than you. I do believe that a person can honestly and reasonably conclude that the early feminists opposed abortion, and for motives which are not wholly irrelevant today.

Most feminists today (at least white, middle- to- upper class, industrialized-world movement feminists) believe that a right to abortion is an essential part of a woman's right to her own body, a woman's right to voluntary motherhood. However, early feminists had a somewhat different understanding. They opposed abortion not simply because it was illegal and dangerous for woman in the era before blood transfusions and antibiotics. They viewed it also as unjust, tragic lifetaking against unborn children and the outcome of denying woman's right to her own body & voluntary motherhood, through the denial of education and choice in sex & birth control, and the dearth of supports for pregnant and parenting women.

While there is evidence many supported legal restrictions on abortion, their primary focus was on identifying, challenging, and alleviating its root causes. A substantial but growing minority of US feminists, as well as many feminists of color and/or in the Two-Thirds World today find such an analysis & practice still quite apt for the realities of women's lives.

I am very interested in dialoguing with you & any other prochoice feminist historians who are concerned with these issues. Please feel free to email me, and to read the new book which draws heavily on my research. Thank you for listening.

Mary Krane Derr marykderr@aol.com Coeditor, Prolife Feminism Yesterday & Today, 2nd greatly expanded edition www.xlibris.com/ProLifeFeminism

[edit] Matilda Joslyn Gage and Abortion

Recently there have been adits adding a large selection of text into the Gage article discussing the modern abortion debate; something which i do not feel is appropriate for a biographical article. A short mention that the scope of the debate was different is already present in the text, and beyond that, Matilda's own words are quoted directly (and more expediently that the extensive discussion that was added).

I have reverted these edits as i do not feel they are of an appropriate nature ofr an entirely neutral POV.

Perhaps the text can be ressurrected and placed in a more appropriate article that actually focuses on the history of the abortion debates?

Dissembly 05:44, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Alicekate: Brief explanation and documentation on the concept of "Voluntary Motherhood" added. Alicekate 15:51, 16 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tribal membership

This article says that Gage was initiated into the Wolf Clan of the Iroquois. Our article on L. Frank Baum specifies that Gage was adopted into the Mohawk nation, who were part of the Iroquois Confederacy. Iroquois#Haudenosaunee clans explains that each Iroquois tribe has several matrilineal clans. Assuming that all the articles are accurate, it would seem that Gage was initiated into the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk nation — however, I'm sufficiently unsure of this conclusion that I'd rather leave the edit to someone who has access to relevant sources, and can confirm the accuracy of this syllogism. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 02:24, 4 September 2007 (UTC)