Rich Hoggan
Engish 48B
02-01-11
Mary Hunter Austin Journal Posting

Just by looking at her Wikipedia picture you can tell Mary Hunter Austin had an analytical set of eyes on the world -- a set of eyes seemingly lacking of trust. In her short story, "The Walking Woman," Austin writes of the woman in question by saying "On the mere evidence of her way of life she was cracked; not quite broken, but unserviceable" (889). This quote doesn't seem to be about Mrs. Walker as the Walking Woman was most fondly called in the story but about Austin herself. Austin had a rough childhood and lost her father at a young age and before that had lost her sister as well. If we are to consider this quote as being about Austin herself, it would appear that she considered herself to be broken but at the same time still capable of communication which I believe came in the form of her writing. It also seems as though her best form of communication occurred in her writings as seems to be the case with creative types for we communicate better knowing only the paper knows our inmost thoughts.

What could also be gleaned from her stories is that Austin was what could be considered an "eco-feminist" in that she believed women were more closely related to the Earth than men. I think this ideal of hers comes from living through a period where women were not given many rights nor the license to creativity as we might remember from Gilman's writings. Taken from her profile page on answers.com, "In 1912, she published what many believed was her best novel, A Woman of Genius. This work, which featured some autobiographical elements, was about women having to choose between marriage and career. As in many of her books about women, Austin also explored how and why women were subjugated by men. This early feminist novel led to Austin later being embraced by the women's movement of the 1970's" (answer.com - Mary Hunter Austin).

Austin's outlook on society seems to be mirrored in her story "The Walking Woman" because there are some similarities between Mrs. Walker and Austin, but at the same time, Austin's other literary works played a more pivotal role in society. One such novel, as was as just mentioned, A woman of Genius, played a pivotal role in her understanding of society around her specifically man's treatment of women. This novel took a feminist stance on society thus giving cause to the women's movement that would later engulf society much like the civil rights movement only a decade earlier. Similarly, Austin had an approach much like Gilman in that both used autobiographical elements in their works, yet Gilman spoke more so about personal experience while Austin wrote on the idea of women having to choose between two lives, marriage and career.

A point to be made here is that it's in the choices we make that we end up living our lives. Austin wrote on women having to choose between work and home but at the same time that was their choice. It's almost as though Austin wished all women chose career over marriage almost like that would put a stop to the social abuses they faced. When in reality the majority of the social issues women faced were faced in the work place not in the home. I think we are dealing with a perceived notion in terms of women's role in society or lack there of depending on your own views more so than the need to make choices. That said, we can't give license to the actions of society at the time as the prejudice that took place was and still is an issue.