Response Paper #8 revised for final portfolio
What are the problems and challenges that Flora Tristan faces as she as she travels the world?
Women traveling alone during the 18th century encountered many obstacles. Flora Tristan encounters many challenges during her travels around the world. She observes many social problems that plague society in many different places and attempts to solve them. Flora Tristan is intent on bringing social justice to people who face discrimination which includes women and the working classes. During her crusade to make change the challenges she faces are the ignorant beliefs and unkind attitudes of the people she is trying to help, the people she meets along the way, and her own resulting negative attitude.
One of the first barriers that she faces is when she tries to help start a worker’s movement. Unfortunately, the laborers are not intelligent enough to understand her proposal in Worker’s Union. She sets out on a tour of France to meet with different groups of workers so she can explain her plan and get them on board. The difficulty is that people do not understand what she is saying. For example, at one of her first meetings a man read her writing out loud and he “understood nothing” (Tristan 125). He did not understand the concept of an association of working men which is something she saw as a simple concept. Unfortunately, lower class workers who have been forced to work long jobs from a young age never had the chance to be educated. If they were educated, then they might not only understand the basics of her plan but also the intricacies. Tristan faces the challenge of informing uneducated workers about her plans to help give them more.
Another complication Tristan faces is that the proletariat are not even aware that there is the possibility of having better working conditions. Many of the workers that Flora Tristan speaks with are living tough lives but they are not aware that there is anything better out there for them. The workers had never considered forming a union because they had no idea what positive results that would bring for them. Until the workers truly understand the benefits, Tristan will find her movement challenging. During her travels on a boat she interviews the workers and she “found on the boat not a single prospect for conversion” (Tristan 130). The fact that the men that who complete hard labor daily would reject her plan is disheartening. Their lack of enthusiasm only stems from the fact that they cannot even imagine a life with better working conditions. It does not seem possible and they do not know what it entails so they do not feel that it is worth it to take action. These workers have never been given such a positive opportunity that it feels surreal that attaining better working conditions and better pay could ever be achieved. Tristan must face this lack of understanding and lack of enthusiasm and push through it so that she can make change.
Tristan is also forced to confront the problem of gender discrimination when she tries to make change. Flora Tristan is astounded by how ignorant England’s House of Commons is when it comes to gender equality. Women are not only barred from serving in the House of Commons but they are also not allowed to attend its sessions. In this way “half the country is deprived (…) of civil and political rights” as they cannot advocate for themselves nor understand what legislation will effect them (Tristan 57). As a result, Tristan felt that the only way she could understand what was going on would be to dress up as a man so that she could enter. During the attempt she was identified as a woman and scorned because of that. The men truly could not understand why any woman could deserve to witness one of the country’s legislative bodies. She is not able to do proper research as she attempts to give women equal rights. Tristan struggles as she is put down by so many people simply for trying to help further the rights of women.
Tristan’s own attitude is problematic as it is not enthusiastic enough about individual workers to incentivize them to join her movement. She is not only unenthusiastic but also rather negative about some of the workers that she tries to help. This is a problem because the only way a labor movement can be started is if working class individuals are willing to ally themselves with Tristan. Unfortunately, she is too invested in the cause to take the time to understand the workers. She is so impatient with the laborers that she makes ignorant statements such as, “It is to the principle that I am dedicated, and not to individuals.—Individuals are unintelligent, conceited, stupid, ignorant, and insolent” (Tristan 128). She speaks so negatively about the workers and does not even try to understand them. The workers are uneducated and are not even able to comprehend the language of the plan she is putting forth. Thus, it is easy to understand why working class individuals would be hesitant to work together with someone who makes such patronizing statements. She is simply not patient enough to make the best of this situation.
With all of the challenges that Flora Tristan faces during her journey it is not a surprise that eventually she develops a negative attitude towards her pursuits. She has to deal with the workers who are so uneducated. She must try to explain her plan to give them equality even though they cannot possibly understand what she is saying. She must also put up with the gender discrimination that she faces in the House of Commons. The cumulative challenges she faces makes one question how she manages to pursue her goal of eliminating the social problems that plague society.
Works Cited
Tristan, Flora. Utopian Feminist: Her Travel Diaries and Personal Crusade. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993.
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Jessica Nadel