A Voice from the South: By a Black Woman of the South

In “The Higher Education of Women,” Cooper analyzes women’s access to education at the time, with a focus on Black women. The theme of The Importance of Education in Empowering the Black Community reemerges as she highlights gender discrimination in educational institutions. In the late 19th century, education was considered harmful for a woman’s femininity, which was associated with domesticity. In contrast to this idea, Cooper argues that the gradual entry of women to education throughout the 19th century empowered them and enabled them to contribute to society and culture. Cooper stresses that women have a “special influence” on humanity and advocates for the training and education that will encourage them to fully participate in the social and political forces.

Cooper also discusses her views on men and women, describing how they relate to one another. To demonstrate the necessity of female agency in the world, she contrasts masculinity and femininity to show that both complement each other. She stresses that “the feminine ingredient” of love and kindness is necessary to balance men’s rationality (34). For Cooper, the female agency is nurturing and represents “devotion and care” (36). Even though her analysis ascribes specific characteristics to women and men and reiterates an idea of gender roles, it intends to counter a world of male domination that reflects the context of her time. Cooper states her belief on the equality of women and men, noting that “there is a feminine as well as a masculine side to truth” (36). Masculinity and femininity are not superior and inferior but “complements in one necessary and symmetric whole” (36). She also suggests that both traits need to be instilled in children through upbringing so that a boy can express “virility” as well as “tenderness,” while girls can be gentle but also strong and independent (36). Ultimately, she challenges strict views on gender.

Cooper continues to demand social change. Her anticipation of progress and social growth in the 20th century illuminates the theme of Black Feminism and Intersectional Oppression. Deepening her analysis, she suggests a reconsideration of gender roles and the relationship between the sexes. She demonstrates her feminist perspective by claiming women’s need to enter the sociopolitical sphere. She counters persistent arguments about women’s education being harmful for family structure, noting that women’s development would benefit marriage. Within the context of the women’s movement of the period, Cooper also stresses men’s responsibility to change. Men should encourage women’s empowerment while also altering their own standards regarding what that constitutes:

[T]he problem […] now rests with the man as to how he can so develop his God-given powers as to reach the ideal of a generation of women who demand the noblest, grandest and best achievements of which he is capable (42).

The theme of the importance of education in empowering the Black community reemerges while Cooper emphasizes her focus on the education of Black women. Cooper documents circumstances of the period, indicating that few Black women had access to university education. She highlights the issue of gender discrimination within the African American community, explaining that the majority of Black men do not support Black women’s education: “[W]hile our men seem thoroughly abreast of the times on almost every other subject, when they strike the woman question they drop back into sixteenth century logic” (44). Black men had not overcome past standards about women remaining “on pedestals” despite advocating for issues of racial uplift. Cooper’s analysis indicates that gender oppression also inhibits racial progress. She notes how her own experience in education reflected gender and class issues within the Black community, as men were urged to pursue higher education, while Black working-class women were discouraged. For Cooper, Black women were key in the quest for civil rights, and she suggests special consideration regarding their education. She says that the African American community should nurture Black women’s potential and allow them to contribute to Black people’s cause for equality.