Westerkamp vs. Smith

In addition to the required Westerkamp reading, I also chose the article "Out of Her Place: Anne Hutchinson and the Dislocation of Power in New World Politics" by Cheryl C. Smith.  After reading the two articles regarding Anne Hutchinson, I've thought about the message that each of them were trying to convey.

In Westerkamp's article, she points out the sheer magnitude of Hutchinson's importance to women in colonial New England.  She states that Hutchinson was intelligent, powerful, fascinating, extraordinary, and more.  She takes a position of approval for what Hutchinson was trying to accomplish in colonial New England.  Westerkamp agrees with the 1930's biographies portraying Hutchinson as a "pioneer for civil and religious liberty, crusading against the strictures of Puritan society."  Westerkamp's message is that Anne Hutchinson was a controversial and rare woman of her time.  Hutchinson went against social norms and introduced the importance of women to the church- something that was unheard of in those days.  She was one of the only women in colonial New England to have a controversial voice against the church, and to Westerkamp, that was a great thing.

Smith's interpretation of Hutchinson focuses more on women's issues in general, and the power of women.  According to Smith, women simply cannot obtain power without some sort of sexual appeal or victimization.  In the colonial times of Anne Hutchinson, women were portrayed as the cause of problems for men.  Smith noted that Hutchinson was unable to win public appeal because she was "the quintessential transgressor in colonial America: unwilling to merely chat or babble, incapable of making herself small, and repeatedly framed in terms of monstrosity by her detractors." ...

I would argue that many women in today's society struggle with the same problems that Anne Hutchinson did in colonial times.  Smith showcased how difficult it is for women even nowadays to gain high political offices, and how women are "supposed" to be submissive to men.  I find all of that quite ridiculous.  Women should not be in fear of men's power over them.  Anne Hutchinson shows us sheer courage in being one of the few 17th century women to hold herself equal to men, and for that, I think she can be inspiring to all of us.