These are but a small selection of the quips bandied about at this lively gathering of women. Yet this dialogue unfolds not among ironically misandrist millennials venting at their local dive bar, but rather among sixteenth-century women variously married, widowed, single, and betrothed attending a respectable Venice garden party. Written in the early 1590s by Moderata Fonte, pseudonym of the Renaissance poet and writer Modesta Pozzo, this literary dialogue interrogates men and men's treatment of women and explores by contrast the virtues of singledom and female friendship. A new introduction by translator Virginia Cox and foreword by Dacia Maraini situate The Merits of Women in its historical context, written as it was on the cusp of Shakespeare's heyday, and straddling the centuries between the feminist works of Christine de Pizan and Mary Wollstonecraft. Elegantly presented for a general audience, this is a must-read for baby feminists and "nasty women" alike, not to mention the perfect subtle gift for any mansplaining friend who needs a refresher on the merits of women . . . and their superiority to men.
LOCATION: 305.4 FON
