"She should be taught to _read_. How is it possible for woman to
remember all her duties, religious and secular, through mere oral
instruction? But a written book, is a teacher always with her, and in
every place and circumstance. It addresses her without a voice, rebukes
her without fear or shame, answers without sullenness and complaint. She
consults it when she wishes, without anxiety and embarrassment, and
banishes it if not faithful or satisfactory, or even burns it without
crime!
"Why forbid woman the use of the only means she can have of sending her
views and feelings where the voice cannot reach? _Now_ when a woman
wishes to write a letter, she must go, closely veiled to the street, and
hire a professional scribe to write for her, a letter which she cannot
read, and which may utterly misrepresent her!
"Woman should also have instruction in the _training of children_. The
right training of children is not a natural instinct. It is an art, and
a lost art among us. It must be learned from the experience and
observation of those who have lived before us; and where do we now find
the woman who knows how to give proper care to the bodies and souls of
her children?"
Mr. Bistany then speaks of the importance of teaching woman domestic
economy, sewing, cooking, and the care of the sick, as well as
geography, arithmetic, and history, giving as reasons for the foregoing
remarks, that the education of woman will benefit herself, her husband,
her children and her country.
"How can she be an intelligent wife, a kind companion, a wise
counsellor, a faithful spouse, aiding her husband, lightening his
sufferings, training his children, and caring for his home, without
education? Without education, her taste is corrupt. She will seek only
outward ornament, and dress, and painting, as if unsatisfied with her
Creator's work; becoming a mere doll to be gazed at, or a trap to catch
the men. She will believe in countless superstitions, such as the Evil
Eye, the howling of dogs, the crying of foxes, etc., which are too well
known to need mention here. He who would examine this subject, should
consult that huge unwritten book, that famous volume called "Ketab en
Nissa," the "Book of the Women," a work which has no existence among
civilized women; or ask the old wives who have read it, and taught it in
their schools of superstition.
"Let him who would know the evils of neglecting to educate woman, look
at the ignorant, untaught woman in her language and dress, her conduct
at home and abroad; her notions, thoughts, and caprices on religion and
the world; her morals, inclinations and tastes; her house, her husband,
her children and acquaintances, when she rejoices or mourns, when sick
or well; and he will agree with us that an uneducated woman is a great
evil in the world, not to say the greatest evil possible to be imagined.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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