Tímarit um menntarannsóknir - 01.01.2013, Page 83

Uppeldishugmyndir Rousseaus í kynjafræðilegu Ijósi: Afturhaldssemi, kvenfyrirlitning eða byltingarkennd framsækni?
al educational discourse often indicates
that the education of Emile was meant for
both boys and girls. Thereby the educa-
tional influence of Sophie which Rousseau
considered an important part of Emile's
education, is ignored, as well as the darker
side of Rousseau's ideas like the power of
the governor over both Emile and Sophie
and his justification of sexual violence in
marriage. Even if the education of Sophie
is heavily criticized by many feminists and
sometimes considered misogynistic and
deserving omission, it is by others consid-
ered an integral part of Emile's education,
and by ignoring it Rousseau's ideas are
misinterpreted and distorted.
Regardless of interpretation, the educa-
tional ideas in Emile and Rousseau's views
of essential gender differences and gen-
der roles have probably delayed the ac-
ceptance of the modern view of women's
education. If however one looks at Etnile,
in the context of Rousseau's other works
like Emile et Sophie (1994), Julie or the new
Heloise (1997) and the Social Contract his
writings can be interpreted as a calculated
call for societal change, as neither Emile
nor Sophie became happy individuals and
authentic citizens (Morgenstern, 1995).
Finally the author contemplates on how
the educational views of Rousseau com-
pare to the education of boys and girls
now 250 years later. It has taken women
a long time to get the same kind of educa-
tion and the same access to universities as
men- a goal not yet reached everywhere.
In Iceland it has been legally prescribed
only since 1991 that the education of both
boys and girls should prepare them equal-
ly for public and private participation in
a democratic society and presently gender
equality is of high priority.
In conclusion the educational ideas in
Emile can both be seen as traditional and
conservative, patriarchal and misogynis-
tic, but his writings as a whole open up
an alternative interpretation. Namely that
Rousseau sensed that the gender roles of
the 18,h century were obsolete, encourag-
ing the collapse of the rift between the
private and the public by showing that
the traditional patriarchal society does not
provide all its members with the freedom,
family life and civil citizenship he was
calling for in the new social order. This in-
terpretation suggests a revolutionary fore-
sight on Rousseau's behalf.
According to the latter view the writ-
ings of Rousseau are still relevant in Ice-
land as elsewhere where a new social con-
tract is being called upon.
Keywords: Jean-Jacques Rousseau's tri-centennial,
gendered education, Emile, reactionary, mysogynis-
tic, progressive.
81