Book Notes: "Are Women Human?" by Dorothy L. Sayers

Are Women Human? by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The short answer is “yes”. The longer answer concerns what that “yes” implies. Sayers says that if women are human first, and female second, then they have vocations, or “proper work” just as men (human first, male second) do.
This essay was out of print for awhile, but now is back. I highly recommend it.

View all my reviews


Okay, the above is my short review. Here's a slightly longer response:

It's hard to take any notes on this book because it is so short and so profound. My instinct is just to copy it all down and let you read it, because every word in the book is worth reading and rereading, and even if you read and reread it, it would scarcely take you over an hour.

Along with her "Gaudy Night", "Are Women Human?" is one of those books I reread periodically in order to get my head set on straight.

Sayers' main assertion in the two essays that make up this book is that the first thing that is important about women is that they are human. That they are female may be the second most important thing about them - after all, the first thing you notice about someone after you notice that he is a person is whether or not he is a he or she is a she - but the first most important thing about a person is that he is a person. In our case, a human being. We are creatures made in the image of God, and that is the first thing there is to know about us. It's the most important thing to keep in mind as we go on to look at the differences between the sexes.

The other main subject that these essays explore is work. Sayers wants to make it clear that if a person is clearly made for a specific sort of work, she ought to be allowed to do it. She doesn't insist that every woman is a genius, and admits that very few may be specially gifted for special work. But, she says, if they are good at something and the thing they are good at is worth doing, then they ought to be allowed to do it and to do it well. She's very big on people being allowed to do their "proper work" - that is, the work that belongs to them. In short, she is arguing for excellence. She is arguing for virtue - for skill to be allowed to be diligently and wisely applied to the tasks at hand.

And I would say, honestly, that this is very much along the lines of what we find in Proverbs 31, in the paean of praise to the ideal wife. That woman works. And it is intelligent, creative, organizational work. And it is hers and she does it well.

The book ends with Sayers explicating the parts of the gospel where Jesus interacts with women, pointing out that he took them seriously.

I don't insist that Sayers got it all right, or that this is anything like a comprehensive take on the issue, but it's well-worth an hour of your attention - or if you're like me, an hour of your attention about once a year.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell