`A Life of Her Own` by Emilie Carles

Born in 1900 France , Emilie Carles wrote this book in 1977 as a reflection on her life choices concerning her major conflict in choosing between "leaving home " and staying on the farm ' Society 's message to Emilie was that women were free to pursue their own desires as long as they did not diminish women 's duties to family and farm . However Emilie became a teacher to escape the farm , and a socialist and feminist in response to this message to gain personal freedom . Yet , in contradiction to this response , she returned to

her home village later to become a devoted farmwife and mother and to be near her father , all of which she attributes to the devotion she had for her father . The difference she saw in the outside world as compared to the farm was the following . While growing up , she was constrained by stereotypes of peasant women and patriarchy , but the outside world gave her freedom from stereotypes and the freedom to choose her own life . She was able to enjoy that , bring away useful skills , and choose to return . She fulfilled desires for movement , social mobility , and liberalism , well as for family and the traditional farm life . She promised herself that she would not accept the life of a farm wife like her mother , but was later able to choose the good parts of it . In French , the title of Emilie 's book is Une Soupe aux Herbes Sauvages ' having the literal translation of a soup with wild herbs (grasses . Just as literally Emilie Carles built a singular life as a teacher and farmer from the wild herbs and grasses of her French rural birth to lead the transliterated A Life of Her Own

The French Revolution was based in universal human rights however these ideals did not reach down to the French peasant women . France 's culture , known for political , artistic , and social fringe elements , was not famous for women 's rights . Agriculture was the economic staple of the rural Alps and provided hard work and constraints for peasant women bound to ancestral landholdings . However , rural women such as Carles shaped roles that are more modern for women . During WWI and WWII , she saw these roles change , especially in WWII , requiring women to work outside the home while men were in the armed forces . This opened the way for women to leave their farms . Post-WWII industrial development added to this opportunity in a more modernized France where women were able to have greater choice . The rise of socialism from the 1940s - 1960s promoted the roles of women as more active partners in more areas of society than at home , including education , science , medicine , and government . Men and women both began leaving the farms after WWI and again after WWII . However , there remained tensions between families and women such as Emilie . Her father balked at her seeking education and she fought for and finally won it . Further tensions occurred between Emilie and her father Joseph and...