The Worth of Women: Wherein is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men and Fonte's Poetry

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This post includes a cover from the book The Worth of Women: Wherein is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men (1600) and an excerpt from poetry (1581) by Moderata Fonte, pseudonym of Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi. Fonte was a Venetian writer and poet who published works influenced by her passion for feminism. She highlights the active participation of women in important events and often demonstrates her beliefs on women's superiority of the sexes by celebrating women's intelligence and virtues or by sometimes even attacking male qualities. The Worth of Women is a prime example of Fonte's works which reflect her nuanced feminist perspectives. This story is a dialogue between a group of women who discuss the day-to-day tribulations that result from the unfair treatment of the men around them. These women create imaginary punishments that they believe would compensate for the unfair treatment and raise awareness among men in order to leave them wiser and hopeful for a better future.

Both the included works from Fonte are early printed works which were some of the earliest examples of women authors finally beginning to pave a platform for writing in defense of women. The practice of printed books versus manuscripts allowed for Fonte's work to be easier to replicate and share. These kinds of protofeminist works were incredibly scarce, so to have these writings printed enabled the genre to grow and spread at a faster rate than prior to the printing process (although still incredibly slow due to societal ideals and canons of the time). Printing the books also allowed for the use of smaller fonts that could fill more of the page meanwhile still being legible. The printing process maximized the materials and resources limited for women writers and feminist writers of this time, which pushed forward the beginning processes of feminist movements that would develop to be as widely known and spread as they are today.

Cover and Excerpt from Early Printed Books by Fonte
Cover and Excerpt from Early Printed Books by Fonte
The Worth of Women: Wherein is Clearly Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men and Fonte's Poetry 2