Women Talk Like Human Beings

I have a special passion for Dorothy Sayers’ work. Her mystery novels feature Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane and the books are equal to Agatha Christie in quality. Even more, Sayers wrote a brilliant volume set in Oxford that is filled with intrigue and romance. I’ll say no more so I don’t spoil it for you!

Sayers' essays “Are Women Human?” and “The Human -Not-Quite-Human,” are as relevant today as they were when she wrote them in 1938. There are so many great lines, but I’ll just cite a few. From “Are Women Human?” she tells of a time when she was at a dinner party and a man complemented her books, specifically that her dialogues between men were so natural; perhaps she came from a big family and so was used to hearing men talk. No, she replied, she was an only child, but she continued that she tried to have “my men talk, as far as possible, like ordinary human beings." This aspect of the matter seemed to surprise the other speaker; he said no more, but took it away to chew it over. One of these days it may quite likely occur to him that women, as well as men, when left to themselves, talk very much like human beings also.

Sayers wrote about women and work, noting that we should not think about work as either men’s work or women’s work, “the only decent reason for tackling any job is that it is your job, and you want to do it.” One of my favorite lines is from “The Human-Not-Quite-Human” essay, in her closing remarks. “Perhaps it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man — there never has been such another….There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows it pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything ‘funny’ about women’s nature.” Be encouraged that your work is not in vain, for the Lord sees you and strengthens you!