Ross demonstrates how the expanding ranks of learned women in the Renaissance era presented the first significant challenge to the traditional definition of “woman” in the West. The Birth of Feminism demonstrates that because of their education, these women laid the foundation for the emancipation o...

Ross demonstrates how the expanding ranks of learned women in the Renaissance era presented the first significant challenge to the traditional definition of “woman” in the West. The Birth of Feminism demonstrates that because of their education, these women laid the foundation for the emancipation of womankind.