The Different Viewpoints: Response to Barstow Article

     In the excerpt in the course packet written by Anne Llewellyn Barstow, she provides many examples throughout history of how Joan was an example or influenced them. It amazed me was the extremes that Joan has influenced. I understand how Joan influenced many of the feminist movements. Joan exceeded and went beyond was expected of her in the life time like the women in these movements are aspiring to. It did not surprise me. What did surprise me was some of the ends that Joan did inspire.
     One example was Isabel O'Reilly, who wrote a Roman Catholic treatise. What was interesting about this part was she had the main point of that a woman's place was in the home. She uses Joan as an example and admired many aspects of her life like her virginity and how she was able to spin. She claims that Joan can be the model for the traditional Catholic woman, despite the fact that Joan left the home. The reason Joan still qualifies was because she was commanded so by God. From my point of view, it is a long shot to claim Joan a model for Catholic women. Times change and there is a a significant time difference between Joan's lifetime and 1894 when O'Reilly wrote this. I do believe she is a great example, but naming a single model for Catholic women is impossible.
     On the other side of the extreme was the mention of the Ku Klux Klan. The women's order of the KKK wrote Joan, the Militant Kamelia. This claims that women in present day (then 1920) hear voices telling them to establish the supremacy of the white race. The claim was those voices were similar to the ones Joan heard to motivate her to liberate England from France. This surprised me because such an extremist organization associated themselves with a Saint like Joan. It seemed as if they used Joan to justify their actions and beliefs. I personally look at their actions and disagree with their train of thought in this one.
     My biggest take away was how Joan inspired many different groups. What surprised me the most was the certain groups that associated themselves with Joan and what they took away from Joan. Some of the examples made sense, but others raised a few questions for me. I enjoyed the reading in the sense that it provided an insight to me of how others reacted to Joan.